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TRAVEL BLOG ENTRY
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“Arriving at San Cristobal de las Casas at about 7am after the dreadful overnight bus trip from Oaxaca was like arriving ... ” |
Arriving at San Cristobal de las Casas at about 7am after the dreadful overnight bus trip from Oaxaca was like arriving into a fairyland. Our taxi took us the short distance from the bus station to Belas B&B, and Bela, despite being on crutches and with a full house of guests, arranged for us to sit in the dining room by the fire and enjoy a full breakfast.
San Cristobal is ringed by pine forest covered mountains and the town is really beautiful. It is a lot cooler here than in most parts of Mexico, but as soon as the morning mist clears the days are warm and sunny. There is a fabulous handicrafts market at Santo Domingo church and a pedestrian walkway that links both ends of the town to the Zocalo. Walking along here, past the pretty shops and cafes, there is a great buzz. Its a really enjoyable place to spend time.
While in San Cristobal we learnt of the local Mayan culture with a visit on Sunday (market day) to Chamula and Zinacantan. This trip was fascinating for the insight into two local villages, one of which is very traditional, the other with more links to modernity. The people of Chamula have a unique religious practise which blends Catholicism and traditional Mayan rituals and practises. The church is where they make their sacrifices with the help of local shamans. The thousands of candles in the church make it a beautiful sight.
From San Cristobal we caught a collectivo to Tuxtla for a boat trip up the Canyon del Sumero, with stunning limestone canyons and a crocodile filled waterway below. We loved being on the water again, after a long absence and the boat drivers love to go and stop fast!
Whilst in the area, we also visited the Tuxtla zoo - a wonderful natural home to the local indigenous Chiapas animals and birdlife. The most unzoo like zoo we have been to, which we all enjoyed immensely.
On our last day in San Cristobal, we took the boys to the Las Grutas, limestone caves about 10 mins out of town. This self guided cave is well worth a visit...it could be improved by better lighting, but there are some stunning formations.Very long polished concrete slides outside the caves also gave the boys a lot of fun, sliding down on cardbord boxes.
San Cristobal consistently provided the best food we have enjoyed in all of Mexico. For Mexican we loved the tacos (soft) and especialities and quesadillas at Salsa de Verde, and for other cuisines we relished Thai and greek and indian at Mayambe. Emilianos Moustache - great decor and ambience - also provided a great meal for our last night in San Cristobal.
At the markets we bought pretty embroidered blouses here and beautiful woven and embroidered flower table runners and wall hangings in gorgeous colours, that we will convert to cushion covers.
By far, San Cristobal is our favourite Mexican town.
previous travel blog entryComments or Questions for the Author
katim says:
Stumbled upon your BLOG ... good stuff. If you don't mind taking a moment, would you make a recommendation? We're planning a two week vacation to Mexico. We've never been to the inland towns in the mountains. My first choice is to see San Miguel, but there doesn't seem like there's much to see (e.g., ruins) outside of town, once you've been around the block a few times. San Cristobal sounds more interesting after reading your BLOG. Where would you recommend for a family in the age range of 35-60, all physically fit (able to hike) and looking for activity as well as relaxation? Thank you.
familyfromoz says:
Hi Katim, The only downside to this website is how to respond to questions....so I will have to post our response here. We did find San Cristobal most interesting and very beautiful. San Miguel is very pretty but a bit soulless, in our opinion -too perfect - & too many American retirees. There is a lot more around San Cristobal to do and see and also it is the departure point to see Misol -Ha, Agua Azul and Palenque (we recommend staying there at El Panchen - Ed and Margaritas was good). If I was doing just 2 weeks in Mexico, I would have at least 5 days in San Cristobal, go from/to there on the day trip to Palenque, that covers off Agua Azul etc and stay at El Panchen - next to Palenque, in the jungle. Great atmosphere - and stay 2 nts so you can go back to Palenque the next day. I would then hot foot it to Soliman Bay, near Tulum on the Yucatan peninsula for great snorkelling, swimming and lots of ruins etc in the area. We stayed at Belas B&B in San Cristobal - excellent, and then Tropical Evergreens in Soliman Bay. Fantastic place - but probably advisable to hire a car near there if you want to explore the area.
DonnaG says:
Love your blog. Great information for traveling families! I'm so happy that you have confirmed everything I've heard about San Cristobal. We're planning to fly through to the airport in Tuxtla, about an hour from San Cristobal and spend several days there. Do you have any advice concerning how we should get from Palenque to Soliman Bay? We can fly back to the U.S. from Cancun. Thanks for any advice you can offer.
familyfromoz says:
Hi Donna, Lucky you arriving in Tuxtla by plane - much better than the overnight bus, I expect. The only experience we had was going by bus from Palenque and we overnighted in Merida on the way to Tulum (near Soliman Bay). There is a very good website for Mexican buses, https://www.ticketbus.com.mx and you can check routes. On my brief looking it seems there is only overnight buses from Palenque direct to Tulum or Cancun. If you could fly into Tuxtla maybe you can fly out to Cancun? It's about an 11-12 hr bus trip. I would suggest getting a hire car in Cancun to get to and from Soliman Bay unless you want to just chill out in the sunlounges. We did that, and used taxis and collectivos on the couple of times we went into Tulum for a meal or groceries. Hope that helps???
suebee says:
Still reading Sandy :-)