December 4, 2008

Well if this is Thursday - we must be in San Cristobal, Chiapas. Chiapas is the southernmost state in Mexico (just above Guatamala) and from what we've seen so far - it seems to be quite different from the other parts of Mexico that we've visited to date.

We had an early start in San Miguel de Allende this morning when the alarm rang at 5:30 a.m. in order that we could catch our 7:00 a.m. bus to Mexico city. We made it to the bus just in time and arrived in Mexico City about 3 1/2 hours later. We got to see a different part of Mexico city this morning than we did when we were there just over a week ago. Last time we were in the "nicer" areas and today we came in via what appeared to be a little rougher section of the city.

From the bus station we took a cab (about 1/2 hr for 110 pesos or approx $11.00) to the Airport where we were greeted by at least 1,000 men and women protesting something or other inside of the airport. It was very loud and they were marching up and down the main halls. In fact, we had to cross their lines to get in the door and over to the counter areas to be able to check in. Thankfully we didn't get swept away by their numbers. Really though....it was very orderly and all participants were very well dressed and well behaved, just loud. We asked someone what they were protesting and they said that it was taxi drivers upset about something but we may have lost something in the interpretation....it's the way things go sometimes :)

Once we were on our plane and en route to Chiapas we were excited to be on the move again. San Miguel de Allende was a great spot to stop for the past few days but there is so much more to see and do that it was time to go and .... after all the wind was blowing again :)

We touched down in Tuxtla and as usual we were suerte (lucky) once again!! The bus we were hoping to catch rolled in to the airport just a few minutes after we landed so we quickly purchased our tickets and were on the road to San Cristobal a few minutes later.

The trip to San Cristobal took about 1 1/2 hours and it was a really scenic drive. We were already fairly high up in Tuxtla and the bus just climbed and climbed and climbed further and further into the mountains. The view was gorgeous and the terrain was very mountainous with rich red soil and maize (corn) planted on every bit of land that could accomodate it.

There were two people speaking english on the bus so when we stopped in San Cristobal, Lynda asked them if they were from here and if they had any recommendations about where we might stay. Sure enough, we were in luck again and they recommended a little place called L'Arcos del Carmen where we were able to secure a nice clean little room for $300 pesos ($30) night. We're planning to stay here for a couple of days and will take some short trips out into the areas around this welcoming little city. San Cristobal is already on my list of places I'd recommend as good places to visit and we've only been here for a few hours. It is the perfect size....large enough to have everything you'd need or want but small enough to be welcoming and easy to get around. The zocalo is just a very short walk from our hotel (less than a block) and it is gorgeous by night. There is a two story gazebo in the zocalo where there was a small orchestra playing tonight while we were walking around with all the other people. I think every town should have a zocalo or a meeting place. All the towns in Mexico do and it really encourages a sense of community.

Went for pizza tonight at the place we were referred to by a woman we met in San Miguel. It belongs to her father and as promised....the pizza was great! It was a change from what we've been eating for the past several weeks....almost everything we've had to date has been very typical Mexican and much of it from the streets so this was a very different meal and much enjoyed - pizza and beer is hard to beat when you're hungry!

Time to hit the hay....it's been a long day and morning will bring all kinds of new opportunities for adventure to find it's way to us.

Lorrie