San Cristóbal De Las Casas aka: San Cristobal De Las Casas, San Cristóbal

small but very romantic, lots to see, plenty of places to walk too, everything was very cute, special.

San Cristobal, though a bit touristic, is INCREDIBLE!!! The first night I was there there was dancing and music in the zocalo. What was even better was the group of teens busting out “Yo Mama” style rap/insults. (That may not be your kid of thing, but I found it humorous and amusing.) The city is a very vibrant place. I recommend visiting the Mayan traditional medicine museum. Fascinating! Also, if you do not know about the Zapatistas, there are documentaries showing in town. Bar Revolucion is a good time,

AND then there are tons of cool things to do around town as well. Do not miss a trip to the gorgeous Canon del Sumidero or to the Mayan town San Juan Chamula (go on market day). I also visited the crystal blue waters of Lagos de Montebello and the Misol Ha, Agua Azul, and El Chiflon waterfalls. Chiapas rocks!!!

This is one of my favorite places in the world. I have been to places more beautiful, more exotic, more unusual (not by much though, hee hee)...but this is one of my favorite places because there is something here that tugs at my heart. I love this town and I love the people. I love the smell, and the plants and the mountains and the children and the bazaar and the internet cafes…and I want to protect it, and preserve the cultures of the area. Is humanity worthwhile without such awesome traditions and culture? I don’t understand why missionaries come to places like this (still!) and try to make everyone the same…Anyway. I have a ton of photos…if I can get them scanned, I’ll put them up. If you’re hoping to visit here, it’s so worth it! There are lot’s of nice inexpensive hotels – you don’t need reservations. Just walk in, ask for a room, ask to see it (important) check it over – make sure you’ve got hot water and you like the room and take it. Also, you can stay at Na Bolom – a center for protection of indigenous culture, started by an anthropologist years ago, it’s a wonderful place in an old colonial house. You can bunk down there, hostel style, or just come for their heavenly breakfast, info on the area, or even tours into the jungle, ruins, etc. Wow that was a paragraph.

This was my favorite town in Mexico, had good vibes and was a good size. This is the site of the EZLN (Zapatista) uprising in 1994 when the town was occupied, today there is medium sized military contingent around the central square/market. This town is a MUST!

Be prepared for the long drive up a mountain from the airport – but once you are there it is worth it. Stay at Casa Na-Bolom. Everything in town is within walking distance. And stay in touch with home at several internet cafes.

This is a fabulous place to spend a couple of months studying and using a base of operations while seeing southern mexico. However, the political climate should be taken into consideration before making this your destination.

If you go, you should definitely check out the internet cafe and language school, El Segundo Piso.

There’s no other place like it on earth. Up, up, up in the highlands of Chiapas, it is not uncommon to wake up to the clouds hoovering beneath the city.

Be respectful of the natives. Many firmly believe that allowing themselves to be photographed steals their soul. Take a car trip to Palenque and another to Chinkultik. Heck, cross the border for a bit and go to Guatemala.

The arts and crafts are without equal, if you know where to look. Ask at Na Bolom.

Pack warm clothes for nightime, no matter what season you are visiting. It generally warms up during the day, even in winter.

This Colonial town was once the capital of Southern Mexico and home of Cortez. It is very unusual in topography with 3 “sugarloaf” type hills around a central basin. Atop each steep hill is a beautiful church with long steps leading up to them. In the town is the most beautiful ancient Cathedral – dazzling white and the architecture is marvelous with hardly any columns obstructing the view of the altars in front – a huge open-air effect that is very nice. For some reason I swear I have had the very best Orange Juice in this town of anywhere in the world! I hear the Gato Gordo is a wonderful Pub here. The indigena population here dressed in ropa tipica have always been a little stand-offish or even cold but perhaps they do not speak even Spanish and they will rarely meet your eyes. Please do not take their picture as they believe it steals their souls. The area has had some turmoil as Commandante Marcos operates in the surrounding countryside but I don’t think this is a big problem now to tourism. It is at a high elevation so that the nights are downright cold here. You can look down on the much warmer town of Tuxtla-Gutierrez below and have to zig-zag up a highway to get to San Cristobal from there. It is a colonial national park so no changes can be made to the town without permission. This has always been a hugely popular town with European visitors. Very Scenic.