Zen and Zapatistas in San Cristobal de las Casas

From Campeche we headed up into the mountains of Chiapas, to San Cristobal de las Casas, the heart of the Zapatista rebel movement. We elected to by pass Palenque, as we'd had a bit much of the ruins at this point, and we really wanted to see San Cristobal. It's a marvelous, beautful mountain town, surrounded by mountains and smaller, indigenous Mayan pueblas. If the local culture is of interest, make sure to take a few hours to get out to Chumula and pay to go into the church. The mix of traditional, indigenous religious rites with Catholic ceremony is facinating. We saw new borns being blessed with live chickens and soda pop, as well as elderly women praying on a carpet of pine needles before a self-made altar of hundreds of candles. Another not-to-be-missed is the boat ride of the river canyon about an hours bus ride away, which is jaw-dropping-ly beautiful.

San Cristobal itself has an interesting history as the center of the Zapatista uprising for indigenous rites, and the spirit is still strong. It now includes many new-age hippies as well, drawn to the spirit of revolt. Live music is everywhere and excellent, and vegetarians and organic-produce lovers will find easy pickings here. All in all, a fascinating mix of old and new, foreign and very, very local. Hotel El Molida was a very economical option and perfectly adequate for our needs, though our entry-level Spanish made it a bit hard to communicate with the owner at times. That was part of the fun, though.