Mexico - San Cristobal de la Casas

Six hours of bus ride on a curvy mountain road in the rain, we finally arrived in San Cristobal de la Casas. We got off the bus and realized that the weather here is CHILLY! Yay! No more opressive heat! I almost kissed the ground.

San Cristobal is a charming colonial town in the mountains. A lot of backpackers visit here, as evidenced by the vegetarian restaurants and yoga classes. We actually went to a Thai restaurant - expensive and terrible food. Serves me right for going to a Thai place in the mountains of Mexico, but I couldn´t resist the temptation of Asian food.

It´s not a pot belly, it´s the money belt:

A lot of cowboy hats in this town:

This is the Thai restaurant:
Dangerous combination:

This town also attracts many people from nearby Mayan villages setting up market and selling crafts. The Mayan village women wear the traditional dresses and men wear cowboy hats. It is a funny sight to see an expresso cafe next to a Mayan village lady holding a live chicken. There are also a few cute children with Bambi eyes selling stuff. I think we will have about 10 braclets by the time we leave here.

Zapatistas: In 1994, the Zapatistas, a left-wing peasant group fighting for indegenous rights, briefly took over this town. There is still some of their presence in this Chiapas region of Mexico, but like anything else, it has been commercialized, with Zapatistas T'shirts and dolls sold in the markets.

Bathroom in the closet: Our $22 per night hotel is a great deal - clean, includes breakfast and 24 hour hot water. However, it does have this funky bathroom in a makeshift closet.