Well, I arrived safely in Guatemala city, bused to Xela without a problem (i.e. cankles), and stayed with Elizabeth and her wonderful host family. It was great to catch up with her!!!
The next morning I bused to the Mexican border, crossed just fine, and then had to wait 4.5 hours for the bus to San Cristobal de las Casa, my destination. I can't say how grateful I am for the book Katrina got me! And normally border towns are bustling with vendors and theives and the like, but this town was dead. I was lucky to be able to buy cookies and water! Ah well, I arrived around 11 p.m. to a beautifully colonial town that is perfectly safe to walk around in all alone at night. After finding 3 hostels full or closed, I ended up in a women-only dorm room (not inteded, but I thought my mom would approve) and slept/shivered the whole night long. Holy cow is it cold here at night! Too bad I thought it was going to be sweltering and accidentally left my sweater in Xela.
I awoke and was surpised by the glorious views from the hostel and by a free breakfast. Also, my hostel has hot water!!! However, I didn't know that there was a time change from Guatemala to Mexico, so I missed the tour group by about 30 minutes. I just switched up my plans and headed for Chiapa de Corzo instead. The town is quaint and I took a 2 hour boat tour through an impressive canyon that is more than 1 km high at points. We saw crocodiles, spider monkeys, moss formations, stalagtites, and lots of plant adaptations for growing out the side of a vertical rock!
The next morning I bused to the Mexican border, crossed just fine, and then had to wait 4.5 hours for the bus to San Cristobal de las Casa, my destination. I can't say how grateful I am for the book Katrina got me! And normally border towns are bustling with vendors and theives and the like, but this town was dead. I was lucky to be able to buy cookies and water! Ah well, I arrived around 11 p.m. to a beautifully colonial town that is perfectly safe to walk around in all alone at night. After finding 3 hostels full or closed, I ended up in a women-only dorm room (not inteded, but I thought my mom would approve) and slept/shivered the whole night long. Holy cow is it cold here at night! Too bad I thought it was going to be sweltering and accidentally left my sweater in Xela.
I awoke and was surpised by the glorious views from the hostel and by a free breakfast. Also, my hostel has hot water!!! However, I didn't know that there was a time change from Guatemala to Mexico, so I missed the tour group by about 30 minutes. I just switched up my plans and headed for Chiapa de Corzo instead. The town is quaint and I took a 2 hour boat tour through an impressive canyon that is more than 1 km high at points. We saw crocodiles, spider monkeys, moss formations, stalagtites, and lots of plant adaptations for growing out the side of a vertical rock!
I ate lunch at a restaurant that had marimba players accompanied by a drummer. They were AWESOME! I took videos and pictures and they explained how they get it to sound so amplified (they use square/pyramid boxes of wood under each note) and I was mesmerized well past the time I finished eating. (p.s.: mom, you made out good today--in addition to the video I'll send you, I also bought you my very first souvenir!)The next stop was to Tuxtla Gutierrez to go to the zoo, but after many bus routes, a 30-minute downpour, and an error in the tour guide, I arrived 20 minutes after they closed. I guess things have changed since the most recent tour book was published. Ah well, I headed back to San Cristobal where I had an amazing vegetarian dinner and browsed some souvenir shops.
Pictures will come later, but right now I'm off to dance some cumbia and/or salsa! I hope los mexicanos know how to dance!
1 comment:
I miss you so much more that I thought I was going to. I can't even count the number of times I went to call you this week for some reason or another! I want to chat with you and just hear your voice! Next time, we need to get you a cell phone that will work there too. I hope you're doing well and I can't wait to hear all your stories, look at your pictures, receive your gifts, and just hug you when you come home again!
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