San Juan Chamula, Chiapas

First up was a visit to San Juan Chamula. We had visited last year but this time we decided we needed a guide.  We found a knowledgeable, articulate young man from the area who did his best to convey the complex history and customs of the town about 6 miles outside of San Cristóbal.

We learned, for example, that most of the residents of the area are of direct Mayan descent and that there are at least 6 distinct Mayan languages spoken in the area.  The pine boughs and colorful symbols on this cross and the addition of a soda bottle and Christ figure in this cemetery represent the the blend of Catholic and Mayan traditions.

I had never seen a cemetery where there were multiple burials, as shown by the number of crosses within the same plot.  

 

The church itself incorporates the same symbolism as on the cross above with the colorful flower and butterfly images surrounding the entrance.

 

No photographs are allowed within the church, and in fact you could be arrested if you attempt to take photos of people so best to keep your camera tucked away, except for church and cemetery long-shots.

Inside the church there are no pews or altar and the floors are covered in pine boughs.  Ancient cloth and ribbon draped statues of the saints surround the interior while tiny candles the length of my finger burn in rows on the floor. Clouds of incense billow around bottles of soda (mostly Coca Cola) which is drunk symbolically to exorcise the bad spirits through burping.  At times, chickens are slaughtered, although we didn't see this.  Yes, it is hard to explain because it is so different from anything I have experienced but the overall feeling within the church is spiritual and extremely moving.

The social network of the town is collective. There is no external military presence because Chamula has it's own police force.  While we were there we watched the community arrive at a decision.

The men gathered in and in front of the central gazebo while the women observed from the rear. There were multiple speeches until a man with a CocaCola laden dolly appeared.  Cokes were passed around, people seemed to agree on the decision and they rapidly dispersed to waiting trucks to return to their homes.  Chamula justice in action.

A close look at the 3 women observing the meeting in the left center of the above photo shows that their skirts are actually sheep skins, the traditional skirt of choice.  

This woman in the market in San Cristóbal wears hers belted and wrapped in the traditional style.   Men mostly wear jeans and shirts but for official occasions they may wear long sheepskin vests.

This little girl, from a nearby village, wears a typical hand embroidered blouse of the region.  Girls this young often wear the sheepskin skirts as well.

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas

Aaah, SanCristóbal. You are so inviting that we ended spending a week and then some. (We forgot it was leap year and had an extra day!)

Our hotel, Hacienda Los Morales, was perched above the city

 with a 180 degree view and no need to close the drapes.

The other nice feature was a fireplace, as it was definitely cold at night. For 50 pesos (about $4), the cost of wood, staff would build a fire.

And the bed was colorful and comfortable.

Good way to spend a week for 400 pesos a night (about $35)

Next up...what else we did in San Cristóbal and nearby.

Palenque Ruins to San Cristóbal

We spent a pleasant morning exploring the ruins at Palenque on our own since we had a guide when we visited last year.  Our hotel was walking distance from the park entrance so we were able to beat the crowds by arriving early.  With our Mexican over-60 ID cards our entrance was free, as is every other national archaeological site and museum.  Thank you Mexico.

This was Bryan's favorite view: sitting on one pyramid overlooking the others. 

The next morning we hopped on a comfy OCC first class bus for the 5 hour ride to San Cristóbal de las Casas.  You can reserve seats in advance and we were able to get the front two seats for a great view of our professional driver in his suit coat and tie and the winding roads through the jungle.

The road is so remote that there are no gas stations, only shops that sell gas from plastic containers.

Our trip took us past the Parque Agua Azul which we had also visited last year.  The water really is blue!

 We passed roadside stands selling handmade sweaters and fruit in inviting displays,

traveling through the heart of Zapatista Country!

Flores to Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico

We left early the next morning on a tourist bus heading to Palenque in Chiapas.  On this map where I indicate "approximate route" it is because there wasn't really a road.  It was more like a dusty rut for the first several hours until we arrived a the Usumacinta River which marks the border between Mexico and Guatemala.  There is no bridge.

At the bottom of a muddy bank, this lovely little boat was waiting for us to cross into Mexico.  We were a happy group of travelers for the 20 minute crossing to Frontera Corozal.

From the landing in Mexico we piled into taxis which took us to a Mexican immigration building and then to the bus station in the village were we piled into a "collectivo,"  the local means of travel.  This 12 person van picks up anyone along the 2 hour ride who flags it down.  Believe me when I say it could hold more than 12 passengers.  This was my favorite part of this leg of the trip just for the entertainment of people watching.  One farmer got on with his extremely long machete and, with an apologetic smile, carefully slid it under his seat.

We arrived in Palenque and, since we had visited this place last year, we knew exactly where we wanted to go: Cheto's Cabanas just outside the gate of the archaeological site. They had a room for us and we slept, wakened occasionally by the ferocious sound of howler monkeys in the trees above us.

Flores, Guatemala

After a few more days of Island Living, we took a 1 1/2 hour water taxi to Belize City and hopped on a mini-bus for the trip across Belize and into Guatemala.

The bus looks much better on the outside than the inside as it takes travelers on the 5 hour trip through Guatemala every day.  Immigration between Belize and Guatemala took over an hour, three different lines, and random payments but we made it to Flores before sunset..

On an island in Lake Petén Itzá, Flores is connected to the mainland by a causeway. Our hotel led directly to the esplanade where it took about 15 minutes to stroll completely around the island.  We stopped for a lovely sunset meal overlooking the lake.

Transport by boat is readily available

and we watched the locals celebrate the balmy evening by leaping over a low wall into the lake.

 Our main reason for stopping in Flores was to visit the ruins of Tikal, about an hour away.  The next morning we left at 5am to avoid the heat of the day and arrived amidst the fog.

Tikal is not as excavated and restored as most of the ruins we have visited and the pyramids were spread through the dense jungle.  We even ran across this jungle dweller. How brave am I?

Island Life

From San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye we took a 1/2 hour ride in a water taxi to the tiny coral isle of Caye Caulker. First stop was to find the lovely Lena's Guest House where they had a room available.

The view from our porch sums up the pace of the village; the main transportation methods are boats, golf carts, bicycles and on foot.

Roads are unpaved and few, as this map shows. Snorkeling on the Belize Barrier Reef is just a short boat ride offshore.

Before the growth of tourism, conch and lobster fishing was the major industry. Lobster traps were stacked all over.

 Now there are laid-back mini-marts like Chan's (they apparently deliver when they are open)

and laundry services.

By far, the most popular island industry seems to be Happy Hour.

and my personal favorite.

Happy Hour from 4pm 'till Everybody Happy.

FYI, a Panti Rippa is favorite of former Peace Corps Volunteers in Belize.  A sneaky drink with coconut rum and pineapple juice, it is considered by some to be the national cocktail of Belize.

The Journey is the Destination

This recent trip through Belize, Guatemala and Chiapas Mexico made me realize how much I relish the travel part of a trip. We did this in the '70s but had gotten out of the habit of just taking off with no itinerary.

In this case we knew that we were flying from Mexico City to Chetumal on the southernmost Caribbean coast of Mexico and we knew that the water taxi left at 3 in the afternoon from the dock. That's it: the rest is up to serendipity.

Chetumal turned out to be a commercial border town and if it had particular charm, it was lost on me.  It did have a very nice museum.  We spent one night in Chetamul and then went through immigration for our water taxi to San Pedro Town,  Ambergris Caye (pronounced key).

Arriving without a hotel reservation is part of the new travel paradigm.  We ended up at Ruby's Hotel, on the beach.   Location isn't a problem because there are only 3 streets  and you can walk anywhere in town.  This is the view from our balcony.

The town was full of enticing restaurants but we found ourselves drawn to Estel's for the sandy ambiance and tasty breakfasts.  This photo was the second of many we took with Instragram on the iPhone Melissa gave Bryan.

We arrived at the beginning of Carnival which meant music and dancing.

These gender-bending "ladies" danced and sang behind a truck with loud speakers.  The truck carried a long orange extension cord which was plugged into someone's store or home.  When it was time to move on, the cord was unplugged and the truck moved to the next block and the next available socket.

Belize has a large population of Mennonites who carry on with their traditional dress, farming practices and religion.  They also make a wonderful target for Carnival satire.  Here are a group of dancing non-Mennonites, most cross dressing, as real Mennonites.

 By far the highlight of the Carnival was splashing each other with (water soluble) paint from re-purposed soda bottles.  The first night was for the young kids, the second for the young men and it got crazy, including raw eggs,  just as we left on the last night.