We all met on Thursday night at 11pm to getting started for our trip, real time departure 2.00 am Friday morning (I told you so, never be punctual). We were a group of 19 from Germany, France, Columbia, Brasil and Mexico. Paco, our driver of trust, gets us to all the places scheduled for our 5-day trip to the magical state of Chiapas. With some cold chelas and good vibe we were leaving Merida southwards.
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| Ruins de Palenque |
After 8-9 hrs bus drive we made it to the first spot of our trip: ciudad de Palenque (north- west of Chiapas). 11.00 am arrival Palenque, partly clouded but quite hot (30 degrees), getting settled in our hotel - rooms were shared by 3-4 people and quick breakfast.
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| In the middle of the jungle |
We spent the afternoon at Jorge’s ranch, which was an additional activity (initially wasn’t on the schedule) doing horse back riding and Mexican BBQ, enjoying some kind-of rodeo show and learning about the cowboys life. The ants (homigas) maltreated us but nevertheless we were all quite impressed by the relaxed atmosphere and appreciated the possibility getting in touch with the locals.
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| At the ranch |
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| Restaurant Panchan |
To keep with the schedule we decided to have a late dinner at the famous El Panchan restaurant in the middle of the jungle where they serve delicious Italian style pizza (now some European food after the traditional Mexican lunch).
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| Cascada Misol-Ha |
The next day, we started with breakfast at the hotel after a calm but very rainy night. At 9.00 am we headed off to Misol-Ha (one of four cascades scheduled on your travel plan). Due to heavy rains the week before there was a lot of water running down the waterfall and some brave German boys even went swimming in the cold water.
Next stop: Agua Azules, which unfortunately this time weren’t very azul because of the raining season. The best time to enjoy the bright blue colours actually are from January to June.
After
another 2 hrs bus drive (maximum speed around 60 km/h due to bad conditions of
the mountain roads – uphill with 20km/h) we passed the city of Ocosingo and visited
the ruins of Tonina where we made a guided tour inside the ruins and hiking up
some 100 stairs to the peek of the pyramid. As the area is controlled by the
Zapatistas (EZLN), we had to leave before dark.
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| Zapatistas EZLN |
Our final
destination for this day was San Cristobal de las casas – one of the most
beautiful colonial towns in Mexico. After the first shock of temperature
(chilly around 12 degrees) we received a rather warm and friendly welcome from
the staff of our beautiful hostel: free Mojitos for all! Afterwards we went out
to explore the nightlife – which basically contains of loads of small restaurants
and bars with live music, karaoke etc. We had some super delicious hamburgers
at “La Hamburgueseria”
After two
exhausting days of hiking we used the Sunday to relax and rest a bit to
recharge our energy batteries. We used the morning to discover the beautiful
artisan markets where we bought loads of souvenirs for our family and friends –
but also for ourselves. Bestseller were the traditional Ponchos and handmade
scarves for the chilly nights.
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| Church of San Juan Chamula |
In the afternoon we visited the Pueblo Magico de San Juan Chamula – a town that enjoys unique autonomous
status within Mexico. No outside police or military are allowed in the village.
Chamulas have their own police force. We were all quite impressed of their way of living – mostly of the
rituals of making sacrifices in their church. We weren’t allowed to take
pictures of the ceremonies inside the church. They believe that one can steal
their soul by taking pictures of them. Some told us that for certain rituals
they sacrifice chicken. The floor of the church was covered with pine branches
and the walls were decorated with figures of different saints. Their belief is
a mixture of Catholicism and their own traditions. As part of a ceremony they
fired cannon shots outside the church. We all had a strange feeling about this
place – a mixture of fear and amazement.
After some more souvenir shopping we decided to go back to San Cristobal. The hostel staff prepared delicious BBQ and again mojitos for only 75 pesos (around 4€).
Day 4: after
another delicious breakfast (self-made crepes) we were leaving the hostel at
9am (almost on time) for the Cascada “El Chiflon” (again a 3 hr bus drive)
1,6 km hike
up to the edge of the casacda – very exhausting but worth the view.
Ready for
doing the awesome Tirolesa ride along the cascada’s river.
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| Hiking up the Cascada |
As we still
had a bit time left we thought about visiting the Lagos de Montebello – however
a local told us not to go as the visit times was almost over, so we decided
going back to San Cris to be there on time to celebrate the Mexican
Independence Day (Dia de la Independencia, 16.09.1810). However the day itself is
the 16, the country starts to celebrate their most important holiday the night
before.
The highlight
of the festivities is the Grito de la independencia (shouting out the independence). Each year
on the night of September 15 at around eleven in the evening, the President
rings the bell of the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City. After the ringing of the
bell, he repeats a shout of patriotism, El Grito:
Mexicans!
Long live the heroes that gave us the Fatherland (and liberty)!Long live Hidalgo!Long live Morelos!Long live Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez!Long live Allende!Long live Galeana and the Bravos!Long live Aldama and Matamoros!Long live National Independence!
Long Live Mexico! Long Live Mexico! Long Live Mexico! (Viva Mexico)
Ending with
the threefold shout of ¡Viva México!
from the balcony of the palace to the assembled crowd in the Zócalo. After the
shouting, he rings the bell again and waves the Flags of Mexico to the applause
of the crowd, and is followed by the playing and mass singing of the Himno
Nacional Mexicano, the national anthem, with a military band from the Mexican
Armed Forces playing.
A similar
celebration occurs in cities and towns all over Mexico, and in Mexican embassies
and consulates worldwide on the 15th or the 16th.
Also at the
centre square of San Cristobal, crowded with people watching the show and
fireworks, which was decorated in the national colours.
Due to the
bad weather we first went dining in a traditional Mexican restaurant where we
saw the big ceremony in Mexico City on TV. We had Burritos, Tacos and Margarita
accompanied with Marichi music to celebrate the Mexican Independence.
On our last
day we had one more point of interest on the schedule: the Sumidero Canyon
(Canon de Sumidero). The Canyon is a narrow and deep canyon surrounded by a
national park located close to Tuxtla
Gutierrez. Its creation began around the same
time as the Grand Canyon in the U.S. The river that still runs through the
Canyon is the Grijalva River (Rio Grijalva).
We reached
the pier of Chiapas de Corzo around 11 am and starting a tour on boat on the
river. We passed by some impressing natural formations of stone walls as high
as 1000 meters and waterfalls springing out of the rocks. At the end of the
canyon we reached the Chicoasén Dam, one of several on the Grijalva River and
important for water storage and the generation of hydroelectricity.
From there on we headed off northwards via Villahermosa back to Merida which took us almost 12 hours - but it was definitely worth it.
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| 5 days, 1.800 km |
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