January 16, 2013
I will post this entry on the sailing Blog and leave it for a time and then move it to the While Jupiter’s Smile is Docked Blog since it describes our inland travel in Chiapas, Mexico. When we checked into Mexico, on Jaunary 5th, we were greeted by Greg from Lucky Goose, Roy from Saucy Lady and Ed from Time Out. These three boats had been staying at the marina for a while. Roy and Wynona were planning to travel to see the old city of San Christobal and the ruins at Palanque and suggested that we join them. The next day, Scott and Joyce from Life is Good arrived and since the Tuahantepec winds were blowing and impeding their progress farther north (as it was for us) they decided to wait at the marina and use the time to travel inland with us as well. Enrique took one person from each of the three boats to the bus depot in the evening on the 7th, so we could buy our tickets for our departure the next day, hopefully. Enrique translated for us and secured a cab ride for us back to the marina as well. There were no seats on the bus to San Cristobal the next day, but the agent suggested we take the 0700am bus to Tuxtla Gutierrez ($316ps[Mexican Pesos-about $25USD]/person) and from there buy a ticket for the bus that runs every hour to San Christobal. We left the boat in the care and capable hands of the staff of Marina Chiapas.
Cabs picked us up at 0600am on the 8th ($200ps/car) and we arrived at the bus depot in plenty of time, boarded the bus and thoroughly enjoyed the trip along the coast and then the climb into the mountains to the city of Tuxtla Gutierrez. We immediately obtained tickets ($40ps/person) for the 1:30pm bus to San Cristobal de las Casas, a one hour ride. The bus depot in Tuxtla Gutierrez is in a nice mall and Barb went into the Soriana (like a Super K-Mart) and got us some lunch from the deli bar ($36ps) while I watched our packs. The bus ride was constantly uphill for the entire hour on a very good mountain highway until we reached San Cristobal de las Casas at 7,200ft. Wynona had obtained a recommendation for a bed and breakfast hostel, Le Gite Del Sol, from cruisers who had just returned from the trip we were taking so we took a cab ($50ps/car) there seeking beds for the six of us. Roy, Wynona, Barb and I shared an “apartment” with a bathroom between two bedrooms ($240ps each room) where we thought we might stay two nights, while Scott and Joyce took a private room with a bathroom ($320) for one night. Scott and Joyce wanted to get back in time for the weather window that would allow them to transit the Tehuantepec on Monday and Tuesday so they planned to travel on to Palenque to see the ruins while we stayed in San Cristobal to explore a couple of the surrounding villages. Scott and Joyce are headed back to the United States to put their boat up for sale and to work.
Through Denny, the owner of Le Gite Del Sol, we booked a guided tour for the next day ($200ps/person) to explore the villages of Zinacantan and Chamule. Denny can also sell and print bus tickets on any of the bus lines so he is, in effect, a full service travel agent for land travel in Chiapas - very convenient. Not knowing that ahead of time, we had already purchased our tickets to Palenque for the 10th ($312ps/person) at the bus depot when we first arrived in San Cristobal (and got the front seats.)
So, we spent that afternoon and evening exploring San Cristobal, staying out later with Scott and Joyce for nightcaps before turning in.
Woke for warmish showers and excellent breakfast. Scott and Joyce got a bus headed for Palenque. We took a guided tour as part of a group of 11 (2 Spanish, 1 Uruguayan, 2 Aussies, 2 French, 4 USA) featuring two villages. First village, Zinacantan, is known for raising flowers and weaving beautiful fabrics. We went to their main cathedral first, St. Lorenzo (St. Lawrence - yay, Larry) and it was packed with offerings of their local harvest - beautiful, beautiful, fragrant flowers. It was jaw-droppingly incredible. Here many of the indigenous indians' traditions are blended with the Catholic faith. Next we got a tour of a small weaving co-op where the women showed us their wares and demonstrated their back-strap loom techniques. Barb bought a beautiful table runner and several others bought items as well. Then the tour guide announced that Barb and I were getting married and we were dressed in traditional wedding garb. The young Aussie couple, Sean and Alicia served as best man and maid of honor. Our friend Wynona and the French woman, Simone served as attendants. The event was capped off with medicine cup sized samples of a sugarcane based alcoholic beverage (Chicha) with which we toasted many happy days to come. One sample was unflavored, one was cinnamon flavored and one was rose de jamaica flavored. I took the natural one and judged it the best after tasting the others. Then (after giving back the clothing) we sat down for tortilla tasting where the women cooked over an open fire and made tortillas, quesadillas and beans along with tomatoes, onions, mashed avocado, ground sunflower seeds and chile. I had a quesadilla and two tortillas - yummy.
Next stop, San Juan Chamula where we visited their unique cathedral. Catholicism is not practiced here and our guide fascinated us with details of the beliefs, rituals and practices of the residents of this village. The cathedral, Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, (Church of St. John, the Baptist), looks Catholic, with carvings and paintings of saints along the sides and the main altar with Saint John featured and Christ on the cross on one side, but only baptisms are done here by a priest who visits every two weeks or so. Our guide characterized this cathedral as a "hospital" where one came to pray to be healed, to pray for someone else to be healed or to pray to give thanks. There are no pews. No mass is said here, no marriages and no funerals. The rituals are more pagan than Christian. As we arrived, the marble floor was being scrapped free of candle wax by a half dozen men on their knees because the members of the village, when they pray for healing, burn candles placed on the floor. The more serious the malady, the more candles they use - like between six and sixty candles. Candles that are colored are more powerful than white ones. The floor spaces in front of each saint had various numbers of supplicants and candles. The tables in front of each saint was where candles were burning to give thanks to them. If someone is ill due to some serious lapse of behavior or of faith, a healer can be employed and he may transfer the illness to a rooster (or two) that is brought into the church and after the transfer is complete the rooster's neck is wrung. The dead rooster is either burned or buried. After the men finished scraping the floor, great bundles of long pine needles were spread over the areas of the floor (where candles were not burning) until the entire space was covered with fresh, green, fragrant needles. Every three days, the old needles are collected, the floor scrapped again and fresh needles spread. We saw folks enter the cathedral, clear a space of needles and start setting up their candles. We saw a fellow enter with a live rooster as well, but we lost sight of where he went (it is a big, busy church!). We couldn't stay to see more and of course, photography is strictly forbidden. The images in my head are unforgettable, however. I found several photos posted by a Spanish young woman tourist when I Googled "Chamula, MX", but I will not use them since they are forbidden. You may view them if you want to.
Jan 10th - After another restful night, warm shower and hot breakfast, we took the 10am bus to Palenque and found our way to Margarita and Ed's Jungle Hotel, just outside the gates of the park in El Panchan and at 200ft of elevation - in the rainforest.
11th We roused ourselves at twilight before dawn to join Don Pedro for an early walk through the jungle to try to spot wildlife. We saw some monkeys high up in some tall trees and heard some underbrush rustling and birds calling, but much of the wildlife was sleeping in this morning. We were very quiet and Don Pedro led us through very thick jungle with paths that were barely discernible so it was not due to lack of effort that we didn't see critters. Just after we came upon some ruins it began to rain gently, enough for Barb and me to break out our umbrellae and for Don Pedro to bite off (yes, with his teeth) some five-foot long banana leaves to serve the same purpose for Wynona and himself. Roy elected to tough it out. Roy slipped down in the fresh, slick mud once and Wynona twice, the second time taking Don Pedro down with her. Barb and I practiced our recently adopted family motto of "Stay upright" successfully by being very, very careful! Reading carefully, Mother? Returning to the Jungle Hotel we went to Don Mucho's Restaurant for breakfast and to meet Raoul for our tour of the park's ruins. It was a very interesting park tour with lots of ascents and descents of steps. Raoul fired our imaginations pointing out details in the well preserved and restored ruins and describing for us the daily routines and also the festive events and rituals documented in the glyphs on the temples, tombs and palaces. For two days after, Barb and I laughed every time we climbed any more steps in spite of the protests by our thighs. Wynona did not join us for dinner that evening, feeling ill after the long day.
12th Roy and Wynona decided to rest for the day, as Wynona had spent a rough night, but Barb and I booked a tour to Misol Ha and Agua Azul, the first a tall waterfall (90ft) and the other a series of wide waterfalls. Misol Ha is very beautiful in a jungle setting and it was fun to walk along the ledge behind the falls. Agua Azul is picturesque not only due to its natural beauty, but also to the variety of food and craft stands that are set up along the shoreline path of the falls. We had not brought swimming costumes with us, but we waded in the cooling waters of a natural pool. Returning to our jungle hotel that night I felt like I ate too much at dinner. It was my turn for a rough night.
13th We ordered a taxi after breakfast and took the 9:20am bus (at 10:45am) from Palenque to Tapachula and back towards the boats. We made it home after a long (almost 14 hour), cold (the bus has A/C and the driver loves it), winding (through beautiful mountain terrain), bumpy (in addition to the bumps in the two-lane road, topas - speed bumps), hungry (my stomach wasn't up for much and certainly not "road food") ride at just after midnight - the morning of the 14th.
It was a good inland trip. We have several chores to do and things to accomplish now, but we have time. The Tehuantepec winds have kicked up again so we will wait for them to settle down before heading to Huatulco, over 250 miles across the Gulf of Tehuantepec.
Photos will be added to the Blog as I get a chance (it is a slow process requiring a fair amount of time to upload each photo, depending on the local WiFi/Internet traffic at the time.)
More to come
Woke for warmish showers and excellent breakfast. Scott and Joyce got a bus headed for Palenque. We took a guided tour as part of a group of 11 (2 Spanish, 1 Uruguayan, 2 Aussies, 2 French, 4 USA) featuring two villages. First village, Zinacantan, is known for raising flowers and weaving beautiful fabrics. We went to their main cathedral first, St. Lorenzo (St. Lawrence - yay, Larry) and it was packed with offerings of their local harvest - beautiful, beautiful, fragrant flowers. It was jaw-droppingly incredible. Here many of the indigenous indians' traditions are blended with the Catholic faith. Next we got a tour of a small weaving co-op where the women showed us their wares and demonstrated their back-strap loom techniques. Barb bought a beautiful table runner and several others bought items as well. Then the tour guide announced that Barb and I were getting married and we were dressed in traditional wedding garb. The young Aussie couple, Sean and Alicia served as best man and maid of honor. Our friend Wynona and the French woman, Simone served as attendants. The event was capped off with medicine cup sized samples of a sugarcane based alcoholic beverage (Chicha) with which we toasted many happy days to come. One sample was unflavored, one was cinnamon flavored and one was rose de jamaica flavored. I took the natural one and judged it the best after tasting the others. Then (after giving back the clothing) we sat down for tortilla tasting where the women cooked over an open fire and made tortillas, quesadillas and beans along with tomatoes, onions, mashed avocado, ground sunflower seeds and chile. I had a quesadilla and two tortillas - yummy.
Next stop, San Juan Chamula where we visited their unique cathedral. Catholicism is not practiced here and our guide fascinated us with details of the beliefs, rituals and practices of the residents of this village. The cathedral, Iglesia de San Juan Bautista, (Church of St. John, the Baptist), looks Catholic, with carvings and paintings of saints along the sides and the main altar with Saint John featured and Christ on the cross on one side, but only baptisms are done here by a priest who visits every two weeks or so. Our guide characterized this cathedral as a "hospital" where one came to pray to be healed, to pray for someone else to be healed or to pray to give thanks. There are no pews. No mass is said here, no marriages and no funerals. The rituals are more pagan than Christian. As we arrived, the marble floor was being scrapped free of candle wax by a half dozen men on their knees because the members of the village, when they pray for healing, burn candles placed on the floor. The more serious the malady, the more candles they use - like between six and sixty candles. Candles that are colored are more powerful than white ones. The floor spaces in front of each saint had various numbers of supplicants and candles. The tables in front of each saint was where candles were burning to give thanks to them. If someone is ill due to some serious lapse of behavior or of faith, a healer can be employed and he may transfer the illness to a rooster (or two) that is brought into the church and after the transfer is complete the rooster's neck is wrung. The dead rooster is either burned or buried. After the men finished scraping the floor, great bundles of long pine needles were spread over the areas of the floor (where candles were not burning) until the entire space was covered with fresh, green, fragrant needles. Every three days, the old needles are collected, the floor scrapped again and fresh needles spread. We saw folks enter the cathedral, clear a space of needles and start setting up their candles. We saw a fellow enter with a live rooster as well, but we lost sight of where he went (it is a big, busy church!). We couldn't stay to see more and of course, photography is strictly forbidden. The images in my head are unforgettable, however. I found several photos posted by a Spanish young woman tourist when I Googled "Chamula, MX", but I will not use them since they are forbidden. You may view them if you want to.
Jan 10th - After another restful night, warm shower and hot breakfast, we took the 10am bus to Palenque and found our way to Margarita and Ed's Jungle Hotel, just outside the gates of the park in El Panchan and at 200ft of elevation - in the rainforest.
11th We roused ourselves at twilight before dawn to join Don Pedro for an early walk through the jungle to try to spot wildlife. We saw some monkeys high up in some tall trees and heard some underbrush rustling and birds calling, but much of the wildlife was sleeping in this morning. We were very quiet and Don Pedro led us through very thick jungle with paths that were barely discernible so it was not due to lack of effort that we didn't see critters. Just after we came upon some ruins it began to rain gently, enough for Barb and me to break out our umbrellae and for Don Pedro to bite off (yes, with his teeth) some five-foot long banana leaves to serve the same purpose for Wynona and himself. Roy elected to tough it out. Roy slipped down in the fresh, slick mud once and Wynona twice, the second time taking Don Pedro down with her. Barb and I practiced our recently adopted family motto of "Stay upright" successfully by being very, very careful! Reading carefully, Mother? Returning to the Jungle Hotel we went to Don Mucho's Restaurant for breakfast and to meet Raoul for our tour of the park's ruins. It was a very interesting park tour with lots of ascents and descents of steps. Raoul fired our imaginations pointing out details in the well preserved and restored ruins and describing for us the daily routines and also the festive events and rituals documented in the glyphs on the temples, tombs and palaces. For two days after, Barb and I laughed every time we climbed any more steps in spite of the protests by our thighs. Wynona did not join us for dinner that evening, feeling ill after the long day.
12th Roy and Wynona decided to rest for the day, as Wynona had spent a rough night, but Barb and I booked a tour to Misol Ha and Agua Azul, the first a tall waterfall (90ft) and the other a series of wide waterfalls. Misol Ha is very beautiful in a jungle setting and it was fun to walk along the ledge behind the falls. Agua Azul is picturesque not only due to its natural beauty, but also to the variety of food and craft stands that are set up along the shoreline path of the falls. We had not brought swimming costumes with us, but we waded in the cooling waters of a natural pool. Returning to our jungle hotel that night I felt like I ate too much at dinner. It was my turn for a rough night.
13th We ordered a taxi after breakfast and took the 9:20am bus (at 10:45am) from Palenque to Tapachula and back towards the boats. We made it home after a long (almost 14 hour), cold (the bus has A/C and the driver loves it), winding (through beautiful mountain terrain), bumpy (in addition to the bumps in the two-lane road, topas - speed bumps), hungry (my stomach wasn't up for much and certainly not "road food") ride at just after midnight - the morning of the 14th.
It was a good inland trip. We have several chores to do and things to accomplish now, but we have time. The Tehuantepec winds have kicked up again so we will wait for them to settle down before heading to Huatulco, over 250 miles across the Gulf of Tehuantepec.
Photos will be added to the Blog as I get a chance (it is a slow process requiring a fair amount of time to upload each photo, depending on the local WiFi/Internet traffic at the time.)
More to come
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