We arrived in San Cristobal midday. While Carol minded the packs at the bus station, Kent went looking for lodgings. There are HEAPS of tourists here, many seem to be from Europe and the prices of the hostels and hotels are priced accordingly :o( Kent did however find one very cheap hotel, but it was pretty grungy, so decided to get Carols opinion. We booked into a room (150p) with a very scummy bathroom and discovered the lock could be opened with any key or knife, so we chained the door to the window bars with the bike lock we carry. As we were walking out of the hotel, we saw a sign advertising double rooms for 80p, so moved to the cheaper room. The room was clean, but the beds were a bit delapidated. The lock was dodgy too but after 20 minutes Kent had remounted the door lock and we had the room secured. We spent the rest of the day exploring the city centre, and had a pleasant evening watching couples dancing while a band with a marimba played. Carol was craving cake (after getting a taste in Tuxtla), so we walked to the supermarket in the commercial district. Carol bought her cake (80p) and Kent bought a beer (18p / litre), and we caught a colectivo back to what we thought was the centre. It turned out that it was the local centre of town rather than the historical centre, where there was a market in full swing and people everywhere. Here in Mexico, 6th January is celebrated in honour of the Three Kings by giving gifts to the children (rather than giving gifts at christmas) and eating special cakes. After we got our bearings we walked back to our hotel for beer and cake.
What a terrible night! The bed was so uncomfortable that neither got much sleep. About two in the morning we were so fed up we were going to throw the mattress on the other bed and discovered the planks under the mattress were odd lengths and short boards placed at wierd angles! After sorting out the base we threw the mattress back on the bed and blissfully slept until 7am when Carol went back to the bus terminal to meet Gary who was travelling direct from Oaxaca.
Gary however didn´t arrive on the 7.30am bus as expected. After getting no information from the bus station, Carol walked back to the hotel. We decided to look for alternate accomodation, and explored the city some more. After finding some possibilities we walked back to the hotel to collect our packs, and lo and behold, Gary found us! He had caught the very next bus and had arrived just after Carol had left the terminal. We have found that it is sometimes difficult to get all the information you need by asking a Mexican a question. If you ask 'is the museum open?' you will be told just 'no' rather than 'no, but we open in a minute though'. So when Carol asked about Gary travelling from Oaxaca, noone told her there was another bus on the way. Gary had also found a hotel and had bargained a room for the three of us for 220p a night with ensuite, cable tv, and free internet! After settling in we explored the city some more, bought a few supplies, then spent the evening watching movies (in English!) on cable tv.
We spent Wednesday exploring the nearby indian village of Chamula which is higher in the mountains. San Cristobal is at 2100m above sea level, so Chamula was very warm in the sun, but was quite cold when it clouded over. We visited the local church which although was Catholic, the local people have adopted into their own beliefs and culture, the floor was covered with pine needles and lit candles were everywhere. We had tacos for lunch (2p each) and wandered up to the local cemetery where there was a ruin of an old church and workmen were cleaning off the old decorations from the gravesites (more pine needles, pine branches and flowers).
One more night here then next stop Comitan.
