Day 37: San Cristobal de las Casas

We arrived in San Cristobal de las Casas late last night after finishing at Palenque earlier than anticipated. The hostel we’re staying in for the rest of our stay was all booked up, so we stopped at Posada Leon de Jovel for a night’s sleep. It’s a very good, very cheap hostel with lovely tiles everywhere and a very nice courtyard – and it’s run by an English lady, which after no sleep, a day of pyramid-climbing and a long bus journey, made life much easier with our late-night arrival…

We slept in until checking out time, then rolled around the corner to our hostel for the next few days – Posada Mexico. It has great views of the mountains surrounding the city and lots of bougainvillea, which automatically makes places look picturesque. They let us check straight into our room which was much appreciated and the whole place has a nice feel to it – we’re in a big private room off a garden courtyard and there’s a nice bar and kitchen area. Definitely recommended!

Once we’d eaten it was time to explore San Cristobal properly and it was every bit as beautiful and interesting as I’d hoped. Surrounded by misty, pine-covered mountains, the streets are all cobbled and the houses pastel-washed and fronted with fantastic tiles. The market town is also full of people from local indigenous villages in their different distinctive traditional dress and is very heavily represented with Zapatista culture.

I didn’t really know much about the Zapatista movement before visiting here, but having spent a lot of this afternoon reading about it and learning more, I’m fascinated. It’s even more interesting/sobering to read about it when you’re in the area and so heavily surrounded by those locals effected by it, particularly those driven to poverty in the Belt of Misery. You can read an overview of the movement here – its presence is very strongly felt everywhere in the town, through fund-raising shops and cafes to regular protests and political graffiti. The Fire and the Word by Gloria Ramirez is supposed to be a good overview, if you’re interested in learning more.

Although it is a well-visited town, there isn’t much in the way of big ‘sights’ in San Cristobal – it’s more a place to wander and enjoy the atmosphere, as well as the multitude of bars and restaurants. Nevertheless, we ticked off all the usual must-sees today: the cathedral, which is very yellow on the outside but was closed when we showed up; the Iglesias de Guadalupe, which is up lots of stairs and affords an amazing view across the town and hills as well as being incredible on the inside; the market square or zocalo, which is as lovely as all the rest in Mexico; the Templo de Santo Domingo, which was closed but which is covered in incredible baroque stucco work; and the Templo de la Caridad, which is less ornate on the outside but features an amazing gilded alterpiece that more than makes up for the exterior.

We had dinner at the main Zapatista cultural centre/restaurant, TierrAdentro, which was great and also very cheap. There’s an interesting interview with the owner here, if you’re interested in knowing more about why the movement opened a place to eat!

So far, San Cristobal, so good.