chiapis trip march 2007

We left Sunday morning and drove 335 miles in about 6 1/4 hours to Palenque—via Campeche, Campoton (the place to eat shrimp), Escarcega, and Catazaga—and stayed at Chan Kah resort near the ruins. The hotel had some of the hardest beds we’ve ever encountered but a nice bungalow room with a porch with rocking chairs, clean, hot shower, a three-pooled swimming area, an adequate restaurant, and plenty of plantings for privacy which completed our sense of sleeping in the jungle. In the pool, we met a fun couple from Michigan and their 26-year old son who’d had a car accident that left him badly damaged, pretty much unable to speak, with difficulty moving named Sean. Sure put things into perspective!
Monday we drove up to see Palenque and were wowed. There was a very Asian feel to the buildings, with the Temple of the Inscriptions and the Governor’s Palace more like what we expected. Climbing up higher above these we found another plaza (Cruces) with several temples and then more still above those. Saw quite a few partial buildings as we walked through the jungle. We were charmed by the rivers (Bat and Otulum) and the Queen’s Bath, huge trees, and green. Decided to see what else there was nearby and found Misol Ha, a waterfall with a pool near it (and some cabins where we thought we might stay some time). There are lots of vendors everywhere selling mainly Mayan designs painted onto leather. We bought a toucan painted on a bird feather from Raul Ballnar, who was shocked when we asked him to sign his work.
Tuesday we went to Agua Azul (about 35 miles from Palenque no matter what the kilometer markers try to tell you), an amazing set of falls with green clear water. We left Sunday morning and drove 335 miles in about 6 1/4 hours to Palenque—via Campeche, Campoton (the place to eat shrimp), Escarcega, and Catazaga—and stayed at Chan Kah resort near the ruins. The hotel had some of the hardest beds we’ve ever encountered but a nice bungalow room with a porch with rocking chairs, clean, hot shower, a three-pooled swimming area, an adequate restaurant, and plenty of plantings for privacy which completed our sense of sleeping in the jungle. In the pool, we met a fun couple from Michigan and their 26-year old son who’d had a car accident that left him badly damaged, pretty much unable to speak, with difficulty moving named Sean. Sure put things into perspective!
Monday we drove up to see Palenque and were wowed. There was a very Asian feel to the buildings, with the Temple of the Inscriptions and the Governor’s Palace more like what we expected. Climbing up higher above these we found another plaza (Cruces) with several temples and then more still above those. Saw quite a few partial buildings as we walked through the jungle. We were charmed by the rivers (Bat and Otulum) and the Queen’s Bath, huge trees, and green. Decided to see what else there was nearby and found Misol Ha, a waterfall with a pool near it (and some cabins where we thought we might stay some time). There are lots of vendors everywhere selling mainly Mayan designs painted onto leather. We bought a toucan painted on a bird feather from Raul Ballnar, who was shocked when we asked him to sign his work.
Tuesday we went to Agua Azul (about 35 miles from Palenque no matter what the kilometer markers try to tell you), an amazing set of falls with green clear water. Spent the morning there, swimming and Eva blessing her rocks, and had lunch – 5 empanadas for 10 pesos -- then drove to San Cristobal, 200 kilometers of driving that took every bit of 4 hours to climb over 3000 meters with knuckles tensed on the steering wheel and legs helping with the brakes. When Eva said “this must be a bad curve, it has its own cemetery,” we knew we’d had about enough. This was an absolutely gorgeous drive through not-quite-mountains of GREEN, with breathtaking views around every hair-raising curve, and fabulous trees, especially pine and cedar which are so unfamiliar to us in the Yucatan, but you will rarely drive over 20mph.
We passed through Ocosingo, where the guide books said to stop and taste the cheese, but we could not find any place we cared to stop.
About three hours into the drive around 4pm, we went over a bit of newly laid gravel that had been tarred but not smashed down smooth. We had no choice but to drive over it, but unfortunately, a piece of gravel got caught somewhere in the area of the driver’s side wheel. We stopped when we could safely pull off and Eva and I both explored under the car, but she got her hands dirty looking for the source of the screeching noise we now had. Passers-by looked appalled as I stood in the road so cars had to go around Eva on her stomach under the car. Unable to see anything, she tried braking and then swerving to dislodge whatever it was. No luck. So we kept going (we were virtually in no man’s land with very few huts or towns of any size) until she got really worried and she pulled off to the left side into a place with several cars parked in front of two buildings in a “town” named Pob. Tzajala. One building was a shop that turned out to sell good amber inexpensively while the other was a mechanic – no sign or indication of what it was but it was a mechanic!! He raised up the car, took off the wheel, and voila, there was a piece of glass stuck. He got it out, charged us 40 pesos (we gave him 100), put it all back together, and we bought an amber necklace to remember the adventure.
Along the drive throughout Chiapis, we realized there was a certain hierarchy about houses, really huts since they tend to be one room. From being made with palapa and sticks, they move on to logs, then milled wood, then lamina roofs, then block, then stuccoed block, then painted (VERY FEW) stucco over block. It appears that in some areas, a government is supplying block for the villagers to build better homes. This seemed especially true in the pueblos right next to the ones where we saw signs of support for the Zapatista rebels. We saw bananas galore, corn in very unlikely places, and palms. Women wore and sold blouses with hot pink and green embroidery – Lilly Pulitzer eat your heart out. One could buy corn, many types of fruits like peeled oranges, jicima, and even popcorn along the road without ever leaving your car.
We stayed the first night in San Cristobal de las Casas at the Parador San Juan de Dios which was fabulous. We had the place to ourselves, our own fireplace in the room, wooden floors, ancient-looking tile roofs, linen bedspreads, lovely gardens, and a romantic dinner. We loved it despite the barking dog and fireworks that banged every hour on the hour.
The next day, we moved to the Flamboyan Espanol, which turned out to have been purchased by Holiday Inn and was so ghastly that we only stayed one night, instead of the two we’d planned. We did make the most of our day in town however, seeing churches (LOTS of gold leaf) and the Zocalo, shopping at artisans (the “multi-talented” Kiki Suarez was well represented in her shop, but could not find anyone who had more than postcards from Beatriz Aurora), having foot (good way to spend a half hour after lunch) and body massages (horrible way to end a long day with a man walking on Sandy’s back who looked a lot like Santa Claus in pink corduroy cutoffs), and ending the day with room service since we were just too tired to continue. Meant to see the Chamula villages, Tonina, Chiapa de Corzo, and Socoltenango, but will have to save those for next time since we could not stand another day at the Holiday Inn.
Drove out to the east so we could stop and see the place where the jaguar barro pots were made, Amatenango de Valle. Through perseverance, we found a woman who makes the best ones and bought two and a jaguar from her and her daughter – overpriced but she said she sells cheaper when the big buyers come since they buy everything she has. Found two more pots and an armadillo at a cooperative of artisans that was right by the highway. This was a LONG day of driving but not horrible—some through very dry land, but mostly lowlands like the Yucatan. There were places with no homes to speak of but there was always a bar with a nice door. The drive took longer than it needed to since we tried to see Yaxchilan and Bonampak but were too late for either one (we thought we could tell people we saw them both since we had legitimately stopped, but…). Stopped briefly at an eco-lodge near Yaxchilan dock but the fans were noisy and didn’t work after about 10 minutes so no way Eva would stay there. So we pushed on to Palenque and arrived back at Chan Kah around 8 that night.
As we drove throughout Chiapis, we saw : boulders IN the road, road that had just fallen way, children on the road, horses grazing and with riders, turkeys, sheer drop-offs, trees, landslides, topes of every description, firewood, a tunnel with a tarp ceiling, bananas lining the roads, and even a SNAKE (unfortunately, Sandy was driving and what looked like a stick moved, causing her to scream and almost run off the road).
Friday, Sandy decided to actually “see” the two ruins while Eva spent a delightful day by the pool reading and relaxing. So 6am found her awake, dressed, and waiting for a van. There was then about a 3 hour sojourn including a stop for breakfast to get to our first stop. Because Sandy sat in front and had limited conversation with the driver about Vicente Fernandez before they picked up the others, the two German tourists who subsequently boarded the van decided she could be their translator!! Fortunately, they spoke enough English so she didn’t have to try to summon up German as well as Spanish.
Yaxchilan requires a 30-minute boat ride to even get to on a wide river with Guatamala on the other side, so 7 of us headed off with an English-speaking guide we borrowed from two Scottish folks. We began with a labyrinth filled with bats and spiders. Ugh. This site was only discovered in 1981 and has a ball court, some well-preserved carvings on the lintels of doorways, giant 50 meter ceibas in the grand plaza. About half of it has been excavated and it sits above the river, even higher than the river would rise during the rainy season – this being the end of the dry season now. We saw the famous carving of a man bleeding his penis and on the back, seen with the help of a mirror, is a carving of a woman whose tongue has been pierced with an obsidian knife and is now using a rope through the hole to let blood flow (it’s tough being royal, after all, or at least it was). There is also an acropolis with a combed-top building high up above the tree tops. Back at the boat, we waited and waited for the two Mexicans who were part of our group and ended up leaving them after waiting 45 minutes. Got back to land, ate lunch, and they showed up, not apologetic or even understanding that we’d been frustrated by them.
On to Bonampak which was never a place people lived, but rather was a ceremonial site. The Lacandon Indians live in this area and had been hidden in the jungle since the time the Spanish came until recently. The men wear white dresses and the women wear colorful ones. To benefit this group, we had to stop our van outside the park and allow one of the Lacandon to drive his van in. We drove on a piss-poor road of white gravel like a modern-day sacbé, with potholes, ruts, rocks, uneven grading, and loose gravel as hazards. Decided this man’s parents must own a concession for axles, struts, tires, and not just locally, but for the region since he drove like a bat outa hell. Bonampak has a largish plaza with ruins around it, amazing 10 meter stellae and a building with two small houses atop, then even higher up 5 more small buildings (acropolis). About half-way up the stairs, the three-roomed building still has some frescoes on the walls which are marvelous to behold and carved lintels which are still very much intact.
The road to Yaxchilan and Bonampak is being torn up to put in potable water, much like what we saw happening around Calakmul. Apparently, the government has a program to be sure every hut has clean water == a good plan for the 21st century! We also saw men sitting outside on chairs with a view to a door in the bar where the TV was housed. And many topes of all descriptions – understand that the indigenous folks can ask for a tope anywhere they want one and the government will put one in.
Agua Azul’s water is hardly blue, but it is clean and beautiful!! It is worth a climb to the top to look back down the falls. Spent the morning there, swimming and Eva blessing her rocks, and had lunch – 5 empanadas for 10 pesos -- then drove to San Cristobal, 200 kilometers of driving that took every bit of 4 hours to climb over 3000 meters with knuckles tensed on the steering wheel and legs helping with the brakes. When Eva said “this must be a bad curve, it has its own cemetery,” we knew we’d had about enough. This was an absolutely gorgeous drive through not-quite-mountains of GREEN, with breathtaking views around every hair-raising curve, and fabulous trees, especially pine and cedar which are so unfamiliar to us in the Yucatan, but you will rarely drive over 20mph.
We passed through Ocosingo, where the guide books said to stop and taste the cheese, but we could not find any place we cared to stop.
About three hours into the drive around 4pm, we went over a bit of newly laid gravel that had been tarred but not smashed down smooth. We had no choice but to drive over it, but unfortunately, a piece of gravel got caught somewhere in the area of the driver’s side wheel. We stopped when we could safely pull off and Eva and I both explored under the car, but she got her hands dirty looking for the source of the screeching noise we now had. Passers-by looked appalled as I stood in the road so cars had to go around Eva on her stomach under the car. Unable to see anything, she tried braking and then swerving to dislodge whatever it was. No luck. So we kept going (we were virtually in no man’s land with very few huts or towns of any size) until she got really worried and she pulled off to the left side into a place with several cars parked in front of two buildings in a “town” named Pob. Tzajala. One building was a shop that turned out to sell good amber inexpensively while the other was a mechanic – no sign or indication of what it was but it was a mechanic!! He raised up the car, took off the wheel, and voila, there was a piece of glass stuck. He got it out, charged us 40 pesos (we gave him 100), put it all back together, and we bought an amber necklace to remember the adventure.
Along the drive throughout Chiapis, we realized there was a certain hierarchy about houses, really huts since they tend to be one room. From being made with palapa and sticks, they move on to logs, then milled wood, then lamina roofs, then block, then stuccoed block, then painted (VERY FEW) stucco over block. It appears that in some areas, a government is supplying block for the villagers to build better homes. This seemed especially true in the pueblos right next to the ones where we saw signs of support for the Zapatista rebels. We saw bananas galore, corn in very unlikely places, and palms. Women wore and sold blouses with hot pink and green embroidery – Lilly Pulitzer eat your heart out. One could buy corn, many types of fruits like peeled oranges, jicima, and even popcorn along the road without ever leaving your car.
We stayed the first night in San Cristobal de las Casas at the Parador San Juan de Dios which was fabulous. We had the place to ourselves, our own fireplace in the room, wooden floors, ancient-looking tile roofs, linen bedspreads, lovely gardens, and a romantic dinner. We loved it despite the barking dog and fireworks that banged every hour on the hour.
The next day, we moved to the Flamboyan Espanol, which turned out to have been purchased by Holiday Inn and was so ghastly that we only stayed one night, instead of the two we’d planned. We did make the most of our day in town however, seeing churches (LOTS of gold leaf) and the Zocalo, shopping at artisans (the “multi-talented” Kiki Suarez was well represented in her shop, but could not find anyone who had more than postcards from Beatriz Aurora), having foot (good way to spend a half hour after lunch) and body massages (horrible way to end a long day with a man walking on Sandy’s back who looked a lot like Santa Claus in pink corduroy cutoffs), and ending the day with room service since we were just too tired to continue. Meant to see the Chamula villages, Tonina, Chiapa de Corzo, and Socoltenango, but will have to save those for next time since we could not stand another day at the Holiday Inn.
Drove out to the east so we could stop and see the place where the jaguar barro pots were made, Amatenango de Valle. Through perseverance, we found a woman who makes the best ones and bought two and a jaguar from her and her daughter – overpriced but she said she sells cheaper when the big buyers come since they buy everything she has. Found two more pots and an armadillo at a cooperative of artisans that was right by the highway. This was a LONG day of driving but not horrible—some through very dry land, but mostly lowlands like the Yucatan. There were places with no homes to speak of but there was always a bar with a nice door. The drive took longer than it needed to since we tried to see Yaxchilan and Bonampak but were too late for either one (we thought we could tell people we saw them both since we had legitimately stopped, but…). Stopped briefly at an eco-lodge near Yaxchilan dock but the fans were noisy and didn’t work after about 10 minutes so no way Eva would stay there. So we pushed on to Palenque and arrived back at Chan Kah around 8 that night.
As we drove throughout Chiapis, we saw : boulders IN the road, road that had just fallen way, children on the road, horses grazing and with riders, turkeys, sheer drop-offs, trees, landslides, topes of every description, firewood, a tunnel with a tarp ceiling, bananas lining the roads, and even a SNAKE (unfortunately, Sandy was driving and what looked like a stick moved, causing her to scream and almost run off the road).
Friday, Sandy decided to actually “see” the two ruins while Eva spent a delightful day by the pool reading and relaxing. So 6am found her awake, dressed, and waiting for a van. There was then about a 3 hour sojourn including a stop for breakfast to get to our first stop. Because Sandy sat in front and had limited conversation with the driver about Vicente Fernandez before they picked up the others, the two German tourists who subsequently boarded the van decided she could be their translator!! Fortunately, they spoke enough English so she didn’t have to try to summon up German as well as Spanish.
Yaxchilan requires a 30-minute boat ride to even get to on a wide river with Guatamala on the other side, so 7 of us headed off with an English-speaking guide we borrowed from two Scottish folks. We began with a labyrinth filled with bats and spiders. Ugh. This site was only discovered in 1981 and has a ball court, some well-preserved carvings on the lintels of doorways, giant 50 meter ceibas in the grand plaza. About half of it has been excavated and it sits above the river, even higher than the river would rise during the rainy season – this being the end of the dry season now. We saw the famous carving of a man bleeding his penis and on the back, seen with the help of a mirror, is a carving of a woman whose tongue has been pierced with an obsidian knife and is now using a rope through the hole to let blood flow (it’s tough being royal, after all, or at least it was). There is also an acropolis with a combed-top building high up above the tree tops. Back at the boat, we waited and waited for the two Mexicans who were part of our group and ended up leaving them after waiting 45 minutes. Got back to land, ate lunch, and they showed up, not apologetic or even understanding that we’d been frustrated by them.
On to Bonampak which was never a place people lived, but rather was a ceremonial site. The Lacandon Indians live in this area and had been hidden in the jungle since the time the Spanish came until recently. The men wear white dresses and the women wear colorful ones. To benefit this group, we had to stop our van outside the park and allow one of the Lacandon to drive his van in. We drove on a piss-poor road of white gravel like a modern-day sacbé, with potholes, ruts, rocks, uneven grading, and loose gravel as hazards. Decided this man’s parents must own a concession for axles, struts, tires, and not just locally, but for the region since he drove like a bat outa hell. Bonampak has a largish plaza with ruins around it, amazing 10 meter stellae and a building with two small houses atop, then even higher up 5 more small buildings (acropolis). About half-way up the stairs, the three-roomed building still has some frescoes on the walls which are marvelous to behold and carved lintels which are still very much intact.
The road to Yaxchilan and Bonampak is being torn up to put in potable water, much like what we saw happening around Calakmul. Apparently, the government has a program to be sure every hut has clean water == a good plan for the 21st century! We also saw men sitting outside on chairs with a view to a door in the bar where the TV was housed. And many topes of all descriptions – understand that the indigenous folks can ask for a tope anywhere they want one and the government will put one in.
see our pictures of this trip at http://picasaweb.google.com/necshs1/Chiapis