On the Road with Brent & Erika

We had a pretty nice overnight bus to San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas. In the morning we rode through some incredible scenery--we climbed higher and higher among green mountains until we were looking down onto a bed of clouds from above. We slept pretty well but still managed to need a nap on our first day there. On this trip we tried to see and do as much as we could while still taking time to relax. San Cristobal is a colonial town with narrow, cobblestone streets. It's a bit touristy and quite a bit rainy, but nice nonetheless.

--Brent

Scenes from the beautiful and quaint streets of the hilltop town of San Cristobal de las Casas:

















Little Zapatista dolls. The Zapatistas are a group of indigenous revolutionaries that sought equality and access to their lands in a violent uprising in 1994. The indigenous people see them as local freedom fighting heroes, thus these popular dolls.


Erika getting a cheese fix in San Cristobal


Erika crossing a street turned into a stream during an evening downpour




Clearly, 13 years after the Zapatista uprising, this region is still controversial and anti-establishment.


Chamulan man walking past Erika during breakfast


Our breakfast stall

On day two of this region, we went to San Juan Chamula, a smaller, indigenous town with two very interesting churches. One has a cemetery outside of it with color coded crosses. Black ones mean the person died at an old age, white for children and blue for others.

And in the other church, the pews were all pushed to the side along the wall leaving a huge area of empty floor in the middle. There were thousands of candles lit directly on the tile floor with wax melting onto it. It was a surreal atmosphere, but we weren't allowed to take pictures. The people brought things as offerings such as cokes and also chickens (we saw one get its neck broken right in front of our eyes). Also interesting is that they hold John the Baptist in higher regard than Jesus; therefore, it was a statue of John the Baptist up front and center rather than Jesus. Brent and I sat on a step and watched in fascination at all of the candle burning and sacrifices.

--Erika


Templo de San Juan in the heart of San Juan Chamula


Religious procession, which included music, incense and fireworks, through the streets of San Juan Chamula


Patient mother with cute puppy


Sisters in front of graveyard and church ruins. This is my favorite picture Brent took from the trip.


Previously mentioned color-coded cemetery


The Chamulan men are known by their loose homespun tunics of black or white wool.

More pictures from San Juan Chamula:








After that we went to a nature reserve/cloud forest and hiked up there for a couple of hours. Erika was having some stomach issues (no fun!) but was a trooper and managed through it. We had this hike pretty much to ourselves and enjoyed some nice flowers. It also included a diversity of fern species that changed as we climbed up, which supposedly brought fern lovers near and far to this forest. We, however, did not run across any botany-lovers of this sort that day.

--Brent


Erika on the left hiking through the cloud forest in Huitepec Ecological Reserve


Brent taking a break


Local flora

After San Juan Chamula and the nature reserve, we sought out more nature with a large waterfall (El Chiflan) and a multitude of colorful lakes called the Lagos de Montebello. The lakes were surrounded by pine trees, and the only place we could stay was in a little cabana. We had a nice two story one to ourselves, but there was no running water in the place. There was a sink and a toilet...but no water. This factor proved near fatal (slight exaggeration) when combined with continued stomach issues on my end and torrential rain at night, but I'll spare you further details. Let's just say it was a brief low of the trip.

The next day we took a little van tour of the many surrounding lakes with a mother/daughter pair from Tijuana. They were nice. We went rowing on one of the lakes for an hour and had a great time and got a bit sunburned. I can't seem to travel without coming home with some ridiculous tan lines. Last year if you will recall the unfortunate knee sunburn...this year was just some very dark farmer's tan. Overall we really enjoyed the peaceful, alpine, camplike setting and the exquisite colors of the lakes.

--Erika


The amazingly powerful waterfall El Chiflon which soaked us to the bone with its spray


These stalls prepared food over open fires, which combined with piney woods and lakes gave us the peaceful feel of camping


Our delicious dinner, huevos con chorizo, upon arrival to Los Lagos de Montebello


Sunset over Laguna Bosque Azul


Erika journaling in our cabana in the woods (She would like to point out her extremely dirty feet!)

The beautiful Lagos de Montebello:











Our Tijuana mother/daughter friends that toured the lakes with us

Rafting on the bluest of the Cinco Lagunas:







More amazing chocolate, this time in hot cocoa form


Our friend who cooked us several homemade meals over her wood stove (and also hooked up Brent's pocket chocolate which he faithfully carried around the rest of the trip)

We actually had an unexpected chance to cross into Guatemala on our lake tour. We didn't pass an official border crossing, but there was a sign that said welcome to Guatemala, so I think it counts. While there, Erika found this young German Shepherd that reminded her of her dog Sage. So, of course, she had to befriend it.

--Brent


A rather homemade looking "Welcome to Guatemala" banner


Erika loves German Shepherds!


Erika gazing at one of the lakes on the Guatemala side


Soldier at one of the several checkpoints in Chiapas

Next up, the jungle-shrouded Maya ruins of Palenque!