I’ve just spent a great day travelling by boat down the Canyon Del Sumidero. I’ve taken stacks of photos, a selection of which I have uploaded. The photos don’t quite seem to do it justice.
There were some spectacular views and rock formations, and a whole heap of different wildlife. I saw pelicans, storks, monkeys living in the trees along the canyon, crocodiles, and iguanas (unfortunately I missed photographing these as I was on the wrong side of the boat).
I had a really great day and got a little wind burnt on the boat so have a rudolf nose this afternoon!
I’m going to see if I can get a bus to Palenque tomorrow as I fancy moving on despite the fact that San Cristobal is probably the nicest place that I have stayed so far. The people are very friendly and the hostel I’m staying in very cheap at 60 Pesos (3 GBP) per night including a continental breakfast.
I’ve met a few more people here, one guy Andrew from Australia is biking from Mexico down to Buenos Aires! He does have until March though. There is a real mix of nationalities; I’ve met people from France, Germany, Norway, Israel, Canada (Quebec), Lithuania, and Belgium.
I have been experiencing the local food again here in more ways than one! Had a great Torta and Quesidilla last night but it seemed to unsettle my stomach. I don’t think it had anything to do with the 5 bottles of Sol I drank last night!
Archive for July, 2006
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Arrived in San Cristobal De Las Casas after a twisty bus journey up through the mountains. I was near the back of the bus and worried that I may get travel sick especially since I had a bit of a dodgy stomach the day I left. Fortunately I was okay, but others on the bus were not so lucky. At least I couldn’t smell it!
I was sat next to a very large Mexican who took up about one and a half seats, so the planned sleep didn’t really happen. The seats were mega comfortable and reclined, but my seat kept making itself upright every time the bus had to brake … like every 5 mins.
Consequently I slept for 4 hours yesterday when I had checked in to the Backpackers Hostel to the north of the town. I really like the relaxed atmosphere here and haven’t done much apart from walk around (small enough to do in a couple of hours) and book up a tour for tomorrow to Canyon Del Sumidero.
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Finally got round to finding an internet cafe to add another entry. Am still in Oaxaca awaiting a night bus tonight on to San Cristobal De Las Casas, some 11 hrs. I had a fairly interesting journey over here on the bus (6.5 hrs) … the first time I’ve been on the motorway and had to stop for a pack of dogs in the middle of the road! The weather was appalling with it raining very hard most of the way. As a result the roof of the coach started to leak and was dripping on a couple 3 seats in front. I got a few drips as we went up hill and it ran towards the back of the coach.
Tonight I have booked an ‘Executive’ bus at a cost of 3GBP more than a First Class one.
Oaxaca is going through a bit of political turmoil at the moment as a result of the teachers protesting against poor pay. They have barricaded themselves in the Zocalo and sleep there. They want more money to be in line with other states but the governor seems to be taking all the money to buy land and houses for himself. The teachers have written graffiti all over the buildings and it is quite a tense atmosphere. The governor ‘Ulises’ sent in riot police with rubber bullets and tear gas two weeks ago to try to disperse them but it has made things worse. At least 2 people were killed and countless others are still missing. Not good.
This is why I am moving on quicker than planned. I took a trip to Monte Alban which was very good; I met up with an Italian girl Paola, a French girl Helene, and a Canadian guy called Ben and we took a local bus up there to save money. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without Paola’s grasp of Spanish. The local bus drops short of the site and there is a half hour walk up hill to get there but very pleasant if not a little hot.
The others have all left already so I plan to visit the Santo Domingo church today and just take it easy.
We tried to visit Mitla but the road is closed and you can’t get there at the moment so not really anything more to see or do here.
Hopefully I’ve sorted out the album now but there are some missing photos as a result. I inadvertantly reset my camera and a whole load of pictures are 1.5Mb each so I can’t upload them! Bye for now.
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