Click on a photo to enlarge it.
After all the driving and sightseeing, we decided to relax on Monday. Peter and Irene wasted 3 hours in the heat in
Palenque town, trying to do some shopping - they managed to get some eggs, but that was all!! No supermarkets
here!
Kirsten made some cinnamon rolls and Helen decided to go for a massage. The masseuse was heavily pregnant and spent a
lot of time standing in silence, palms raised as if praying that the massage would be over quickly. Very weird! The
massage was very relaxing but the oil wouldn't come off under a cold shower!
On Tuesday we went on a full days tour with Peter and Irene. The tour takes people along a stretch of road that has
been known for robberies, some at gun point. In fact Madeleine and Peter who gave us a road atlas of Mexico were held
up at gun point along this road and had to hand over money! The situation has been quiet over recent years but we
still decided on the tour.
We had to wait quite a while for the van to turn up as it was 30 minutes late. Then we squashed into a small van
along with 8 others and our first stop was a waterfall at Misol-Ha. The waterfall is 35 meters and we were given
30 minutes for photos.
The second stop was at Agua Clara with beautiful pastel turquoise water and a suspension bridge. We only had 30
minutes there too so we walked off towards the suspension bridge and saw that the van was going to pick us up nearby.
But the driver hadn't told us. Consequently, Kirsten had to go and fetch the others!
Then we drove to Agua Azul - numerous cascading waterfalls. Here we had over 3 hours to wander around. We walked
along a path that climbed up into the hills alongside the waterfalls. Once we were at the top, we found a more
secluded spot to go for a swim. The water was cold enough to take your breath away - very refreshing!
At least up at the top, the water was clearer and not as murky as at the bottom of the falls where most people were
swimming - and a few dogs aswell!
Misol-Ha, Agua Clara, Agua Azul.
It was a really good tour despite the van having to stop on the way back for one of the passengers to be sick!!!
Fortunately, by then we had already eaten all the cinnamon rolls that Kirsten had baked the day before.
On Wednesday, we drove the short distance up to the entrance to Palenque ruins. These are probably the best ruins we
have visited. They only cost about $4 to go in, (not like Chichen Itza and Uxmal which were a lot more expensive),
and if you can beat the crowds and go to the lower part of the site, you can get the whole place to yourself - well,
you have to share them with the howler monkeys!
The site is very large and there are a lot more buildings to climb and see than we have seen at other sites. Palenque
was first occupied around 100 BC and flourished from 630 to 740 AD under the reign of "Pakal" who lived to the age of
80 and many of the structures were built during his reign. After 900 AD the ruins were largely abandoned and the
jungle took back its territory.
Although the ruins existence were unknown to the western world until 1746 when Mayan hunters told the Spanish about
it, parts of the site remained undiscovered until 1952. There was even a Count who lived on top of one of the
pyramids for 2 years (1831 - 3)!!
Unfortunately, you have to try and beat the crowds. As we arrived, about 5 coaches full of tourists had just got
there. The crowds and the heat can get too much. But there is a perfect solution. Go to the southern part of the
ruins - a path leads through the jungle down to a stream and is a lot cooler because of the shade. Plus you can see
the howler monkeys who make an eerie sound - a bit like a Hollywood "wind" sound effect used in a ghost story. It's
hard to believe it comes from Monkeys!
We spent about 2.5 hours at the ruins and then visited the museum. Then it was just a few minutes walk back to the
campground and time for a well earned cold shower! Then we had ice creams at the restaurant and sat chatting to
Frederike and Lotte (the two girls who turned out to be sisters who had had all their money stolen in Tulum). They
were travelling with Hardin (who has built his own RV) and were going through a real tough time trying to get money,
which had finally arrived today!
That evening, there were 7 of us crowded around Peter and Irene's table, chatting away and then it started pouring
down with rain. The rain carried on all through the night and, consequently, we didn't get much sleep at all.
On Thursday, we were due to drive along the treacherous road into the mountains and the Zapatista stronghold to San
Cristóbal. But because we didn't sleep well, Kirsten got up early to go and tell Peter and Irene that we would drive
tomorrow instead and then went back to bed!
We were really tired but for some reason, Kirsten still trusted Helen to cut her hair! Then we swapped books with a
Canadian couple and ended up getting a very useful lesson on RV mechanics.
Then we chatted to an English couple who had driven from San Cristóbal 2 days ago and had got stopped by the
Zapatistas who demanded 300 pesos. When they argued about the amount of money, their land rover was hit with sticks.
They paid 150 pesos and were allowed to pass through. Apparently it was "Ladies Day" and they were demanding money
from everyone driving along the road.
However, they told us that it was just a "one off" and that they would still drive along this road. We were a bit
concerned about Peter and Irene who had driven along there today.
The Zapatista movement was born in 1911, and were fighting for land to be transferred to the peasants. They are a
leftist guerrilla army who remained virtually unknown until 1994 when they emerged from the jungle to occupy San
Cristóbal and other towns in the state of Chiapas. The Mexican army evicted them within days but about 150 people
were killed in the fighting. When the Zapatistas set up autonomous municipalities in the region, there was a massacre
in one village in 1997 by right-wing paramilitary groups from the governing Mexican party. Since then there have been
a number of incidents and thousands of Zapatista supporters have fled from their villages.
Since 2003 things seem to have quietened down and everyone we have spoken to said there were no longer any problems.
Even the English couple told us not to worry about driving along the road to San Cristóbal.
So we got up early on Friday, got propane and petrol and set off along the road into the hills. It was a total of
134 miles, but there are a humungous amount of speed bumps along the way. We counted 180 !! That's more than one per
mile and we knew we would need about 7 to 8 hours for the drive.
We knew the first part of the road as we had driven along it on our tour to Agua Azul. The rest of the way was new to
us and we even encountered hawkers who held a rope across the road, to try and stop you so that you will buy
something. But we just used our horn and didn't even slow down - they let the rope fall onto the floor at the last
minute!
After about 2 hours, we had to stop because we could smell propane. When we looked, the propane was hissing out of
our tank! The man who had filled up for us, hadn't attached the valve properly. So we lost about 1 gallon!!
We didn't stop again and even ate sandwiches and cake as we drove along. We managed to get past the place where the
English couple had to pay, without any problems and as we got to the outskirts of San Cristóbal, we thought we had
made it without any problems - wrong!!
There was a massive traffic, out of the blue. It was 2.5 miles long and people were getting out of buses and coaches
and opted to walk the rest of the way. The traffic did not seem to be moving at all. There were absolutely no
vehicles coming in the other direction and when other cars started overtaking the long queue on the wrong side of the
road, we decided to join them.
It's a good job we did, otherwise it would have taken us hours to get through. So what was the problem?? You've
guessed it - the Zapatistas. They had set up a road block and were demanding money. We have since heard that the
Zaptistas do not demand money and therefore it is other groups who are trying to raise money because they do not
get any Government funding.
After following another line of traffic on the wrong side of the road we managed to jump about 1.5 miles of the
traffic jam. Surprisingly, most of the people were just sitting in their cars with their engines switched off. Most
Unmexican!! Mexicans are extremely fond of their horns. It happens all the time that we are first in line at a red
traffic light and all of a sudden, at least 5 of the cars behind us will start honking at us, even though the light
is still red. It's just their way of saying "It'll be green for us next"!! In the beginning it really gets on your
nerves. But you get used to it - you have to!!
We managed to ask a few people what the problem was and overheard some conversations that said they were asking for
20 pesos ($2). So we hid all our money, except one 20 peso note which we put into as small purse. The road blockers
were only letting 10 vehicles through at a time and even though we jumped the queue (without knowing at the time,
that that was what we were doing) it still took us over one hour. A group of men knocked on our window and some
others had spray paint at the ready. (We'd seen at least one car with "Libertad" sprayed on the body work!) Helen
opened the small triangular window and they were demanding 50 pesos. She pointed to the small leaflets they were
holding and asked for one. When they passed one through we handed them 20 pesos and they let us through without any
further problems!
Phew!!! It could have been worse! We finally arrived at the campground, and met up with Peter and Irene. They hadn't
had any problems yesterday!! Then we had problems with our extension lead. It obviously doesn't work any more. So we
had to go hunting for an adaptor for Winnie's cable and eventually hooked up. Quite a day!!
On Saturday, we just had a relaxing day in the campground which is really good and even has hot showers!!! We haven't
had those for a while! Later we went into San Cristóbal with Peter and Irene but when we were ordering a meal at an
Indian restaurant, Kirsten started to feel dizzy and we had to get a take away and get a taxi back. It was probably
the strong coffee that we'd had about 2 hours before, because after Kirsten lay down for a while, she was a lot better.
On Sunday we got up early and went into town to join Mercedes, a well known local woman who runs tours to the
indigenous Tzotzil villages around San Cristóbal. The tour was 5 hours long and was really interesting.
We were in a group of 6 - all German speaking! (4 Germans, 1 Swiss and Helen!) We visited 2 villages. The first was
San Juan Chamula where the men wear long shaggy wool, black or white tank tops and the women wear skirts in the same material.
Each village has its own traditional clothing so you can tell where they are from. There was a political
demonstration taking place in the main square and we had been warned to be very careful about taking photos because
the people don't like it.
We also went inside the Templo (no photos allowed). It's a church, but the inside is extraordinary. It's a combined
religious and traditional Shaman healing place. There are no pews inside. The floor looks like a lawn - covered in
green pine needles. Candles are everywhere but mainly stuck on the floor by family members who are asking the Shaman
to heal one of their relatives. The family will occupy an area of the floor, stick lit candles to the floor 7 rows -
each row a different colour. The Shaman is there and uses eggs and live chickens for the healing ceremony.
The church was packed, with Shamans and their various healing objects, families, tourists and of course, thousands
of candles. The heat was oppressive. The altar at the far end had numerous statues (from the Catholic tradition) and
was surrounded by white lilies.
We can honestly say we have never seen anything like it in our lives!!!
Our next stop was Zinacantán, where Mercedes was born. She took us to one of the huts where a woman was making hand
made tortillas - a lump of dough was put between two wooden boards and squashed into the circular shape, then cooked
on a large white metal dish above an open fire. Mercedes rolled some cream cheese inside them and they were yummy!
She also told us that she was the eldest of nine children and was taken out of school at an early age. Education is
compulsory up to the age of 11 but no one can force the children or parents to make sure they attend. The children
all work to add to the families income, which means that 80 % of indigenous people cannot read or write.
Mercedes, we guessed her age at about 50, and had to fight to get herself educated because she is female. She wanted to avoid
the arranged marriages and eventually became a teacher in Mexico City. She had to work to fund her education and was
close to starving. But she succeeded and two of her younger sisters followed in her rebel footsteps and are also
teachers!
Now she provides income for the villages by doing tours. We were asked for a tip for the tortillas because the woman
who made them does not want to get married and will lose her home if she cannot support herself.
Afterwards we went into the church which was also filled with candles and lots of flowers, and we saw a different
style of dress in the village. Take a look at the men's sandals in the photos!
We really enjoyed the tour and after returning to the campground for a lie down (!!) we went back into town in the
evening to wander around the markets. A really interesting day to end the week.
