What a difference a border makes

Well my trip to Mexico came and went and I'll say it was more eventful than I thought it would be. I know many were nervous with reason about a trip to Mexico due to all of the crazy things that happen there but We managed a quick and relatively uneventful trip in San Cristobal de Las Casas Mexico. What a beautiful city. It felt like Europe with all the restaurants, tourists, and clean streets. It was very well organized and we stayed at a very nice hostel that was clean,had hot showers and breakfast included YUM! Our diet consisted of mainly tacos and XX beer which I had no problem with. We only found Corona once the whole time even though it is advertised everywhere. We also had a pizza and sushi meal(random) but all the food settled well on our Guatemalan stomachs. The trip started off Monday morning leaving from Huehuetengango, we were only about 2 hours from the border. Then going through immigration was pretty easy, this was the first time I had done it on my own (meaning not included with a shuttle; which is what I have taken to El Salvador and Honduras). Changing money to the peso proved to be confusing, amazingly the quetzal fares a little better so that was a nice relief. (11 pesos= 1$USD) Then we boarded public transport, where we had to purchase a ticket! Mind blowing to have paper proof of a seat. Then when the micro had sold all the seats, we left. Everyone had a seat and we traveled about 2 hours to Comitan, Chiapas, Mexico. It was so nice and such a change from Guatemala. Although the camioneta feels normal now, sitting in our own seat on an air conditioned bus felt amazing! In viewing the countryside, I noticed little trash and things just seemed a little more organized and clean. I was so surprised. We changed buses in Comitan and headed another 2 hours towards San Cristobal. There we found our hostal and then ate some delish tacos, nachos and beer. We booked a tour for the next morning to go to Palenque (Mayan ruins that are located nearby.) So Monday night we had a few margaritas, which were not as delicious as we expected, and then hit the hay to get up early for our tour on Tuesday.

Welcome to Mexico

Tuesday morning was off to a rough start as we overslept because there is a time change between Guatemala and Mexico. That was not the way we wanted to start the day, running out of the hostel at 6:30... 30 minutes late. Our driver was not pleased. Then we spent what felt like an eternity in a car to get to Aguas Azules, the first stop of the trip. In the non rainy season this place is supposed to be a beautiful scenic waterfall area where you can swim and relax. Lucky for us in rainy season it floods over with brown water and was actually hilarious to tour. As we walked through flooded paths to the top of the cascades all of the nearby restaurants were closed due to flooding and we couldn't swim because the water was too dirty and dangerous. We had also spent about 4 hours in a micro at that point... a little disappointing but adding to our adventure. After about an hour there we boarded the bus to head to another waterfall. Misol Ha is huge, the biggest I've ever seen. There Betty and Mary braved the water to swim and we just enjoyed the majestic beauty of the waterfall. Then back in the car to head to Palenque. Palenque ruins were delayed for an enchilada lunch and then we walked around this huge ruin area. It was really neat. These ruins were much larger than those of Copan, Honduras but equally as interesting. After about 2 hours we boarded the micro again, hoping to get to San Cris by 9 pm for a late dinner and early night as we had booked another tour for the next day.


Girls at Agua Azul


Me and the agua azul


Misol Ha Waterfall

After an hour and a half of driving we come to dead stopped traffic. Our driver stops the car and tells us people are protesting but the passage should open at 8 pm. It was 6:30. Annoyed that we had to wait an hour and a half before we even continued on our 3 more hours of journey, we sat in the car. Walked around a bit, and were entertained by our one year old friend who was also on this tour with his parents. At 8pm our driver comes by and says, well now the passage won't be opening until 11... Ok Now we won't be returning to San Cristobal until 1 am but there is nothing we can do. A house nearby was selling coffee and tamalitos, so we went and spent a few pesos on now "dinner". At around 11pm, the traffic jam has no sign of letting up and our driver informs us that there probably will not be passage until 8am the next day. Yes we are going to have to spend the night in a micro. Surprisingly we all took it well and just planned to sleep in the bus. Locals walked by selling bread and coffee. We turned off the van lights and fell asleep. Luckily our driver was watching our bus and he told us to stay inside, a little alarming but we all remained calm. Then at 1:30am, the passage opened and we were taken home. We arrived back in San Cristobal at 4:30 in the morning exhausted having spent almost 24 hours on a tour. Getting back to the hostel we zombie walked to bed and slept amazingly.


Palenque


Palenque

I awoke early to go to the travel agency to cancel our tour for Wednesday and got us almost a full refund. Some tears were shed and I had to make two trips but the cheapskate in me won out over the desire for sleep. I asked the travel guy if this was normal and he said that people protest in order to get a response from the government. He said sadly this is how they have to act in order to seek justice for petty crimes or to gain benefits for their small towns. These actions are common occurrences in the state of Chiapas Mexico. Wednesday all the local agencies had to cancel all of their tours to Palenque because the road block was still going on. Also, when I say roadblock, the townspeople had organized almost 30 dump trucks to block the road. So there really was no way to pass. And they stayed all through the night and the next day. Passage was only opened for about an hour and luckily we scooted by. I really felt bad for our driver who not only had to do the same trip as us but he had to stay awake the whole time. He did his job so efficiently and got us home safely.

Wednesday was spent walking around, eating more tacos and some market shopping. We had some great chats and our delish sushi dinner. At dinner I was shorted out of change which was disappointing and kind of put a damper on our last night. Although I know the waiter could probably use the 30 pesos more than me (i mean it's 3 dollars) it was just the principal but I guess that's what it's all about. Being here has made me realize that I'm learning a lot about life and living on a lower level. But luckily for me, I'll be able to go home to the states and have lots of opportunities and hopefully live on a higher level than I do now. I just try to remember this at those times I get frustrated when I get cheated because really I'm lucky to have this experience and be able to spare a few pesos, or quetzales for those who really have less than I.

Thursday was departure day and we headed home around lunchtime and were back in the Guate by late afternoon. The trip was a whirlwind and I can't believe it came and went. I really would like to go back to Mexico as it is rich with Culture and even after traveling as much as we did on that trip, I hardly scratched the surface of what there is to see there. And although they are more developed than Guatemala and have more advanced systems in transport, tourism, environmental care, I didn't feel the same way I do in Guatemala. Immediately back on a camioneta I felt comfortable, even though it was loud and crowded, I felt home. The people in Guatemala are so friendly and willing to have a conversation with a gringo; it's nice. With this trip and the recent departure of friends I've been able to realize how much I love Guate and care about it. It feels like home even when I'm not in Tecpan. Being able to leave makes me appreciate what I have here and I'm sure I'll carry these memories and feelings with me for a long time.


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