Chiapas

The state of Chiapas offers of course a lot more than just San Cristobal. One of the main attractions lies in the dens jungles further up north. After a couple of hours on winding hill roads the scenery changed totally. The meadows and coniferous forests of the mountains transformed to thick green vegetation in a tropical climate.

The state of Chiapas offers of course a lot more than just San Cristobal. One of the main attractions lies in the dens jungles further up north. After a couple of hours on winding hill roads the scenery changed totally. The meadows and coniferous forests of the mountains transformed to thick green vegetation in a tropical climate. The water cascades of Agua Azul where my first target. Just before the actual cascades I found a magnificent river that would serve as a perfect camping spot. On the next day my plan on being the first on the waterfalls would play out just perfectly. The scenery at the entrance and all the way up would be kind of spooky. Due to the early hour all the restaurants and souvenir stores where apart of the wooden constructions, totally empty and deserted. Assuming by the amount of these buildings this place must be later in the day busy like Disneyland on a weekend.
Before driving the last 70km to Palenque I recommend stopping at the waterfall of Misol-Ha.

The cool thing about central american countries is that the police can’t fine you for speeding due to the lack of measuring gear (except bloody Panama). The downside, they build speed bumps. And we talk here about little mountains! So on tracks like this one to Palenque the clever locals would just put up their own speed bumps. Of course not out of speeding concerns but much more to slow you down so they can sell you something from the road or offer you a closer look at their goods. You can’t imagine how much arial time me and Schwarzenegger had by fling over the bumps you couldn't recognise fast enough!

Once in Palenque I recommend the El Panchan Hotel. It offers nice bungalows in the jungle and the restaurant is due to the great live performances on the evenings and delicious food always highly frequented.

The ruins of Palenque are the main attraction. If you want to make it even more interesting do a hike outside of the fenced main area. The whole jungle around the official site contains thousands of unmaintained ruins and gives you a Indiana Jones feeling. With a couple of new friends we bought the local speciality- shrooms and started hiking into the jungle. A very interesting experience due to the fact that on the hike you discover ruins in the middle of nowhere. Finishing in ancient mayan pool that was feed by a cold stream would make a perfect day.
After three nights I decided that I sweated enough and headed back to San Cristobal, from there my journey would led me after over 100 days in Mexico to Guatemala!

Considering I didn't had any expectations on Mexico the stay of over three months explains my passion for this country. Yeah, I was after the brainwash in the States even afraid a bit to travel here on my own. As so often it turned out the opposite. Mexico offers a unseen diversity of culture, landscapes and so much more! I can tell for sure they I will be back here as soon as possible. This was just my first latin country on this trip and Im so eager to explore more… If it continues any close to that, It will be the greatest trip of my life. So once more muchisimas gracias amigos de Mexico para todo!

Chiapas

San Cristobal de las Casas. The cultural centre of Chiapas lies in the highlands. I stayed at the Iguana Hostel. The cool thing was that I could park my Schwarzenegger in the backyard of the hostel and with that have a private accommodation in the centre of the hostel.

San Chris, as every Gringo calls it short, has a unique charm. Due to the elevation its never to hot and humidity is way lower than on sea level, so you don’t sweat all the time. The architecture is mainly colonial and once you step in to the patios, witch lay hidden behind the street facing building, you’ll find beautiful gardens that host a lot of restaurants and art shops.

During the days here I spend a fair amount of time writing for the blog. At night the old town would provide a bunch of excellent bars with life music and later excellent clubs where Mexican vacationers and Gringo backpackers would mix up in a daze of Tequila and Mezcal.

On a day hike I visited the surroundings of San Chris. The first stop would take me to Zinacantan. The locals here are called Tzotzil Maya and are famous for their woven crafts and preserved way of living. Every little town in the valley has his own colours and patterns of clothing. The weaving process of just a scarf takes a couple of months. Visiting one of the local families would be one of the greatest cultural experiences on this trip so far. The simple hut I visited, would contain a open fire in the centre, a couple of shelfs, a low table and couple of plastic chairs. Due to the lack of a chimney or even windows the whole interior is most of the time extremely smoky. Unfortunately this causes, especially for all the women of the family, serious health issues. The girls start working in a very young age by making daily corn tortillas for hours or herding goats. Men spend their time primarily on flower plantations or in the local store getting drunk on ‘Posh’ (its a cheap version of Mezcal fermented in plastic containers)
After this unique experience with this local Tzotzil family, the hike continued over the mountain range to Chamula. Here I visited the famous church of San Juan. The local form of Catholicism is a blend of pre-conquest Maya customs, Spanish Catholic traditions, and subsequent innovations. There are no pews in the church, and the floor area is completely covered in a carpet of green pine boughs and soda bottles (mostly Coca Cola). Curanderos (medicine men) diagnose medical, psychological or ‘evil-eye’ afflictions and prescribe remedies such as candles of specific colors and sizes, specific flower petals or feathers, or - in a dire situation - a live chicken.
The specified remedies are brought to a healing ceremony. Chamula families kneel on the floor of the church with sacrificial items, stick candles to the floor with melted wax, drink ceremonial cups of Posh, artisanal sugar-cane-based liquor, and chant prayers in an archaic dialect of Tzotzil.

After meeting some of the local ‘authorities’- men in sheep fur with walky-talkies, we got into trying out the Posh ourselves.

Oaxaca

The return to Oaxaca was quite emotional! After the hard goodbye with my friends from DF. the memories of the last visit around two months ago (with all of them) where very present. Anyway this is a great place for food and photography. Due to that I wanted to get this sorted and move on as fast as possible towards the coastline.

I stayed only for one night in a hostel and felt kind of strange without the common surroundings of the last month. I didn't really felt like interacting with any of the other travellers and concentrated primarily at getting some pictures of the locals. On the second day I drove out to the UNESCO world heritage site of Monte Alban to cross that of my list.
It was about time to see the sea for a while! From Oaxaca I took on recommendations the hilly northern route over the mountains towards the famous surf town Puerto Escondido (PE)! On the way there I stopped for a hitchhiking couple from France. Typical hippies that did some weed cropping in the states and now where on their way down south. Judging by there odour there didn't see a shower for a couple of days, but well I was glad for the company and distraction. The drive took longer than expected. the curvy road seemed endless and the sight of the great pacific would be blocked by lush green mountains for hours. Once in PE I contacted Jack. Yeah funny world, first Steve in DF now Jack here. the last weeks where influenced a lot by reunions. Jack was here for the surf and some spanish lessons. PE didn't impress me at all. Ugly hotels, hordes of german speaking folks studding spanish here and a total lack of charm. After three days I just wanted to move on, and thats what I did.
The close bye Playa Mazunte was much more layer back, but still not what I was looking for. The crowds are dominantly from the US. Yoga is probably the main activity everyone does here. So yeah, picturesque place but not my vibes. Next attempt down the road was Playa Zipolite. This is the place that suited my requirements. Easy going people, loads of hammocks and so on.

After a couple of days on the shore I thought I see whats further south. After a couple of hours of driving I arrived in Salina Cruz. A typical port city. Dirty streets and weird folks. So once again I realised that doing some research in advance wouldn’t be the worst idea. Due to the fact that I didn't really wanted to waste any time here, i spontaneously decided to drive further to the state of Chipas- or specifically to San Cristobal de la Casas. On the map it doesn't looks that far, but the whole drive took me around 16 hours! Well worth spend time considering this fantastic location.

Distrito Federal

It was with great anticipation that I returned to the bustling hub of Mexico City!  My friends, and all of their creature comforts, where awaiting me.  My inability of accessing my personal funds reminded me how crucial it is to have good friends. They lent me money, for the time being, and provided me with the warmest of accommodations.

This lack of funds forced me to bother Rainer, a friend from back home, so he could physically retrieve my new credit cards, and then send them back to me in Mexico City.  Since I didn’t know better, I decided to send the cards via Priority Austrian Postal Service, which would take up to seven working days. I didn’t mind at all, since I figured it was just more time for me to relax in Mexico City!

Nadia had a lovely new flat, in the very heart of the city, in which she made me feel very welcome. After a couple months on the road, it was a welcome change.  You can’t imagine how much you appreciate simply staying in the same location, sleeping in the same bed, having a private shower, and all of the little daily amenities that you’d typically take for granted. 

Two weeks had passed without any news from the postoffice and my  frustration began to settle in. While I thoroughly enjoyed my time here, the inconvenience of always running always short on cash, and being dependent on others took its toll.  I had made my daily walk from Nadia’s home to a friends house, where I had originally given my return mailing address, and the security guard there sort of became my friend. Everyday, he told me that nothing had arrived in the mail.  At that point, I reconciled to  wait two more days for my cards, before I would reorder the cards and block those that were lost on the way.  The only certainty I had from this experience is: fuck the Austrian postal service!

My daily life used to be so predictable!  I used to wake up with two cats in the bed, I’d walk down to the store, I’d buy everything to make a huge breakfast, I’d cook, clean, get on the city bus, arrive at Starbucks Roma to work! The staff there knew me well enough that I wouldn’t even have to wait in the queue: My extra large latte would already be waiting on the counter! After a hard day of work, I would go to dinner with my (dearly missed) friends and then return home. After a while, my Aussie buddy Steve, came back to his love Astrid, and decided to stay in Mexico City as well, for an extended period. This was a fantastic change, because now my workdays would include breaks at the Burger Bar for Barcelona and CL matches! Party-wise, we tried to lay as low as possible, due to the simple cash flow issues!
Despite all of my troubles, I truly did enjoy Mexico City.  In terms of sites to see, I highly recommend the Museo Nacional de Antropologia.  It was probably one of the best museums I’ve ever visited, as you might notice by the amount of pictures I’ve posted from my visit.  Lucha Libre, the Mexican version of wrestling, is not to be missed. Chapultepec Castle and its surroundings are a must.

Naturally, the cards never arrived, and I had to inconvenience Rainer again, but I learned my lesson and used DHL for delivery the second time. In the end, the whole process took over a month!  While it was inconvenient in the moment, I can confidently say that it was worth it. Many thanks to Nadia, Astrid, Steve, Edgar, Bruno and so many more who made my extended stay in Mexico City memorable.  It’s not just one of the biggest cities in the world; it’s a city with the biggest heart.