San Cristobal, Chiapas, Mexico 11/24-29 2022. What we didn’t know

We headed out of Salina Cruz early to San Cristobal Chiapas. It was a stop about half way to Palenque. We wanted to go back to Maya Bell resort next to the Palenque ruins.

https://mayabell.mx/ We spent 2 1/2 months due to the first Covid lockdown. We were excited to see some familiar places and the ruins, finally!

https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zona_arqueológica_de_Palenque

It was an easy drive through some beautiful mountains to 7000 feet. and San Cristobal.

https://es.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Crist%C3%B3bal_de_Las_Casas

***Missing here: the photos of us and the airstream stuck in the heart of the city on a narrow road with parked cars ***

This was probably the worst situation that we’ve been in. Larry hopped out at one point and physical moved a motorcycle so we could drive further down the street. Then we encountered 3 parked cars with zero room to maneuve. Larry just stopped and put the hazard lights on. Most people behind us backed out and left. Eventually the folks with the cars came out of houses and offices to move their cars. No problemo!

In the next scary 6 streets, we encountered the narrowest passage…we adjusted our stairs with an excruciating noise of cement and metal scraping. It’s like nails on the chalkboard but 100 times worse. At the same time, we were scraping on the other side……..we learned this street was Exactly 8 1/2 feet wide. We all made it safely after 15 minutes of over the top stress and agony. Rancho San Nicolas

This is our campground for the next 5 days at Rancho San Nicolas.

We were able to easily walk into the center of town.

This restaurant advertised artesian beer. Their menu had 100 different kinds But they really only had Two! I was disappointed but they made me a yummy salad.🍺

We checked out some panaderías. (Bakeries)

Such a beautiful city

Lots of murals and art

Lots of stairs to the top and the church.

Iglesia de Guadalupe

View from behind the church

Interesting restaurant

We found a great art studio that was also a restaurant/bar.

This is a real skull covered with beads

We hung out for an hour or so. I was waiting for the bar tender to show up at 2pm. We finally left at 3……. That’s a long time to wait for your beer 😢

I had to mail an important pension document at Fedex. It’s cost $65 US! OMG!

Our cozy corner

A permanent resident. Avion from years past sunk into the earth.

We played pool one night…..Larry is way better than me

We explored the campground and discovered these casitas built into the hill.

Lots of stairs

They had a beautiful flowers everywhere

And medicinal plants too

A great campground with everything you need. They even had a yoga building.

We had rain every afternoon and sometimes into the night. It was cool, very cool besides damp.

This old building had the kitchen, common area and the pool table.

Some art on the wall too

It was lined with empty bottles in every nook and cranny

Loved this door

Another casita to rent

We discovered this amazing moth.

We liked our space

lots of spiders

My teeny tiny machete

Larry found this amazing eco park- Botanical gardens with hiking trails! I loved it!! 💕

https://moxviquil.org/

We hiked the trail first. Super easy trial with magical plants and flowers to discover along the way. Very green and lush. I took too many pictures…. Just scroll through

We started in jackets. It was only 15 celsius.

Bottle caps nailed to the wooden bridge for anti slipping.

We got another view of the city

Do you see hearts?

So big!

Some things reminded of my trek in spain.

Such interesting plants

Larry loves nature 💕

Me too!

Manzanita tree

See the blue tip flowers

Oak trees

This is an acorn without it’s hat…. Tiny but it reminds me of a watermelon

Tiny orchids……we almost missed them on the side of the trail

Great find Larry!!

Just cool

Some kind of black fungi

Larry found a cave

I didn’t get that close to the cave. It was more like a big hole

They had stairs to it

I really enjoyed this trail and it a loop.

Going back down the hill now

So much pretty stuff

My jacket could finally come off after the hike. I still had a light long sleeve shirt on. Cool

Their cute trash bins

They rented casitas and had camping for small rigs like vans.

I hope you like flowers and pretty stuff…..cuz here comes all the pictures 😊

Inside one of the greenhouses

These were the size of my pinky finger

Do you see his tongue?

See the lady in the dress?

These look like dancers to me

The ticket booth and information center

Larry found this guy

I found this gal! 🤣😂

I wanted to take this bridge with me. 💕

This reminds me of a devil’s claw

I highly recommend this place

Entrance to the park

Two blocks from the Eco park was an excellent cafe. We had a late breakfast. We were the only ones eating there and they sent out an English speaking waiter. Super nice guy named Jeff. He was American and had recently come from Oakland California.

We both had tasty meals plus they had green juice too. Jeff spent a lot of time chatting with us. He asked where we are heading next. I told him back to Palenque to finally see the ruins. He asked if I was aware of the violence and robbery in the road.

We would be taking 199. He said to look up news about the road, and to go early.

This was going to be our route to Palenque. I checked IOverlander for info and found several postings about abductions and beating of tourists. A quick search on the internet confirmed what Jeff was telling us. Larry and I discussed our options and decided that Palenque was not in our future this trip.