Day 2.5: Intrepid Adventurers Afoot in San Cristobal

Life is on the streets. Food entertainment and people of all ages

We knew after we checked in to our hotel, settled in and figured out everything worked, it was time to explore. I put on my back pack, popped in my phone and the battery brick I bought because I run phones flat with photographs quickly. I added my guide book, some pesos in my travel purse and a bottle of water, along with comfy shoes on my feet. The rechargeable battery was my best investment. At 30 bucks it would recharge both our phones on the go twice in a day. 

Mama at the market changing a baby, yes, those are the stones the streets and walkways are made of.

If you have a hotel with a safe, it is highly recommended leave your cash except the day's spending money in it, along with your passport. Leave credit cards behind except for one, maximum. Most stores don't accept credit cards so plan accordingly.  Carry the tourist visa card you were given in your wallet and don't lose it. You must surrender it when you leave and its loss results in a lot of paperwork and a hefty fine.

Doors in doors, opening right to the street, sloping and lumpy, pedestrians beware.

 Today’s travel background advice: take more than one pair of shoes, you can get by with fewer clothes but if your feet give out in this pedestrian paradise you will have lots of regrets. Buy a decent lightweight pack. I got mine on line; it’s called the Outland and while roomy, rolls into a little bag with a handle when not in use and it held all my purchases easily freeing my hands. I carried a small front accessible cross body purse too. We each elected to pack small and light and used a rolling bag that we could fit on buses and in airplanes without having to check them.  You will find if you choose things that are lightweight and mix and match you can get by with fewer clothes, which is a good thing when you are dragging your wardrobe for two climates from place to place with you.

We saw this little granny every day, standing at her door on the Real Guadalupe, watching the world go by.

 Being from the Pacific Northwest we are disciples of layering which paid off. San Cristobal at 1.4 miles in altitude is both higher and cooler than Oaxaca which can be steamy warm, even in October. Carrying a waterproof lightweight hooded jacket and a lightweight packable warm vest and one long sleeved jersey shirt was perfect, I wore a  tee shirt for the bottom layer and added or subtracted layers depending on the weather. I didn’t take blue jeans; denim is so not packing friendly. It’s bulky and takes up space. I took 3 pairs of leggings instead and paired them with long shirts. I took all gray and black because they don’t show the wear and tear of travel.  We either rinsed our clothes and hung them to dry in the shower or found a neighborhood laundry and dropped off our bundle to pick up the next day.

Taxis are small zipppy, cheap and everywhere when you just can't walk anymore

We set off on foot from our hotel looking for lunch. On foot was our preferred mode of travel in San Cristobal de las Casas. The city is a visual delight of color and architecture that dates back to colonial times,it was founded in 1528 by the Spanish conquistadors who forced the indigenous Maya people to work on their gigantic haciendas making them rich from growing wheat.

Beautiful baroque churches, sadly most of those in San Cristobal were damaged by the earthquake and closed.

 The Dominican friars showed up in 1545 and became the champions of the indigenous population, fighting off the very worst of Spanish exploitation. The church is still fighting on the side of the native people, which according to what I have read, is still annoying the powerful ladinos, as the ruling class on non-indigenous  people are referred to in this part of the world. Yes, racism exists but its not overt unless you are looking for it.

A Chamula woman vending her wares. She's wearing the goat skin skirt and blouse that are her daily wear.

 The town was hard to get to travel to back then and it is still off the beaten path which has to some extent preserved it from being overrun by the 21^st century. It maintains its old world charm, especially in the city center. You will see street vendors selling everything from shawls to toys to cooked crickets on the streets. It is now a destination of choice for backpacking young tourists from all over the world and tourism is a big part of what makes it viable as a city today. We met French folks, South Africans, Australians, Germans, English and more, every day on the streets.

 

People watching from our lunch restaurant. All the ladies wear a sling with a baby or groceries or just about anything in it. Its their version of a back pack. Another Chamula woman in the native skirt.

The city center is historic, charming and old. Houses front the streets and have big doors with little doors in the middle of the big doors and most have gates and big locks. Apparently if you leave your house unlocked you might have a problem or two but the people we met were unfailingly friendly, helpful and hardworking and went out of their way to show us the best of their city. If you are a tourist stay in the city center or take a taxi to other destinations. We traveled everywhere and had no issues day or night as women alone.  I would say  avoid the outskirts of the city, the “Belt of Misery”, barrio neighborhoods where there is a high crime rate and it’s not safe to visit as a tourist. Basically, use your head and your common sense and you’ll be just fine.

Lunch, street style tacos and masses of avocado.

 Lynne already knew from previous visits and I was about to find out the streets and the sidewalks in San Cristobal  are made of uneven lumpy limestone native rock as are the sidewalks.  This is an ancient city and the streets are one way for the most part and narrow to boot, more suited to horses and carts than cars. The sidewalks are pretty narrow too, and you always greet the people you pass with a cheery “buenos dias” or “con permiso” if you need to pass. Everyone greets everyone and it brings a great level of civility to the city.

People watching is the sport of the day at sidewalk cafes and restaurants

 Courtyard doors and gates open right onto the street which makes sidewalks uneven, and when it rains as slick as snot. Sidewalks range from about six inches off the road to about eighteen inches up in some places.  Good shoes are a must when you have to jump off a sidewalk and scurry across the street in front of an oncoming taxi. They don’t have stop signs. I finally asked a gallery owner how you know who has the right of way. There are arrows painted on the buildings showing who gets to go and it seems to work. Taxi rides are cheap and great if you just relax and realize these guys do this for a living and you probably won’t die in a pile up on the corner.

This street dog was outside the same store every single day. He thinks he lives there.

We chose to head out on foot and I was so busy looking around at this wonderful place it’s still amazing I didn’t fall on my backside stepping off a curb or get run over by a speeding car. There are two main pedestrian only streets. One is upscale and caters to turistas, Real Guadalupe, and the other is more geared to the Mexican populace in what is in the shops and the prices.

The non tourist pedestrian street where the people who live in the city actually go to hang out and shop. The textile market is in those white tents in the background. It actually rains quite a bit here so cover is necessary for weather.

The upscale street is where we found our first lunch and what proved to be our favorite restaurant, Azul,  on the Real Guadalupe just a few blocks from our lair over on Dr Jose Felipe Flores Avenue.  Most restaurants have at least a few outdoor tables and in nice weather, it’s a wondrous place to watch the world go by. Practice telling the street vendors NO like you mean it if you walk or sit outside. Everyone from little kids to grannies will approach you and try to sell you stuff. I actually did break down and buy a beautiful gray shawl from a Zinacantan woman on a chilly rainy evening. It turned out to be something I use every day here at home, serendipity indeed.

Street vendors with handmade toys. 

You will notice lots of dogs in San Cristobal, some foofy little ones with owners and some just are street dogs. They don’t look skinny and starved, just kind of unkempt. I did notice that no one seems to neuter their male dogs in Chiapas. Must be a macho thing because there were a lot of boy dogs loose in the world.

 

We noticed a whole of these hairy terrier type street dogs.

After a tasty lunch and some people watching we strolled on down the street and poked our noses in at stores that intrigued us, chocolate shops, textile shops, trinket shops and  Zapatista stores, something for everyone but we were on the trail of the textile market and the famous textile museum. The Mayan people here, especially the Chamula and Zinacantan are famous for their textiles and there is an entire market dedicated to just textiles and native crafts.

The Maya people are incredibly beautiful. Another street vendor and her family.

 Next stop, the Zocalo and the Santo Domingo Artisan Market