Suddenly it felt like I was back in Bolivia or in Cusco, but this time it was not Inca or Aymaran customs but Mayan. San Cristobal de las Casas is another colourful and attractive modern town but with the influences of the strong traditions of the region. Half of the inhabitants wear jeans, football shirts, etc., while the other half (mainly from the nearby villages) wear beautifully crafted traditional clothes, the womens´ mainly consisting of long, heavy-weight skirts, folded vertically at the waist and held up with wide decorative belts with intricately decorated shirts with square necklines and a shawl of thick material that rests over the shoulders and is also decorated in great detail. This is a very attractive and feminine look, which was not necessarily the case in Peru and Bolivia with their short puffy skirts and their bowler hats, often appearing a few sizes too small for the head.
I visited two Tzozil (Mayan language) villages; in one the dress was particularly fetching, and the artisans allowed you into their homes to see how they work and to see their wares. In the other village it was market day and the whole village was out in their traditional clothes, especially because this was the Sunday leading up to the day of the Virgen de Guadalupe. I was rather surprised on entering the prettily coloured Temple to witness an extreme example of the mix of Catholicism and Mayan forms of worship. The villagers were knelt down on the pine needle covered floor in front of the image of their particular saint (there were at least 20 statues, some elaborately lit, others with simple flowers) and added their dozen or so candles to the existing collection. Here they worshipped their saint, singing and praying while some even sacrificed chickens (no blood, necks were broken) after having waved them over the candle flames. The sounds coming from the chickens at this point were quite startling! So why am I giving you so much detail? Well it is strictly prohibited to take photographs in the temple and of people (unless the people give you permission).
The people of these Chiapan villages are fiercely independent of the state and protective of their traditions, therefore caution is recommended to tourists. I will not go into the history of the Zapatista movement, but those of you who know a little about it will understand their reasons. I was very careful to understand what is not culturally acceptable there before arriving. However, this did not stop me committing a cultural faux pas: while waiting for more passengers for my taxi from Zinacantán a Mexican couple kindly offered me a lift back to San Cristobal. I politely refused, saying that I had already spoken to the taxi driver, but they insisted, saying that I might be waiting for a while and that it´s a free world. I reluctantly got up, apologised to the taxi driver and got into the car, thinking, well it would be nice to get to know some more Mexicans. Suddenly all 10 taxis that were waiting in line in the square quickly drove in front of us to block our way. They demanded a fine of 150pesos (equiv. $15). I speedily got out of the car, apologised profusely to the taxi driver and explained that I had no way of knowing it was not permitted. None of the passengers nor the driver spoke to me all the way back to San Cristobal, and I felt annoyed with myself for my unusual lack of cultural intuition.
I also visited a canyon near San Cristobal, which was nice and involved seeing a few North American crocodiles.
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DISTANCE TRAVELLED (OVERLAND) SINCE USHUAIA: 28,498KM
