San Cristobal (continued)

Herb and Thomas with an Australian couple ready to shop

Street Scene in Chumala (a chilly day)

An Indiginous Indian Preparing Comida

Na Bolom Research Garden

Na Bolom Hotel

We visited three museums, the Na Bolom museum and research center, Museo De La Medicina Maya, and the Museo Del Ambar De Chiapas. Amber is the yellow stone as we know it. It is created from the resin of the pine tree formed under pressure over thousands of years.

We took a day trip to two small villages outside of San Cristobal, Chamula and Zincantan, where we mixed with the indigenous Indian tribes. There were so many tourists in the villages it was difficult to spot the locals, except that each village had a distinctive way of wearing their clothing. The villages were high in the Mountains and it was rainy and cold the day we visited. Our Guide had been raised in one of the villages and he had very strong opinions for the case of the Indigenous Indians keeping their traditions.

San Cristobal

La Cocina Cooking Class

Cindy shopped till I dropped

The Meat Department at the Municipal Mercado

Casa en el Arbol language school

San Cristobal De Las Casas in the state of Chiapas in the far southwest part of Mexico is a place where the international crowd gathers. Most of the visitors we met were from Europe, but we visited with folks from all parts the world. We took too many photos and visited many fascinating places. Cindy shopped till I dropped. We both took time out for a few days of Spanish lessons at the Casa en el Arbol language school and Cindy took Mexican cooking classes – preparing a meal in an authentic Mexican kitchen after shopping in the large Mercado for the ingredients.

The Mercado Municipal was one of the largest, an assault on the senses – the meat department alone was larger than a Wal-Mart Supercenter. We saw at least 100 types of chorizo (sausage) on display. All in all, we enjoyed the city so much that we extended our stay from five to ten days.