Into Chiapas

I think we set foot in Mexico as soon as we stepped into the Mexicana airline waiting lounge at Oakland Airport late Saturday night. I was the only gringo in sight and not a word of English was heard except for my conversation with my travel partner, Raul. It was a long trip, hopscotching our way into Mexico on 3 over night flights, first to Guadalajara, then Mexico City and finally landing in Tuxtla Gutierrez in the southern state of Chiapas at about noon today (Sunday). We were a little too excited to be tired. Our guide Diana was there waiting for us. We had no problem find her because she looked just as she described herself in her email: brownskin and short, long black hair. Good thing it was a small airport.

We drove in the heat of midday (about 100°F) through Tuxtla and headed right out of town, for San Cristobal and cooler air up in the mountains. Along the way, we stopped at a little village and had some lunch, fresh fish from the nearby river, then took a 1 hour scenic boat ride into a spectacular canyon, dozing off occasionally in the blasting wind and blazing sun. As we entered the canyon, our river guide pointed out an unbelievably high diving board on the side of the cliff.

Back in our little white Chevy rental, we wound our way up into the mountains for about an hour an a half, kind of like driving from Sacramento to Donner Summit, but on a smaller, slower, windier road, up to San Cristobal de las Casas at about 7000 feet. Much cooler here. Lots of tourists. More on San Cristobal to come... we'll be here for a few days.