San Cristobal

I arrived here at 8am after a 12hr overnight bus ride from Oaxaca which I surprisingly managed to get a fair amount of sleep on despite the numerous speed bumps we went over, I thought England was bad for them but here it's just crazy, doesn't stop them driving like nutters though! I explored San Cristobal and booked a cycle tour recommended to me by a Dutch guy I met at breakfast in the hostel. The hostel is really nice and would make a cool home, it has a big court yard with hammocks a place to have fires and a lime tree perfect for your Cerveza!

The following day I was up at 8am to go for my bike ride, there was supposed to be two other guys on the ride but they didn't turn up so it was just me and the guide, perfect as that meant we could go at my pace. We headed off into the hills surrounding San Cristobal and all of a sudden I felt like I was back in Cambodia. After a tough climb we got right into the countryside where the true locals live, I was not allowed to take my camera as the locals do not like to have their photo taken as they believe it takes away a part of your soul. My guide told me that they've been kown to hold you hostage for money if you take pictures of them! The trails were pretty good with some nice technical sections and some fast sweeping downhill. After the tour once back at the bike place I sampled some local Tzotzil moonshine known as 'pox' and after two shot glasses of that I was ready for a nap!

On Monday I visted Cañon de Sumidero with Suzy, who was at Oaxaca also, its cliffs are 900 meters above sea level and overlook the Grijalva River, which runs across the states of Chiapas and Tabasco and flows into the Gulf of Mexico, the canyon is a result of a geological fault and not created by the river. The trip involved a boat trip down the river through the canyon. The water is pretty dirty though so no swiming, plus there are crocs in the water! The rain also washes lots and lots of rubbish from the villages and towns down the river where it collects in the canyon, they have teams of boats full of people collecting the rubbish and tree debris from the river but it looks to me like they are fighting a loosing battle, it's a real shame and makes you realise the importance of recycling.

The following day I took a trip to Palenque with Geoff which despite being a long day was well worth it as we went via Agua Azul and Misol Ha waterfalls which we didn't anticipate. At Misol Ha you can go behind the falls and climb up through the water which is pretty cool. The runis were the hightlight of the trip and were an extremely impressive sight.