Travelogue: Mexico D.F. to San Cristobal, Mexico

I left Mexico City on the 3rd and headed by bus to Puebla, 2.5 hours to the southeast of the capital. Although it is Mexico's fourth-largest city, Puebla has a lovely historic neighborhood (it was one of the most important colonial cities) and a tranquil town plaza, complete with free WiFi. I spent one night and a day exploring the city before boarding a night bus to San Cristobal de las Casas.

Situated in lush green highlands in the state of Chiapas, the city is rich in charm, culture, and history. While tour operators and backpackers are plentiful, it provides some great opportunities to just mingle with the locals. Although taken under siege by Zapatista rebels in 1994, San Cristobal is now plenty safe to allow exploration beyond the tourist centers.

The municipal market was my favorite part of the city, a labyrinth of stalls selling everything from carrots to toe-nail clippers. I marveled at the endless rows of tomatoes, avocados, beets, potatoes, onions, mangos, oranges, bananas, chili peppers, etc. All neatly arranged in little pyramids, the produce was tantalizing for its price and freshness. I bought enough tomatoes, avocados, beets, carrots, onions, ginger, garlic, jalapeno, and chorizo (sausage) for a couple days meals and had spent a little more than $3. Some butter for cooking and a 1.2L bottle of beer took me almost to $5. Had I wanted to, I could have also procured any single part of a chicken (including the head), huge dried fish, dried or fresh shrimp, a slab of pork, a live chicken, a pirated DVD copy of the Dark Knight, and some underwear.

My five days in San Cristobal were pretty lazy, filled with reading, writing, aimless walks along cobblestone streets, trips to the market, and sociable cooking sessions at the hostel. I did manage to visit a museum of Mayan indigenous medicine and take a day trip to the gorgeous Canon del Sumidero, but the lack of a blockbuster tourist attraction keeps the city calm and is, in my opinion, essential to its charm.

From here it was on to Guatemala, but that's another story.