Barkers Versus the Volcano

We arrived in San Cristobal at the centre of the Chiapas region. This is a mountain town with a very pleasant climate of about 22 degrees - excellent for walking around and experiencing this beautiful colonial town. We found a great little hotel room early in the afternoon, cheapest rate so far, and began checking out the town.

Since Chloe has spent a lot of time in towns since we left the beach we decided to go to a nearby reserve for a nice hike on a dormant volcano that has dense forest all around it. We arrived at about 1:00 pm and were told that it was an easy 2.5 km hike if we stuck to the trail. The park closed at 3:00 pm but the guy manning the gate said he would wait until 3:30 if we took longer.

The trail winds its way up to the top of the volcano. Within a few minutes, we noticed there were no trail markers or signs. We have had a lot of fun with Mexican signs (or lack thereof!) and this was to be more of the same. The traffic signs throughout Mexico are severely lacking everywhere we go - why did we expect this trail to be well-marked?

About two hours into the hike, we suspected that we might be lost in this forest, as 2.5 km should not have taken more than forty minutes to climb! What we thought was the trail had become a very rough, steep, climb up the mountain. At one point April was using her hands to pull herself up. When we got to the top we conceded that we were lost, and decided to retrace our steps. The steep slope down was quicker to traverse - at times sliding down on one foot, body close to the ground, once or twice sliding down several feet on my butt.

After several false starts and back tracking, we finally found our way through the miriad of trails which criss-crossed this mountain. The thought of spending the night in this forest had spurred us on. We had a GPS, compass and flashlight....in the truck! During the three hour tour, we had not come across a single person, and only saw a trail marker when we were five minutes from the entrance. As we approached the bottom of the mountain, dogs at a neighbouring farm were barking at us. (I was so happy to hear roosters screeching!) In one day we had made up for four weeks of little exercise.

We got back to the parking lot at 4pm and the guy had closed the gates to the park but left it unlocked. I guess he had faith in our abilities.

This morning we both woke up with sore bums from the climb but were able to make it to the market in the nearby town of San Chamula, an indiginous town where they speak an indian language. These people are small in stature but very good looking and the women wear a distinctive garb of black wooly skirts make from alpaca hair and embroidered purplish shawls. They are featured in the paintings of Diego Rivera.

Market Day in San Chamula consists of people selling all kinds of goods: fruit, handicrafts, baked goods. The women carry their young close to their bodies, a large shawl wrapped around both mother and child. When the child needs to eat, the mother opens her blouse for easy access to the breast - this while walking around, selling her goods.

These women and their children are tiny, doll-like, beautiful looking people. Their features strike me as resembling a combination of indian and Philipino, and the young girls remind me of my niece Rianna. We tried several times to take pictures, and although they are very sweet and friendly, they are camera shy.

We asked four beautiful women, all dressed in their embroidered purple shawls and furry skirts if we could take their picture. They looked around and at each other, and agreed, but it would cost $200 (roughly $20)! We told them that was too much.

One little girl who sold us some macrame belts was particularly outspoken; she spotted my folding umbrella in the side of my car door, and asked if she could have it. It was broken, but she insisted she could fix it, saying she wanted it for shade. After some negotiation, I let her have it, and she agreed to have her picture taken but seemed uncomfortable with it.

Chloe's Notes: Yesterday we went for a long, long walk. After that, I had a long, long, sleep!