The temperature was much cooler in the highlands of Mexico as we unloaded our bags from the overnight bus to San Cristobal de Casas. It had taken some eight hours to get here and after a poor night sleep we now had to find the hostel we had booked into. Booking hostels is not something what the average traveler used to have to do. You used to just rock up and take your chances. These days however with the "wonders" of the Internet, everyone prebooks and unless you are part of the action you'll be left behind. We found this out fairly early on our trip as the best hostels were always booked when we knocked on the door.
Back at San Cristobal it took us a little while to navigate the maze of cobblestone streets to find our way to the Posada del Abuelito but when we arrived it was a nice little hostel with a little inner court and friendly people.
San Cristibal looked like a really nice town with a Spanish architectural influence and a living indigenous population. Every house seemed to be painted a different colour giving the cobblestone streets their now typical latino flair. Most local men wore jeans, cowboy boots, hats and big buckles while many of the women still wore a traditional attire of colourful flowered dresses (or felty furry looking things) with a colourful shawl or vest and their black braided hair tied at the back, supposedly to stop it swinging around and getting in their way.
There were numerous plazas and markets, a number of large churches and cathedrals scattered about the town as well ad countless good restaurants to sample.
On the second day in the highlands we decided to take a boat ride through a canyon. Now entering the lusher parts of Mexico we were entering an area where at every turn there is a new water wonder to enjoy. On our first day in San Cristibal, we had been told that you could take a bus ride for an hour then jump on a boat that would drive you up through a stunning Canyon, and with a little luck you might even see a crocodile. Why not?
The trip didn't disappoint with up to 1000m (!!! if my spanish translation is correct) towering vertical cliffs plunging into the dark green waters of the river below. We even saw two crocs including one rather sizable reptile.
After a second cool night in SC we decided to move on and caught the early bus up to our next destination - Palenque.
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