What a great way to spend boxing day! I was mightily confused at a Mexico City bus station heaving with fellow travellers. Then of course there was the 17 hour bus journey to follow. Like all problems, they both came to an end eventually. Surprisingly the long bus journey was quite painless. The bus pulled into San Cristobal De Las Casas at about 6.30 am on the December 27th. I told the taxi driver there where I wanted to go 'The Sol Y Luna Guest House', but he scratched his head and muttered something about the 'Media Luna'. I reassured him that it was the Sol Y Luna that I wanted. He considered this a little more as he started to pull away, then shook his head and said, "no, Media Luna". Five minutes later he had pulled up outside a little side street posada with a hand painted Media Luna sign hanging above the door. He got out and shouted to an upstairs window. A woman appeared in a dressing gown and she seemed not the put out to be yelled at from the pavement at 6.40 in the morning. Before I knew it, my case was unloaded and I was shown to a clean and comfortable room with a tv for which she asked *$100 a night. As this was less than a third of the price of the other Guest House I considered that I had struck very lucky.
Outside the
The ex-convent of Santo
Inside the
Templo de la Caridad
Asleep
outside the ex-convent
By 8 am I was out and about exploring San Cristobal De Las Casas. It seemed a bit slow to reveal it's real treasures at first, but then I discovered the local market and from then on I never looked back. The market was one of the most eye-popping experiences of my time in Mexico. It was full of colour and bustle. Indigenous people in their brightly coloured costumes were in the majority here. From there I soon found one of my favourite and most atmospheric places in the town - the ex-convent of Santo Domingo de Guzman with its neighbouring Templo de la Carid. Eventually I found the town centre where apart from booking a couple of trips for the days ahead, I was also able to film and explore the splendid Catedral de San Cristobal. From there I found myself bouncing from one beautiful building to the next. It was a real full day with lots of walking.
