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     I had been in an internet café, (one of more than a dozen in San Cristobal de las Casas) and I had picked up a leaflet that advertised a guided tour to the local indigenous communities of San Juan Chamula and Zinacantan. I was going to go there the next day anyway, but under my own steam. As this tour came highly recommended I decided to be outside the cathedral the next day at 10 am as specified on the flyer, to see if this tour was really going to happen. When I arrived at the Cathedral the minibus was already there, and I even met an American couple that had been on the same tour as me the day before.

     Going to San Juan Chamula was like going or back in time or the nearest I could imagine to being on some alien planet. Unfortunately there was a strict no photography code here, particularly inside the main church. This was a great pity as it was the most bizarre place of all. The Chamula people follow a strange mix of their own native religion and Catholicism. The burial site on the edge of town has crude wooden crosses, but the graves are topped with dried pine sprigs. The dead are curiously buried with food and drink for the journey into the next life. Coca cola is particularly revered as a drink for such celestial travels. Inside the church there were no pews. Groups of people sat around masses of lit candles on the floor. Others quietly played guitars and others wandered seemingly aimlessly. The alter was decked in symbols and imagery of both Christian and pagan religions. There were even cut out pictures of Santa Claus and lots of fairy lights. To say it was weird would be putting it far too mildly.

     By contrast, the community of Zinacantan just 4 kilometres further on,
appeared quite normal. The costumes were very different. The heavy black tunics of the Chamula men were replaced with bright red tunics with markings and
emblems on them that signified status in the community. We were treated to a good look inside a typical Zinacantaneca house. It was a dark windowless affair, with a bare earth floor, but most of the obvious furniture was in there, even including a television.