Our first day in Chapias was a slow one, while most people won't feel much from an altitude of 2,200m I am in the unfortunate 20% of people who do. Luckily I didn't experience anything like my time in La Paz (4500m) some years ago, instead it was mostly tiredness, lack of appetite, some headaches and beautiful bloodyshot eyes which lasted our whole time there.
Jonny threw me an adorable birthday party for two in our amazing airbnb, and we wandered the adorable colourful streets of San Cristóbal to get ourselves acquainted. It's a small pretty city and everywhere is easily accessible by foot. It's a popular tourist destination for Europeans and Mexicans as it oozes culture and character. Chapias has a rich indigenous community and San Cristobal is where all these communities come together. It's wonderful to see different communities in the streets, each with their own unique costume. Many come from the surrounding villages to sell their handicrafts and textiles to the many tourists.
And many tourists there were, the narrow streets were incredibly busy. Perhaps because Chapias has enjoyed a low level of restrictions for much of the pandemic due to low covid numbers. While we were there it was coded 'yellow' the lowest in Mexico at the time, but has recently been at 'green', meaning no restrictions. From speaking with locals, they did not feel that they had less covid, just less reporting of it. Given the large indigenous communities throughout the state who rely on traditional medicines and rarely if ever
attend hospitals this seemed very likely.
Chapias is the poorest state in Mexico. Little old ladies and young children street sellers fill the tourist streets. Eating at a table outside can be heartbreaking as children approach trying to sell small braids or wooden toys but always look longingly at the meal in front of you. Given the public primary schools have been closed since the start of the pandemic (and will be until August) it's hard to know what the situation is usually like.
But the south of Mexico has the lowest minimum wage in the country at just €10 a day so its easy to imagine why children are encouraged to start working young.
While in San Cristóbal I went to spanish classes at San Cris Language school for four hours in the morning while Jonny worked. The mornings were grammar classes and afternoons conversation skills with Sofie who could speak zero English which surprisingly was no longer necessary for me. All the classes were one on one but there were plenty of other students, some who had months in San Cristóbal and the language school.
To my surprise there was another Irish student called Stephen who also had a pretty good level of Spanish. He'd been traveling Mexico for four months and had a house in my beloved Stoneybatter. He was a data analyst but had quit to travel.
San Cristobal is the kind of city where you continously bump into the same people, which is exactly what happened on our first weekend. Nightlife in San Cristobal was buzzing while we were there, plenty of pox bars (Chapias local liquor, made out of corn prenounced Posh) and live music bars. We bumped into Stephen in a tacqueria with a friend from Slovakia. They told us of a bar they'd be going to where a Balkan band would be later playing and we arranged to meet them later, amused at the prospect of seeing our balkan music for the first time, in Mexico.
First we went for some Pox and then onto Revolution, a Cuban bar with a lively dj rapper set.
We then went onto to El Paliacate. When we arrived the big sliding metal door closed but we could hear people inside. We knocked and were hurriedly ushered in by a bouncer. Apparently there was supposed to be a 10pm curfew at venues because of covid restrictions, but clearly it wasn't being very well policed. El Palicate was absolutely packed, and had a cool underground vibe, a small low stage with the audience gathered around both sitting on the floor and on seats. To my absolute joy there was some boylesque performances and the crowd were going wild. After the full Balkan brass band came out and played an amazing set, meeting our new slovik friends standards.
After we wandered to another music bar to just catch the end of another Mexican rock band before hitting the hay. We had ended up on a pub crawl with live music at every venue!
San Cristobal was quickly turning into our kind of place and so we decided it best to change our plans and route once again to extend our time there.
On Sunday we did a tour to two neighbouring villages. The first was Zinacantan a village famous for their flower growing industry and as a result the towns native clothing are made from a purple linens covered in embroidered flowers. To have and to wear the traditional dress is a source of great pride for villages, particularly because they are not cheap. A full outfit coasts about €400 and yet most people in the village we saw were wearing them. We visited a locals house and business, where we encouraged to drink pox on arrivals. Masks are not worn in the villages, in fact they think masks a ridiculous idea for stopping a virus. Instead they drink pox every morning, as the believe it purifying and a preventative to catching any disease or sickness. We had incredibly delicious tacos made for us at the home and were shown the workshop where clothing is embroidered.
Next we went to the village of San Juan Chamula. Because it was Sunday there was a market and it was full of locals doing their weekly shop. They wear incredible sheepskin skirts and waist jackets, because the traditional trade of the village is sheep. We were warned not to take any photos of people in the village as we would face large fines for being disrespectful. The prominent members of the village (all men) were gathered in the square, ready to hear any issues in the village and to pass judgment and instruction.
We made our way to the villages church. From the outside it looked like any other small 15th century colonial church. But inside was one of the most culturally shocking experiences I had had on my many travels. The village incorporates native pagan believes with Catholic ones, and the result is fascinating. Inside the church was empty of the usual pews or alter, the walls lined with small cabinets each with its own Saint heavily decorated with flowers. The prominent families in the village are given the great honour of being given a Saint to maintain, but they often spend thousands of euro ending up in debt buying flowers for their saints. The floor of the church is covered in straw and candles with groups of families huddled around the candles on the floor. To get to the top of the church we had to weave between the groups, carefully avoiding candles. Families also burn incense as an offering so between that and the air is thick and smokey. They also offer pox and coca cola and drink them on the floor together.
If someone has a problem, a shaman is brought into the ritual. The shaman will pray with the family or person who needs help and brings with her live chickens which she or he will rub over the person who needs help. She or he will burp loudly (thanks to the coca cola) to help expel evil spirits. The chicken will at somepoint be killed as a sacrifice.
We also were keen to visit the Zapatistas village but due to covid they are not accepting tourists at the time. The Zapatistas are a rebellious force for the indigenous people who fought against the marginalisation by the Mexican Government. In 1994 they coordinated a 12 day uprising which centered around San Cristobal. They still have alot of support in San Cristobal and throughout Chapias. The rebellion died down when the Mexican government promised to grant some autonomy to the Zapatistas. Sadly to date they have not kept to this promise.
Another tour we did from San Cristóbal was to Cañon del Sumidero. It is a 30 minute drive from Cristóbal as it's all down hill has a scorching climate compared to the cool San Cristobal. We sailed down the river surrounded by the canyon which feels exactly like something from 'The Land Before Time', and although there were no dinosaurs there were plenty of alligators.
The scenery was truly stunning.
After traveling all the way through the canyon and back, we switched to our mini bus and drove to various viewing points from above to look down to the winding River.
While we were in San Cristóbal, the state run museums were sadly closed due to covid restrictions so we spent our afternoons wandering to the amazing textile shops, drinking hot chocolate and eating in the amazing variety of international cuisine. People from all over the world had fallen in love with San Cristobal and made it their home. One evening in a tapas wine bar we got chatting to an Irish couple who had been living in Canada. They had thought about returning to Ireland for a while but after a two week visit at Christmas they decided not to, telling us how terrible the lockdown there was. They said lockdown in Canada wasn't as difficult as the Irish lockdowns.
On Saturday night we invited Brendan and Andrea over to our Airbnb for drinks as well as Matt from the UK who was in my Spanish school. We had a few drinks before heading to a famous rave we had been hearing whispers about from fellow tourists. It was situated just outside of the city in a skate park, beside a local market.
The Mexican doorman told us his girlfriend was from Dublin and he'd be moving there this summer!
Downstairs was the skate park, almost empty of people but upstairs was a large room with a bar and dj box full of people dancing to the Russian DJ who had flown in especially for the gig. We danced all night long, meeting people from all over the world, including a from Ballymun in Dublin and a girl living in San Cristóbal who was originally from Armagh. We had met more Irish people in one night than our entire trip of Mexico!
Knowing the night couldn't be topped we decided to leave San Cristobal two days later for the town or Comitán.
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