The colourful letters of Mexico
This time I’m traveling for 2 weeks in Mexico, and as always a tad different than usual. After flying into Cancun we immediately took a domestic flight with Volaris airlines to Tuxtla Gutiérrez in the province Chiapas. We picked up a rental car and this is where the journey started.
San Cristobal
Only an hour drive from Tuxtla Gutiérrez is the city San Cristobal de las Casas. A colonial city at an altitude of 2200 meters in the heart of Chiapas. I booked a nice hotel in the center for 3 nights to explore the city and the area!
Sumidero Canyon
Upon arrival by plane we already had a perfect view from our window of Sumidero Canyon. Now it was time to have a better look up close. First was a boat tour. Driving into Chiapa de Corzo we walked to the pier and simply bought a ticket on the spot. As boats depart all the time, they just wait for enough people to fill up. Luckily we got a perfect seat right in front! Perfect for taking some beautiful photos.
After the 2 hour boat trip in the harsh sun, we enjoyed lunch and took our car to see the canyon from another perspective. Multiple viewing points along the road to get magnificent views from the top. A combination of both the boat trip and the viewing points is definitely a must!
Cascada El Chiflón
The next day it was time to see the beautiful waterfalls of El Chiflón. Almost a 3 hour trip through the countryside of Mexico, including plenty of potholes and nasty speed bumps took us there. But definitely worth the trip. Multiple levels of waterfalls, each more beautiful than the other.
For swimming there were plenty of pools to take a refreshing dive, only our “private pool” moment got disturbed by a group of school kids.
No! A road block
We left the falls at 15:00 to be able to arrive back at the hotel before sunset (at 19:00). When crossing the town Teopisca on-route at 17:00 we couldn’t drive any further, lots of cars were parked on the side of the road. We tried to inform what was going on and found out that the local peasants blocked the road to demand the dismissal of the municipal president of Teopisca Josefa María Sánchez Pérez. Okay, how long does this take? Apparently this could take days! Yikes, now what?
I checked Google Maps and found an alternative road that would take us 4-5 hours. By now it was already 18:00 and we would never make it before sunset. And we definitely didn’t want to drive through rural Mexico at night. Time for an alternative plan! We drove back to a larger city, Comitán, upon arrival my 3G kicked back in and I used my trustworthy Booking.com app to book a hotel. By now it was dark and all our suitcases with stuff were still in San Cristobal.
A race against the clock
The next morning we left at sunrise at 6:30 and drove 4 hours back to San Cristobal to pick up our belongings. Not only that, the scheduled next stop was in Palenque, another 7 hour drive. It was again a race against the clock. No time for any stops or delays!
About 2 hours before our destination we got pulled over by police on the side of the road. They wanted to check our suitcases and bags for drugs. Luckily my Mom speaks a bit of Spanish and was able to converse with them. When they went through my wallet and noticed my birth control pills they asked what it was, my Mom replied “for the sex”. They laughed and immediately were done with the search, and we were on our way again.
We arrived at 18:00 just when the sun was setting. We’ve made it!
Palenque
In Palenque I booked a luxurious resort in the middle of the jungle. We have our own bungalow and the pool and restaurant are absolutely gorgeous! I’m glad I booked 3 nights here, so we could have some well deserved relaxation time.
Close to the hotel is the archaeological zone of Palenque; an area of ancient maya ruins in the jungle. The temple ruins opened at 8:00 and we were making sure to be there before the hot sun got the best of us.
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