Belize it or not...Bear & Em in Belize!
  • BeBelize Blog
  • How we got here (2010)
    • Work
    • Play
  • Construction
  • July 2-8, 2011
  • July 9-16, 2011

A Tale of Five Cities:  Travel day to San Cristobal

1/25/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
We decided to visit San Cristobal de las Casas while we were traveling around Mexico because it sounded absolutely charming.  Lonely Planet describes it this way:  

"Set in a gorgeous highland valley surrounded by pine forest, the colonial city of San Cristóbal (cris-toh-bal) has been a popular travelers’ destination for decades. It’s a pleasure to explore San Cristóbal’s cobbled streets and markets, soaking up the unique ambience and the wonderfully clear highland light. This medium-sized city also boasts a comfortable blend of city and countryside, with restored century-old houses giving way to grazing animals and fields of corn."

We were looking forward to the highland terrain with lower humidity and cooler temperatures than we've grown used to.  It would be a brief taste of autumn -- and much cooler than winter in Belize!  So, on December 13, we left Palenque behind on a bus bound for San Cristobal.  Even though both cities are in the Chiapas state of Mexico, San Cristobal sits at an elevation of 7200 feet, while Palenque is only at 200 feet, so we would be doing quite a bit of climbing on this day.

We bought our tickets the day before at the ADO station, though we would actually be taking an OCC bus to San Cristobal, as OCC serves this part of Mexico.  It is equivalent to the ADO first-class bus.
Picture
Typing in our names when buying tickets
Picture
Palenque ADO Station
I think I was attracting a little attention as I used my new Galaxy Tab to read in the bus terminal (see below).  There was no wi-fi, but I was reading a book using the Kindle app.  This was our first trip with the tablet, and it worked out really well.  We had no room for a full-size laptop in our packs, and while on previous short trips we've managed without a computer, on a sixteen-day trip, we didn't feel comfortable without some form of communication device.  The tablet allowed us to check bus schedules, restaurant ratings, and even make some reservations for our return trip -- not to mention to keep up with all those pesky emails that pile up on a trip.  And I didn't have to carry a book along as I had several free ones loaded on the Kindle app. 
Picture
The men at the desk had just loaded a washing machine up on the counter to go on the bus!
Picture
Although the bus ride from Palenque to San Cristobal is only about 130 miles, it takes approximately five and a half hours due to the mountain roads.  It was a beautiful drive, but Barry and I both felt quite queasy during the middle part of the trip where there were many hairpin turns and bumps.  Fortunately, we didn't have to run for the rest room, but it was an icky feeling and not something we anticipated in advance.
Picture
Gorgeous views
I would have liked to check out this road-side clothing stand.  I just love these embroidered Mexican dresses and blouses!
Picture
At last, the road straightened out, and we were both feeling fine again by the time we arrived in San Cristobal.  

The walk from the bus station was little less than a mile.  And as anticipated, this city was very charming, though bigger than we had realized.  Including the surrounding area, approximately 250,000 people call San Cristobal home.
Picture
We stayed at the Hotel Diego de Mazariegos, which is spread over two old colonial buildings and is gorgeous.  We would spend three nights here before beginning our journey back to Belize.  The price was $69 US per night, an amazing deal, I thought.
Picture
Picture
Inside the pretty courtyard
Picture
Our room -- 309
Our room was super charming with high, beamed ceiling, two beds, a table and chairs, and even a fireplace!  We didn't use it, though; that seemed like too much work (and we had no matches).  I felt like we were in a castle.
Picture
Picture
Picture
Our castle-like digs
We also had a great patio out the back of our room, though we really didn't get to use it.  During the two full days we had in town, we kept so busy we were rarely in the room during the day.
Picture
Picture
The patio view
Picture
And on a sunnier, but cooler, day
The hotel even provided a little shopping opportunity for me.  I bought a pair of earrings and a bracelet for good price from a friendly little man who manned this booth in the evening.  He was one of the few people we met in San Cristobal who spoke excellent English.
Picture
Please stay tuned for much, much more from San Cristobal...this may just have been my very favorite city of the five that we visited (thought it's awfully hard to pick)!
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    UPDATE!
    Traveling Twosome

    If you're interested in following along on our post-Belize travels, please visit our blog:
    http://travelingtwosome.weebly.com/

    Subscribe

    RSS Feed

    living in Belize

    Emily & Barry

    We're an adventurous couple, married 27 years, who decided to move to Ambergris Caye, Belize from Chapel Hill, North Carolina for retirement.  We built a condo on the beach  north of San Pedro Town and moved in with our Boston Terrier Paisley in August 2011 and lived there until March 2013.  Ultimately, we decided to return to the US, but we have no regrets and MANY good memories of our time in Belize.  We hope our blog might prove helpful to anyone interested in this lovely country.

    Archives      

    March 2014
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011

    ©2013 by Barry & Emily. All rights reserved.       

    Categories  

    All
    Airline
    Architecture
    Beach
    Beer
    Belize City
    Bikes
    Biking
    Birding
    Birds
    Birthday
    Boating
    Boats
    Bridge
    Budget
    Bugs
    Caving
    Caye Caulker
    Celebration
    Chetumal
    Christmas
    Churches
    Cleanup
    Coconuts
    Color
    Cooking
    Cook-off
    Crime
    Curtains
    Daily Living
    Dinner
    Doctor
    Dog
    Dogs
    Expenses
    Ferry
    Film
    Flowers
    Food
    Friends
    Fruit
    Fun
    Fundraiser
    Guatemala
    Haircut
    Health
    Health Issues
    Healthy Eating
    Hiking
    History
    Holiday
    Holidays
    Home Improvement
    Home Improvements
    Hopkins
    Independence Day
    Insects
    Kayaking
    Lamanai
    Library
    Living In Belize
    Logging
    Maya
    Medical
    Mexico
    Moon
    Movie
    Moving In
    Music
    Nature
    Paisley
    Palapa Bar
    Parade
    Parks
    Parties
    Pets
    Photos
    Placencia
    Pool
    Pool Time
    Projects
    Punta Gorda
    Race
    Rain
    Rainbows
    Rainy Season
    Recipes
    Reef
    Restaurant
    Restaurants
    Road
    Running
    Saga
    Sailing
    San Ignacio
    Shipping To Belize
    Shopping
    Storms
    Sunset
    Thanksgiving
    Tourist Visa
    Traffic
    Transportation
    Travel
    Vendors
    Walks
    Waterfalls
    Water Taxi
    Weather
    Wildlife
    Yoga

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.