Rosie and The Operator cant wait to get out and about and explore San Cristobal de las Casas, this beautiful Highland City nestled in a valley surrounded by blue hazy mountains.
Our whole drive yesterday getting here was uphill and we are now 2,200 meters above sea level, and what a difference that has made to the temperature. At 0900 in the morning it is a little nippy at 14c and the high of the day is expected to be 22c, Rosie is ecstatic to get out of the oppressive sweltering heat and humidity of the coast.
San Cristobal de las Casas, like all of Mexico, has a violent and turbulent history with its Spanish conquerors. They came and took over this fertile mountain valley in 1528 and made a fortune for the Spanish Citizens from wheat, while the indigenous people lost their lands, suffered diseases brought by the Spanish, were forced to labor for the Spanish and pay taxes on top of that.
Dominican Monks came to San Cristobal in 1545 and set up a monastery, the town is now named after one of them Bartolome de las Casas. He was a champion for the local people trying to preserve their rights and make living better for them. Unfortunately, this story is not a historical one, the bulk of the indigenous peoples still live on the periphery of the town in abject poverty. The area they live in is called the Cinturon de Miseria, Belt of Misery. Most of the indigenous craft sellers that ply there goods around town come from this area.
Rosie read this fact, thought nothing more about it than ‘gosh, crikey’ and filed it away. It wasnt till a wee boy later in the trip bought this fact home to Rosie with face slapping reality…..
Arriving in the San Cristobal de las Casas we are very excited, the light is different, soft and diffused, not harsh and bright. It feels like you are in a valley because the blue hills that ring the town are the furthest your eye can see making you feel closed in. We are staying at the Hotel Ciudad, the cream building in the photo, right on the town square, we have a balcony that looks over the park and it is amazing, the noise, the people, the continual motion.
Buskers, drummers, shoe shines, newspaper kiosks, the dance rotunda in the middle pumping out its dance music.
Lovers canoodling on the park benches, there are alot of them meeting here, sitting on the park benches and they are not afraid to show their Public Displays of Affection.
The Hotel Santa Clara is next to our hotel and is the oldest building in the town dating back to 1532. The Santa Clara was built by the Spanish Conquistador Deigo de Mazariegos the founder of San Cristobal and the conqueror of the Chiapas region. His coat of arms is above the door.
The Cathedral borders the square, it has a high fence around it and scaffolding holding the façade together. Its the very first scaffold has seen in Mexico…Rosie has been so lucky that all of the sights she has wanted to photograph have been scaffold free….not like Europe.
This Cathedral though is trussed up for a slightly different reason, it has been closed to the public as per the September 2017 8.1 earthquake that rattled the city badly and damaged most of the old town buildings in some way or other. Nearly every church (and this is Mexico, there are lots of them) in town is closed to the public because of safety reasons. It is such a shame in a country that lives for their religion and church to have so many closed.
The streets are cobbled and each seems to have a stunning point of interest at the end that you gravitate to. Walking on Guadalupe Street, which is a pedestrian only walkway between bars and cafes, in the distance up a slight incline you can see the church of Igleasia de Guadalupe in the distance…it dosnt look that far, it makes you want to keep on trucking along.
The buildings are brightly coloured, peep into the doorways and its always more than meets the eye inside. Beautiful garden terraces, umbrellas on the street to sit and watch the hustle and bustle. Rosie is in photo heaven as she cruises along and stops every couple of minutes as something new, colourful and random catches her eye.
What seems like only a matter of minutes we are at the bottom of the steps of the Church looking up at it. Come on Rosie said The Operator, you have come this far. Inside this church I just wanted to laugh out loud with joy, it was the most amazing church I have ever been in.
The beautiful scent of fresh flowers, the soft light was perfect in the creamy coloured interior. The dramatic statue of Jesus with his magnificent silver halo gleaming sat atop his luscious locks of hair, above his blood stained brow, which was so agony filled.
The neon lighting around the centerpiece of Mary on the alter, below….yes, neon lighting. Multiple strips, multiple colours. Nothing is to OTT here in Mexico. It was an awesome church, totally made you feel uplifted whether you needed it or not!
The view from the steps of the Church was awesome too.
Its cocktail time after my stair climb…we find a bar with an awesome terrace near the church that looks out over the town. Rosie is so in love with the colour of everything and keeps snapping away.
Heading back into town, we take a wee detour to the Market. It sits under the giant brooding, squat ediface of the Iglesia de Santo Domingo. This 16th century church has the most awesome relief carved facade (interior closed because of earthquake damage). It is just beautiful and so peaceful when you look up at the church, come back to the real world and look around you at eye level and you are thrust in the middle of the chaos of one super busy local market.
What an intense experience, everything is at such close quarters, the hustle and bustle, everyone knows where they are going, no one is browsing here.
Rosie gets in everyones way, the filth and rubbish underfoot is incredible, I’m trying to dodge crud and pools of water in my sandles. Fully feathered dead chickens hang from a womans waist, as she walks past, stalls of chillies, fruits, greens, fabric, shoes, clothes
Overwhelming. Rosie was taking a photo of this chille stall and got a chillie thrown at her and waved on. Sorry, no offence intended. Fleece is spread on the ground for sale from some highland animal still with the straw it slept in that night stuck in it, a man in the corner is selling grains and nuts, spread out on a tarp is a lady selling leafy greens….she must know she is going to sell the lot today as there is one heck of a pile and they are already going wilty. Rosie and The Operator step out….it was as easy as that to re enter the world of sanity. Step out of the lanes and the chaos is left behind.
Walking back down the street we encounter the most amazing smell of roasting chicken. From a hole in the wall that is reminiscent of a barn door where you swing open the upper part is a giant rotisserie with rotating chickens being cooked over a fire. The already cooked ones are sitting beneath the cooker as a re a pile of delicious looking potatoes roasting away.
A guy is walking down the street pushing a stationary bike on its front wheel and ringing the bicycle bell. Rosie and The Operator pause to watch, a girl comes out of a restaurant with 3 knives. The guy parks the bike, hops on the seat and starts pedalling. His pedaling is turning a sharpening stone from which he sharpened the restauarants knives. It was quite innovative and as we watched him move down the street, he was getting a fair bit of business.
No map is needed in this town, we just walked the streets and get lost amongst the festive flags that fly over head the amazing colour and interesting sights you see on every corner you turn. This is a an amazing city and what better way to see it than to just wander it.
There is a couple of pedestrian only streets in town which are great to meander along. At the end of Miguel Hidalgo is the Archo del Carmen which was built in the 17th Century and was one of the main gates to the town. This structure too is unfortunately earthquake damaged and has a fence around it.
On the opposite side of the town is another small rise hill and on that sits, you guessed it, another church. Cant go to one and not the other. This very steep set of stairs leads to Iglesia de San Cristobal. It is ironic how both of the churches on the steepest points of the city survived the earthquake and the ones on the flat were damaged the most.
Including this one…Santa Lucia. They will all slowly be repaired….we are not sure about them being strengthened in case of another shock.
The people that live in this city give it a different vibe too. There are alot of Europeans that live here long term, they are long dreadlocked haired folk with too many extra holes in their bodies, dressed in uniqueness and emitting an odour of bohemian. They too are making jewellery or painting and selling it on the street, some are busking around the bars. Its a crowd Rosie has never seen before in Mexico and they have a big community going on here.
The indigenous peoples of San Cristobal de las Casas are of Aztec descent and sell their goods in the square and tourist zones, they wear their traditional dress as everyday wear and not just for special occasions. They are small people, tiny in height and stature and they sit and embroider or carry on crafting while their finished product lays in front of them for sale. Some continually walk the streets asking any foreigner for a sale.
This is the first place in Mexico we have come to where we have been inundated with people trying to sell us goods. We smile and say no thanks, they move on…within seconds another has taken their place. They are selling, carved and painted wooden goods, hand woven colourful blankets and throws, emboidered clothing, honey, lollies all hand made or home made.
Kids are big touts too…a lot seem to not go to school but are around the streets selling small trinkets from buckets, and these are kids as young as fivesh. They muscle into where you are sitting and all of a sudden a wee grimey head kind of pops up under your armpit.
Rosie and The Operator were sitting under the portico below, at a street side bar leaner on the square having lunch, watching the hustle and bustle. Rosie’s favorite mealtime spot, right in the action, people watching. A wee boy came up with his bucket and wanted me to buy his carved animals, I said no thanks…and turned away.
I always acknowledge them with a smile and look them in the eye and shake my head as I say, No Gracias. He hung around and hung around, Rosie ignored him, she didnt even realise he was still there and carried on eating her quesadilla and drinking her beer. The kid then tugs on my shirt and points at my food poised about to enter my mouth. Rosie is quite shocked, and automatically just hands over the wedge with a bite already out of it.
The kid snatches it and walks away eating as he goes. Rosie watches the kid as he walks across the other side of the square, the kid pauses and turns back, seeks me out and waves, Rosie waves back.
The impact that moment had on me was phenomenal…..caught up in my own world of seeing only the beauty, differences and quaintness of a place, yes, I would have classed that boy in there with his wee bucket, it never registered with me that these are still desperate times for some. This is a town of beauty, it is clean and tidy with upmarket shops and restaurants. Yet the poor live amongst it. This wee kid probably doesn’t go to school regularly and doesn’t have a full belly but walks the street for 12 hours a day doing a full time job for pennies. That wee grimy face will stick with me forever and the realisation of what we take for granted. To all of you that read this post today, please take time to be thankful for where you live in the world and what you have today.
