Chiapas

Leaving Oaxaca I headed for Chiapas, the final state that I'd be visiting in México. Before going to the capital San Cristobal de las Casas, the only thing that I'd heard about it was that the water was so dirty that even showering in it was unsafe, and that you will definitely get ill if you go there. In my research I'd also read that Chiapas was dangerous because of hijackings and bandits on the roads. So needless to say I wasn't too keen on going there! Alas, it stood between me and my next destination, Guatemala, so I had to brave it. As it turned out San Cristobal was one of the loveliest cities that I had visited in Mexico. It had the colourful colonial charm of Mexico City and Oaxaca but with a much more chilled vibe, it felt more like walking around a provincial town. There was also a much stronger presence of the Mayan culture with many of the locals wearing the traditional dress. Still, I made sure to only use filtered water to wash my face and teeth, which worked fine enough for me!

As I'd headed into southern Mexico I had become slightly addicted to the Mexican drinking chocolate which can be had caliente (hot) or frio (cold). The use of cocoa originated in southern Mexico around 4000 years ago, the Mayans believed that it was the food of the gods and it's still very popular now, often drank with bread or pastry for breakfast. It's typically made with grated dark chocolate, milk or water, little sugar, and spices such as chili, cinnamon and cardamom for flavor. However bars of chocolate never seemed to catch on as I could never find any decent ones! Another favourite beverage of Mexico is Coca Cola, they drink more per head of population here than anyone in the world. Within Mexico, Chiapas drinks the most with the average daily consumption of Coca Cola being around 2.2 litres per person! In some places they revere it almost to a religious level, and you can see it reflected on the street art.

Being in the central Highlands of Mexico, Chiapas also had some incredible natural beauty to see. First off was Sumidero Canyon, which we viewed from above before taking a boat trip on the river. It seemed like a good idea to buy a beer for the journey from a floating bar at the dock, before we headed off at full speed and realised how bumpy the journey would be! Still, we managed to slow down for parts of the journey so we could drink out beers before they went totally warm! We even managed to see come spider monkeys and crocodiles. On the way back we stopped at the historic town of Chiapa de Corzo which has been occupied since 1500 BC, and was occupied by the Spanish in 1528 leaving behind some impressive Moorish structures such as the Pila Fountain built in 1562.

My final stop in Mexico was going to be the Mayan ruins of Palenque. This was a long and winding road trip away from San Cristobal so the journey was broken up by visiting some beautiful waterfalls! First up was Aqua Azul, a series of waterfalls of the brightest blue, caused by a high concentration of calcium carbonate in the water. Next was Misol Ha, a high waterfall dropping into a clear pool with a cave behind it that you could walk along. Finally we arrived at the Palenque ruins. Palenque was a Mayan city state that was occupied from 226 BC to 799 AD. Since then it has been left to the jungle which has almost entirely engulfed it. The main areas have been excavated and it is a fascinating place to explore. It all felt very Indiana Jones!Læs mere