Oaxaca - Tuxctla Gutierrez/Hierve el agua / Monte Alban
San Cristobal: Cascade De Chiflon /Lago de montebello/
Ocosingo/Tonina/
Agua Azul/Palenque
After such an amazing experience of waterfalls in the same region of Champas we took a public transport (collectivo) and ended up in archeological side of Maya's - monte Alban. It was a definitely tour worth of the visit. We spent like 100 pesos (5$)in total for the whole trip and the entrance in opposed to 400 pesos (20$) charged by the agency. Then we moved on to San Cristobol which was supposed to be a nice village. It turned up to be another Touristic crowded by Mexicans town. We found a posada to stay in but the sheets weren't cleaned. I felt really sick by the idea of sleeping in someone else's bed sheets. It spoiled my whole experience of the town and pseudo colonial house. I really didn't want to stay there any longer. In fact we stayed there only for one night. We went from there for the excursion (200pesos each (12$) and we visited such a beautiful national park with a waterfall called Chiflon. The place was fantastic, the only time to explore it was missing. I was whiling to go for a swim but we didn't have enough time to do so. Also the weather wasn't great. It started raining at the end of the tour. A really nice part of it was a 'tirolesa'. We've got tighten up to the wire and dragged all the way down to the southern side of the river. It was such an emotional experience to see the waterfall underneath. Definitely worthy of doing it. Eventually we went to another one of the greatest wonders of nature - a lake of Montebello. It was one of over 60 lakes located in south east of Mexico on a border with Guatemala. In fact we could see from the other shore for the lake the other country - Guatemala which we are going to visit later on. We came back to San Cristobol at 9pm, took a walk arround the town, and in the heart of it we joined in the religious prossecion of Guatemalas goddess. We followed up the proseccion with musicians and claimed up the hound reds of stairs leading up to the highest church I have ever seen. We bummed into the Mexican family which we met on the tour. We had got a lunch with them and exchanged few customs about the cuisine and the way of living other there. There were s middle class family from a different region more central. They style life was very much like ours - European's one. We kept bumping into them while we were wondering around the streets of San Cristobol and eventually we made a nice and friendly connection. We will en exchanged our mobile numbers. The invited us to their house and it would be great to take such an opportunity and visit then but unfortunately we are heading in the opposite direction. We exchanged the invite but it would be a mission impossible for them (5 members) family to travel to Europe. Nether the less we enjoyed their company. It was a first family we made a friendship with since we arrived in Mexico. We've been here only for a week but it seems like we've been traveling for ages. We visited all the most important sites in south Mexico and still heading to south east to rest by the beach. For now it is a very much mountain, rainforests, rivers, lakes, waterfalls and archeological sites experience. The nature here is amazing.
After wondering around the city over the night we took the bus and ended up in Tonina. Another archeological side of Maya's temple. It wasn't on our list but after we've met a Greek guy who was married and divorced to a Mexican woman, we were recommended to visit Tonina as apparently it was the quietest place. In fact it wasn't easy to get there by night and by public transport but definitely worth of visit. We ended up at 5am in this quite village with only one place which was renting out the bungalows. We didn't have to wake up the owners as their sons were already there to open us the gate and invite to one of the bungalows. I must say it was exactly something I was dreaming of after staying in crowded and hectic towns from which we could go to visit the nature, this was actually the place immersed in the middle of the nature. There were no cars, no people shouts, but the sound of the Forrest. The bungalow was very primitive without hot water and without fresh bed sheets. But I've got used to it and just asked for the fresh ones. Likely we had our own sleeping bags therefore we use them in the energy cases like this. The archeological site of Tonina was so far the best Maya's ruins we have seen. On top of that we entered the site for free and we literally were accommodated 5 minutes of walk away from the ruins. There was no foreign tourists, only the Mexican ones. The site was big and impressive. We climbed up few high temples with mind blowing views. It was a silenced, immersed in a middle of the nature Maya's territory. We were part of it even few ages ahead.
We had got a nice local Mexican breakfast fried eggs with vegs and beans with tortillas cooked by a local lady. Later on we had got a nice chicken stock more or less like the Polish one with some pork and tortillas. We spent a couple of days there and after a huge fight we left the place and moved on to Agua Azul. Agua Azul is such a wonderful natural reserve with springs and water falls. The esther wasn't great therefore the water was muddy and brown. However the rain forest was pretty and it was nice to be immersed in the jungle with indigenous. The hotel was very average (only 250 mex pesos~25$) but we didn't really have a choice to get to any better one. It looked like foreigners weren't staying there, just visiting on the tour. One night over there was enough. We jumped on to a little track and went to Palenque. The journey was ethnically interesting with all the indigenous villages around and people living in very poor conditions. They looked clean and happy. When you travel your mind keeps wondering around and questioning your own life's values, we naturally judge others but actually we don't know what reasons are behind someone's choices. We need to accept ourselves the way we are in order to accept others. The trip took a couple of hours (40 MHN ~ 2.5$) and eventually we arrived in Palenque - the Maya's archeological site. It's a very Touristic place, therefore there was no need of staying too long. We went to the national park to visit this famous Maya's temple immersed in the jungle. The main aim for me was to see the monkeys and tigers but to be able to enter in the reserve you need a guid. Well, we had got the youngest guid ever, it felt like we were supporting the children labour abuse. The 9th year old boy was impressive and his knowledge about the bush, flora and fauna wasn't too bed either. Of course he was trying to make his living by using tourists but we found it so touching. Somehow seeing this little boy dressed by Indiana Johns who was taking us around little area of the jungle made us feel welcomed and honoured by using his guidelines. He even have us s little stones as they were the remains of ruins. Of course there were just a normal stones but he gave us something which would remind us of himself. Then we discovered a little natural swimming pool wth the entrance from the Maya's temple stairs. It was a nice experience to jump in to the Mayas swimming pool and refresh;) after a day trip we took a bus and went to Tolum.
