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San Cristóbal de las Casas is the second largest city in the
southern Mexican state of Chiapas. It is considered by many as the
heart of that state.
We arrived by car, from Oaxaca a late October afternoon.
A 400 years old city, San Cristobal still looks like a
colonial center with its old buildings and churches. It is a
mountain town and the general atmosphere is more something that I would
have associated with some place in the Andes rather than sunny Mexico.
Chiapas is one of the Mexican states with the largest percentage of
natives. Many of them come to town to sell their ware and the
colorful outfits they wear vary depending on which village they are coming
from. |
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Local indian women from Chiapas are known
for the very high quality of their embroidering. Their wares are
sent all across Mexico, but the handicraft market is a great place to go
shopping.
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The local food market is a
colorful display of local fruits and vegetables as well as more of the
Indian farmers selling the local production.
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The temperatures in San
Cristobal are cool all year around with in summer average highs of 73F
(22C) and lows of 45F (7C), while in winter highs of 68F (20C) and lows of
41F (5C). You definitely need a sweater in the evenings...
This is an ideal climate to grow flowers in makeshift greenhouses that
cover the sides of some valleys. The local market has nice
selections of cut flowers. |
The
hotel "La Casa Vieja" is a reasonably priced hotel, a few block from the
center. The rooms are comfortable, the bathrooms are nice and
clean. Although it was selected on the recommendation of a few
friend we were quite happy of what we found when we arrived. The bedrooms
were cute with a definite mountain atmosphere.
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The
hotel is organized as a serie of courtyard, each with a particular
theme. A lot of plants, often seen in apartments seem to relish the
climate.
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This well is not really used, it is just the centerpiece
of the courtyard where our room was located. |
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Shady areas are a great place for local ferns.. |
This Monstera deliciosa. It was lush and
covered with flowers and fruit. It didn't seem to mind several
hours of full sun a day.
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