Our House In…

May 20, 2016:

Yes, concluded.  We have driven north, leaving Chiapas behind.  But before we get to that, we have a few more things to talk about from Chiapas.

San Cristóbal

We have already written three posts about San Cris, but we left out a few things from the end of our time there.

On Easter morning, we got up and headed toward the center of town, only to discover that people we lining up along a parallel street.  Sensing a parade, we headed over and found a spot in the shade.  It turned out that the parade wasn’t a religious Easter processional, but the parade for San Cris’ Spring Fair.  Below are pictures.  You may notice one float that seems strangely out of place:  [click picture to enlarge]

We did see one Easter related processional:

The fair also saw the central square decorated and filled with various eating opportunities:

Additionally, there was a night market during the fair on the plaza in front of the cathedral:

And it wouldn’t be Easter without the Burning of the Judases, right?  This year’s theme was modern Judases, and several imaginative displays were build, and then burned:

And a few more random notes from San Cris:

Well, that’s about all the San Cristóbal de las Casas we’re going to bore you with, at least until we return some day in the future.

Tuxtla Gutierrez

Our last two posts had us in Puerto Escondido and Huatulco.  As you’ll recall, we took the bus out to those coastal towns while waiting for our house to get repaired back in Tuxtla.  Well, we had some more time to wait once we returned to Tuxtla.  We were discussing the city with a taxi driver, and told him that we has already been to the Zoo and Marimba Park.  We asked him what else there was to do in town.  His response?  Nothing.  So, we went back to the zoo, and we went back to Marimba Park.

First, Marimba Park: [click pictures to enlarge]

While walking back from the park, we stumbled upon a concert on the central plaza by a group we didn’t catch the name of, but they’re South American, and apparently famous enough that the crowd knew their songs.  And they were pretty good:

Does anyone know who they are?

At the zoo, we were again delighted by both the visitors as well as the residents.

Visitors:  [click picture to enlarge]

Residents:  [click picture to enlarge]

And this time we got a much better look at our favorite animal, the black jaguar.  It’s no wonder this majestic animal is represented prominently in the mythology of Maya and other ancient cultures of the area: [click pictures to enlarge]

Chiapa de Corzo

We also took another trip to Chiapa de Corzo, which is only about 10 miles from Tuxtla.  It’s the embarkation point for tours into Sumidero Canyon which we previously wrote about, but this time we went to see some of the town’s sights.

Pretty common style chicken restaurant. See sides roasting at the bottom.

Chiapa de Corzo has a modest ruin site on the outskirts of town:

It’s mango season, apparently. We’ve seen them rotting on the ground all over, as well as heaped high for transport and sale.

The site you tour contains only a handful of buildings, the rest of the ruined city lies scattered in the surrounding neighborhood, some larger mounds protected for future archaeology.  This site was a very old city, originally build by an Olmec related culture, abandoned long before the Spanish conquest.  When the Spanish arrived, there was a newer Chiapanec town nearby on the shores of the river, and, as was customarily done, this is where the Spanish settled, after razing all structures of pagan religious significance.

Near the center of town, is a large plaza with a Spanish fountain called La Pila, dating from 1562 in Moorish style [click pictures to enlarge]:

And a large church that allows visitors (for a small fee) to climb the bell tower for views of the surrounding area:

While certainly not a tourist destination, we did find another point of interest in Tuxtla, a large market, primarily selling to stores and restaurants.  We didn’t buy anything, but it was interesting to walk around:

Imagine 6 long buildings like this

That’s a lot of watermelons.

The market has its own chapel, of course.

Other scenes from Tuxtla:

Always popular, drinks from big jars and lots of different sauce options.

We ate tamales from these big pots on two occasions, they were amazing.

IF your tacos aren’t cooked like this. . .

Temptation lies everywhere. These cupcakes are $0.35

Roasted corn is served from carts like this all over the country.

Domino’s is on a whole different level here.

Shaved ice cart

Mobility

Well the van got repaired, and we were eventually able to leave Tuxtla, and Chiapas, behind.  Where did we go?  You’ll read all about it, next time.