Aug 1 - San Cristobal / Tuxtla Gutierrez

Our first Spanish class was amusing; we got to know our "maestra" and vice versa and did a little reading aloud and listening comprehension. It's clear we will have many interesting discussions about Mexican and American culture - such as how vegetarians basically don't exist in Mexico. Allegedly many doctors here recommend copious quantities of red meat as an important part of a complete (albeit carcinogenic) diet. We also learned about the prevailing opinion of Americans in the Yucatan resort cities like Cancun and Cozumel - thanks spring breakers for totally ruining our reputation there. You know who you are. Interestingly this negative perception doesn't exist in Oaxaca and Chiapas, because, as our teacher related, Americans more interested in culture and history and less in throwing TVs into pools tend to visit these areas.

Anyway, we had lunch at some 'international' restaurant that I didn't really care for. At least my OJ was bigger than Lauren's. Next we bought tickets for the Palenque bus departing tomorrow at 7:15am and nabbed a colectivo heading to Tuxtla next door to the OCC bus station. There weren't really any signs, but it was tough to miss the guy screaming "A TUXTLAAA!!!" every 30 seconds. Following the instructions of our hostel, we got off slightly before Tuxtla - at Cahuare - to take a "lancha," or motorboat, tour of the picturesque Sumidero canyon.

The canyon presented us with a long twisting river surrounded by cliffs; it was breathtaking. During the ride, our boat naturally coupled with several travelling vendor boats. We were shocked by the amount of trash - mostly empty bottles - in the waters, undoubtedly tossed away by lazy tour participants. Littering seems to be a pervasive problem in Mexico, to the extent that some consumer products actually say "throw me away!" on the packaging.

From the tour we took an expensive taxi to the Park of the Marimbas in downtown Tuxtla, about 10 minutes away, to see the famous nightly musical performance at 6 pm. Unfortunately, there were no marimba players in sight. Instead, had some much needed cheap eats and, as we resolved to see some marimbas, we visited the marimbas museum next to the park. There we learned that marimbas are an important historical part of Chiapan culture, going back several centuries.

The return journey to San Cristobal was infinitely cheaper than the cab, since we grabbed a 2nd class bus. Getting to the station was a tad tricky though; a tourist info booth near the Zocalo got us to the general area - about 10 blocks east and several north. When the road we had been told to follow ended, we asked an elderly woman who enthusiastically and successfully got us several blocks further to the mini-terminal. Paying 70 pesos for the two of us, we arrived in one hour. Seeing Tuxtla was satisfying, but we found no reason to spend more time there; the city looks more like Mexico City - big and kind of dirty.