Mexico (Part 23-Final Part) -Last Day in San Cristobal de las Casas
The next morning, Bela at Belas B&B, called her driver to drive us to the airport in Tuxtla Gutierrez, which was over an hour away. It was nice to be able to sit back, enjoy the beautiful drive, and converse with the driver—-in Spanish, of course!
The airport in Tuxtla in very modern. You can see the photo here:
I gorged myself on some nachos and water while I thought about our great week in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico.
Final comments:
I have been to a number of different cities in Mexico and I must say that San Cristobal is my favorite. It is a delightful town with lots of activities. We felt perfectly safe the entire time we were there. In addition to great restaurants and shops, there are a number of attractions in the area (you already read about San Juan de Chamula).
The easiest way to get to San Cristobal is to fly to Tuxtla (TGZ) and take a taxi to San Cristobal. There are plenty of very nice hotels in San Cristobal. If you want a real experience though, you should try a B&B such as Bela’s.
Hope you enjoyed Mexico. If you have comments you can post them here or e-mail me at ssb11@prodigy.net
If you want some great Mexican food recipes I notice that Dave Cathey, The Oklahoman’s food editor has some great recipes on his web site. You can find it here: http://blog.newsok.com/fooddude/category/mexican-food/
BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here
View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com: Colombia: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/ Mexico: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/
Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/
San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/
Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/
Mexico (Part 17)Photos of the streets of San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas
I thought the best way to give you an idea of the streets of San Cristobal de las Casas would be to post a few photos as per below:
If you liked these street scenes then check out my next blog with some shots of the buildings of San Cristóbal de las Casas.
If you want some great Mexican food holiday recipes I notice that Dave Cathey, The Oklahoman’s food editor has some great recipes on his web site. You can find it here: http://blog.newsok.com/fooddude/category/mexican-food/
BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here
View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com: Colombia: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/
Mexico: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/
Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/ San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/ Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/
Mexico (Part 15) Learning Spanish at Instituto Jovel in San Cristobal
While I have done a number of Spanish language immersion programs in Latin America, this was the first time that Carol and I had done a language immersion program together. Have to admit, I was a little apprehensive at first about us attending school together, but it worked out great! I even carried her backpack to school a couple of days. Just like highschool!!
I spent a great deal of time researching schools in San Cristobal and finally decided on Instituto Jovel. One of the owners, Helga Loebell was very responsive to my initial
e-mails and was very quick to answer all of my questions. It turned out to be a great choice for us.
We chose the 4 hour daily schedule. We attended school from 8 a.m. to 12 noon each day. It was an 8 block walk to school from Bela’s.
This is the street in front of the school
Below are some photos of the school building.
The school building is very modern
We both had outstanding teachers. We felt the quality of the education was extremely high. There were only about 10 students in the school, so most of our classes were one-on-one instruction, which made learning easier.
Next-Finishing our classes in San Cristóbal de las Casas-
BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here
View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com: Colombia: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/
Mexico: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/
Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/
San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/
Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/
Mexico (Part 13) Bela’s B&B in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas
Bela’s was a great place to enjoy our stay in San Cristóbal. She has 5 rooms she rents to the myriad of travelers that are either using San Cristóbal as a destination or simply a stopover while traveling the Mayan route through Mexico.
Bela is an extremely warm and friendly hostess, and an American if you need someone who speaks English. Included in the price is a great breakfast every morning where you get to meet the other guests from around the world that are staying with her. During our 6 days there, we met people from Spain, Chile, Panama, Canada, and France. Everyone took time to introduce themselves. I believe this part of travel is the best…….meeting other people who share their travel experiences. You become instant friends.
Bela has two great cooks that really know how to prepare fantastic meals. Take a look at this photo of the kitchen below. Can you imagine the delicious food that is prepared there?
The Kitchen where the great meals were prepared
We had the blue room at the top of the house (pictured below) that had a beautiful view of the city and the surrounding mountains.
The view from the window of our room
The rooms were extremely well decorated and spic and span clean.
Our Bedroom
Even though only breakfast was included in our price, Bela invited all of her guests for a special lunch one day. Her cook, Manuela, prepared absolutely the best chile rellenos I have ever eaten in the world. The 8 guests at the luncheon table all shared their own stories of their journeys through Mexico.
The dining room: breakfast is almost ready
A typical, very healthy breakfast at Bela’s
The cozy fire in the corner of the dining room
The sitting area in the other corner of the dining room at Bela’s
Bela (Left), chatting with Carol (right). The dog could care less about the conversation.
Bottom line: If you plan to visit San Cristóbal de las Casas in Chiapas, Mexico you need to consider Bela’s. It is a very reasonable place to stay. Here is the link to her web site for more information:
I have some interesting photos coming up in the next few posts giving you good idea of what the town looks like and the language school we attended
Next-The food photos of San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here
View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com:
Colombia:
http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/
Mexico:
http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/
Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/
San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/
Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/
Mexico (Part 12) Taking the bus from Palenque to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas
At 2 p.m. we left on a 5 hour bus trip from Palenque to San Cristóbal.
Our bus
We had been told that it was such a winding road that we might need Dramamine if we had a propensity for motion sickness. We opted out of the Dramamine and found the journey to be very pleasant. It was one of the most beautiful drives on which I have ever been.. The countryside was stunning with very, very, green hills and many picturesque views.
The countryside as seen from the bus
After 2 ½ hours we stopped in the town of Ocosingo for a 30 minute rest stop.
From behind the gate in the bus yard of Ocosingo
Inside the bus station courtyard they were making various hot dishes for sale. Also there was a little tiny convenience store where you could buy drinks and snacks.
The backpackers are filling their backpacks with snacks
Off the road from Ocosingo are some other Mayan ruins in the town of Toniná. They are supposed to be well worth the drive, but it would have to be another time for us.
Time to leave Ocosingo
Finally about 8 p.m. that night (Sunday) about an hour behind schedule we pulled into San Cristóbal de las Casas. We had reservations at Bela’s B&B for the next 6 nights. I had researched it thoroughly on the internet and had found it had great reviews. Bela had sent me directions to her place, so we just simply grabbed a taxi. As he wove through the town we were immediately attracted to it and knew we had made a great choice.
On my next blog I will give a complete overview of Bela’s
BTW-If you want to check out some really neat stuff about what is happening on the redesigned Newsok.com then you need to check out Alan Herzberger’s update here
View my other travel blogs on NewsOk.com: Colombia: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/colombia/ Mexico: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/mexico/ Caribbean island of Barbuda: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/barbuda/ San Juan with a 5 hour layover: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/san-juan-puerto-rico/
Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/
