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/
Mexico (Part 11) Palenque, Mayan Ruins Museum
The next morning after breakfast it was back on the highway flagging down a “colectivo” to head back to the ruins. This time it was to the museum at the entrance to the park. The museum was great. It was very well done.
Musuem grounds, Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
Checking out one of the artifacts in the musuem
Inside the Mayan Musuem in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
We spent the morning at the musuem then caught a “colectivo” back to hotel, checked out, said goodbye to the hotel staff and took a taxi to the bus station in town.
Checking out of the Chan-Kah Resort Village
The bus station is open air, small, hot, and crowded with locals and backpackers.
Passengers in the bus station waiting to buy tickets
From inside the bus station in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
We had arrived early, so had extra time. I walked down the street, found a little store, and bought us some water and cookies to tide us over on bus.
Carol waiting to board the bus for San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico
At 2 p.m. we left on the 5 hour bus trip from Palenque to San Cristóbal de las Casas.
Next-the winding road to 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 10) Dinner in Palenque Town, Chiapas
Our goal was to not experience all of our meals at the hotel, so we decided to go into the town of Palenque for dinner. Since I wasn’t sure exactly where the “colectivos” dropped off its passengers in town, we opted to be big spenders and have the hotel call a taxi. . Cost to town was 40 Pesos (USD $4).
Once we were in town, we walked around for 6-7 blocks until we finally found an ATM where we got some Pesos to buy dinner. The town of Palenque is pretty bland, sort of a hodge-podge of buildings. Ok, it’s a little dodgy! Seemed like an assembly place for backpackers who are heading off for other parts of Mexico. It reminded me a lot of Tena, Ecuador that sits at the bottom on the east side of the Andes.
Saturday night downtown in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
Using our trusty Lonely Planet guide book we headed for the best restaurant in town, a beautiful open air place named Restaurant Maya Cañada. The service was great. We both had steak for around $10 USD each. Before we left, the restaurant had filled to capacity. We knew we had made the right choice.
Steak Dinner
The dessert was the best part. Check this out:
Half a coconut shell filled with coconut ice cream topped off with a chocolate bar.
After dinner, we walked to the bus station to pick up our tickets for the bus the next day to San Cristobal de las Casas. Since I had originally purchased them on line before leaving the states it was just a matter of getting our boarding passes printed. I didn’t want to chance having to stand in a long line the next day. We would spend the next a.m. visiting the musuem at the ruins before leaving for San Cristobal in the afternoon.
Next-A brief visit to the Musuem of the Ruins in Palenque
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 9) Chan-Kah Resort Poolside, Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
The pool at Chan-Kah Resort Village in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico is an absolutely beautiful, free form, rock lined pool.
There were a few other guests around the pool. We didn’t see or hear any other Americans. All seemed to be from Europe. We struck up a conversation with several of them. Most were just traveling around Mexico on buses somewhat like us.
We hung around the pool until a lightning storm drove us back into the casita.
Next-Dinner in Palenque Town
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 8) Chan-Kah Resort, Chiapas, Mexico-The flowers
I have had a number of people ask me about the flora in the jungle on and around the property of the Chan-Kah Resort Village. Carol took the camera out one afternoon and took some pictures so I thought I would post a few of some of the beautiful plants they have on the grounds that she photographed. I don’t know the names so you will just have to enjoy the photos.
All of the casitas have gardens and flowers planted around them like the above picture.
Now, in the next post, I will show you the pool area. Wait until you see it! Beautiful!
Next-The pool of Chan-Kah Resort Village, Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico
See 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-puertorico/ Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/
Mexico (Part 7) Palenque, the Mayan Ruins-Wow!
Having visited the ruins of Tulum, Monte Alban, Tikal, and Copan on previous journeys into Latin America, I was still impressed with these ruins in Palenque, Chiapas, Mexico! Take a look for yourself.
Being a Saturday, the ruins were really busy with tourists, most seemed to be Mexican. After the two-hour tour we stayed around for an extra couple of hours shooting photos and climbing around the ruins.
Impressive, huh? Post your comments below if you liked these ruins.
After we finished, we caught another “colectivo” on the highway and headed back to the Chan Kah Resort to take a dip in the pool. But first, I want you to see some photos of the flowers on the property of the hotel in the next post(#8). Then wait until you see the pics of the pool in the post(#9) following the flowers! Stay tuned.
Next-The Flowers of Chan-Kah Resort Village
See 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-puertorico/ Fly around the U.S. for the day: http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/category/day-trip/
Mexico (Part 6) Palenque, Chan-Kah Resort and ready for the ruins!
The next morning we were up early and had a sumptuous buffet breakfast. There were only about 10-12 other people in the beautiful open air dining room. Here is a photo of the outside of the dining room:
Outside of the dining room
Inside the dining room-
All you can eat buffet breakfast-cost was about 12 bucks.
The ruins were about 4 miles away and we needed transportation. We were told to just walk down the road and stand on the highway until a little “colectivo” comes by and wave it down.
This is the road from the resort that leads to the highway-
“Colectivos” are vans that run up and down the highway, hold about 9 people, and function as an ad hoc taxi service.
Flagging down a “colectivo” on the side of the highway
You get on and off wherever you want and pay the driver a token fee. In our case, the 4 miles to the ruins cost $1 each (10 pesos). He had about 13 people in his 9 person van with most of them being backpackers, some of whom were carrying bedrolls, tents, etc. Several of them looked pretty spacey. This area seems to be a magnet for backpackers.
When we arrived at the ruins we were approached by a guide service asking if we wanted a private guide in English. Carol said “we’ve come this far, let’s do it right and hire a guide”. Best thing we ever did. For 2 hours ($85 USD), our guide took us through the ruins and painted a vivid picture in our minds of how this Mayan civilization lived …..It was incredible! You will enjoy the photos in the next post.
Next Time-The ruins of Palenque
See 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 5)-Palenque and a beautiful hotel-Chan-Kah!
18 hours after leaving Oklahoma City, we finally arrived at a very small bus station in Palenque, Chiapas around midnight. As late as it was, there was a crowd of people boarding a few other
all-night buses to far away destinations that had names I couldn’t even pronounce.
We found a taxi in front of the station and agreed on the fare of $4 (40 pesos) and away we went, 20 minutes down the highway through the countryside. When we arrived at Chan-Kah Resort Village near the Mayan ruins there was only a desk clerk and a security guard, neither of which spoke English, but we managed to get everything set up and get to our rooms.
Chan-Kah Resort Village is set is a jungle like setting with lots of little casitas spread out in the trees. Here are some photos:
Look at the vegetation growing from the roof of our room
Our sitting porch outside our room
Here are some pics of the walkway through the property. You can click on them to enlarge
The room was large and very simple. We were pleased. We agreed that we had chosen a wonderful property. Take a look at their web site:
Since we were traveling so light, the first thing we did was wash our clothes by hand and hoped they would dry in the humidty. This was all part of the master plan: travel light and wash our clothes as we went. Once you get used to this system, you will never want to travel any other way–At least I don’t!!
I have to admit, my biggest fear about this trip was: would Carol be able to stand up to the rigors of traveling light, quick, washing clothes by hand, buses, language barriers, and be able to deal with the uncertainties and challenges of a trip like this? So far, she had received an A+. It only gets better from here!
Next-The Mayan ruins of Palenque! Incredible!
See 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 3)-Villahermosa-Speak Spanish and bring Pesos!
Mexico-Chiapas, Tabasco & the Mayan Ruins of Palenque-cont’d
Unfortunately, there was a major accident on the highway leading from the Villahermosa airport to downtown and we got tied up in a HUGE traffic jam. I watched the time tick by and knew we had missed our 7:30 pm. bus. Unfortunately, I had purchased my bus tickets on-line from the U.S. for the 4:30 p.m. bus so now we had missed two buses. However, before leaving the states I was in telephone contact with my daughter, Stephanie who was advising me as to my options on alternate bus times through the website:
So, I knew there was only one more bus at 9 p.m. that night to Palenque. At 8 p.m. we arrived at the Villahermosa bus station, shook hands with our new best friends, Bruno and his wife, and went inside. It was raining outside, hot inside, and it was a packed, noisy, chaotic bus station with long lines. I finally made it to the ticket window and gave the clerk my reservation number. She spoke no English but my Spanish was passable enough. She told me I had forfeited my original prepaid ticket because I had missed the bus, but she would sell me 2 seats on the 9 p.m. At that point we only wanted to be on our way so agreed to buy two tickets and didn’t argue. They were only $5.50 each.
The neat thing about the Mexican bus system is you get to select your seats at the time of purchase. I selected seats 9 & 10—don’t ask me why, they just looked like good seats! I pulled out my Visa to pay and was told: “we don’t accept credit cards (in Spanish of course). I offered to pay in US Dollars—nope, don’t accept those either! Fortunately, I had stashed a few pesos that were left over from a previous trip to Mexico 3 years ago into my backpack before we left home. It was enough to pay for the tickets.
BTW-I will be adding some interesting photos to these blogs on the trip to Palenque and San Cristobal de las Casas so don’t lose patience with me!
Next-The Villahermosa waiting room! Carol needs pesos for the bathroom!
See 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/
