Month: January 2026

It’s just a ride down a river through a gorge, but with amazing views.

Firstly we got taken to a viewing point

Yup – that’s where we’re going – 1,000 metres down there.

But before we get top the trip, a quick shout out to Elizabeth who was fantastic fun and mad as a box of frogs.

She immediately sat up front with the driver – I thought she was a guide but she wasn’t – and then played Mexican music from her phone through the speakers getting all on board (except 2!) to sing along. Then dug out a bottle of tequila and some shot glasses and handed those around the bus (everyone partaking in this one!). And she was very kind to us – everyone else spoke Spanish so she made sure we understood what was going on and where we were supposed to be.

On the boat – first stop is the floating bar to buy a beer.

Then we’re off – and it was a stunning couple of hours. Hang on to your hats!

Yes – they are crocodiles.

Oops …

We’re about halfway, and the schedule includes a rest day. We’re going to need a holiday when we’re done!!!

So taking it easy in San Christobal for a whole day. And it’s beautifully sunny and warm.

Although a quick update from New York where apparently it’s beautiful and cold.

Stumbled across more murals in the university

We had been introduced to a great cafe and coffee shop by Anna (La Espirituosa)

And a bit embarrassing – we were trying to find the Mayan Textile Museum. Google Maps was quite helpful, except that when we got in there it wasn’t the right one. Went off to lunch to do more research and found that we had been in the right museum, just on the wrong floor.

Anyway, well worth it.

(although this next one is a photograph in an exhibition)

Subtitle – a non-photogenic, but incredibly fascinating, tour.

These are two towns/communities about half an hour from San Cristobal (and another 1,000 feet higher, so we were above 8,000 feet for the day).

It’s part of the Mexican heritage, and particularly here in the Chiapas region. The guide claimed there were 68 languages still spoken in Mexico.

I said it wasn’t photogenic.

The tour tried to concentrate on the religious, cultural and political differences, and that these towns/communities are still, to an extent, semi-autonomous places.

So this is the prison cell – most sentences are for a matter of hours, leaving it then to the community to sort out the miscreant – including, the guide claimed, lynching for the most serious. We watched (but weren’t allowed to photograph) a mediation court.

No pictures allowed of religious activities; suffice to say there is a sort of link to Catholicism, although they do not really recognise the Vatican. The Vatican recognises them, but lets them get on with their own way of doing things.

That was Chamula – Zinacantan is not far away, but allowed more pictures. (And it’s big on flower production.)

Recognisably different costumes for each town, but again photographing people was very unwelcome).

And lots of weaving (and buying), and pictures are allowed.

That’s our guide getting very passionate about these communities and the threats they’re facing.

This has been an incredibly brief summary of our trip, which raised so many questions within the group, and doesn’t even scratch the surface of all the issues.

We did our usual of signing up for a walking tour on our first day, and had the enormous good fortune of Anna as our guide. She was amazing.

Passionately political about

Feminism and women’s rights

Native Mexican’s rights

Coca-Cola

Here she is in front of a mural of a coke bottle and the tag line says “steals water”.

There is a huge coke plant nearby becoming hugely influential in the area, and she claimed the average person drinks 2 litres a day. She said she used to drink 3 litres, and has been “dry” for 6 years – and still misses it more than her ex!

And to cap it all, she introduced us to a fantastic cafe and coffee shop.

Then it rained in the evening and we got wet!

The younger travellers take an overnight bus, or whatever, on their way to the Yucatan, Guatemala and the rest of Central America. We fly and taxi! And we arrive in plenty of time to sightsee and mooch around.

Obligatory margaritas

It’s hard work, although I doubt that helps us in gathering the sympathy vote!

For the last day we returned to the Historic Centre to add a bit more depth from our initial foray on the guided walk.

And it’s amazing and overwhelming in equal measure.

Ministry of Education

Centred around the murals for which Mexico is famous.

Coffee (with a view)

Back to Belles Artes

More murals and the most stunning art deco building.

Folk Art

I was flagging a bit, but some stunning pieces

I think we deserved our margheritas!

Firstly, the military police. We’re booked on a half day trip, with a 06.45 meeting time. We weren’t the only ones at the rendezvous …

And visiting the temple

But that aside, here we are (make up your own pronunciation)

Thousands of years building and rebuilding before the Aztecs ended up here. They reckon about 200,000 people lived there.

Note the people working on the pyramid about halfway up on the right to give some sense of scale.

Had to climb those steps – only 47 but scary difficult.

Liked this one – shows how the pyramid was designed so the mountain in the background is meant to represent its shadow

And that’s a day’s work done by about 1.00.

First a few thoughts about Mexico City

It’s the least English-speaking place I think we’ve ever been. Bit of a surprise.

Really really hard to get your bearings. Speaking to a couple from Canada today who described it as a huge blob. Probably a bit unfair, but apt I think. It really is huge, and doesn’t have a centre in the way that most cities do. And no real major iconic landmarks which anyone would recognise.

But really today was all about visiting the house of Frida Kahlo. It gets so booked up that we had booked our tickets immediately after we had booked our flights, before Christmas.

I’m not a huge art lover, but it was a fabulous experience. And it’s been on Eileen’s bucket list, and she loved it.

Note her wheelchair

And the most poignant for me. She had polio when she was 6, and her mother put a mirror above her bed so she could do self portraits. She was only 47 when she died, and on the bed is her death mask.

With an afternoon to spare, and a very good day’s work already done, we made a fateful assumption. One of the suburbs, Xochimilco, is famed for its boat trips. We weren’t keen on that, but assumed (wrongly) that there would be beautiful places to walk and sit. There weren’t!

Couldn’t even find a bar to have a beer, so gave up and called it a day. And then trying to find a sensible place to call an Uber, we chanced on one.

With weird beer

That’s some sort of spicy, salty salsa paste …

And finally Eileen put her new Tacos ordering skills to the test in the evening and celebrated her success.

And we significantly reduced the average age of the clientele ……

Anyone remember the helicopter scene at the start of James Bond’s Spectre? We stood in that Square.

Did the sensible thing and booked a walking tour. Laura (Colombian, from Bogotá) was a great guide and began to help us start to make sense of Mexico City and Mexican history.

As per usual, this is not an educational exercise, so all facts must be checked. But the Aztecs were roaming around searching for a place to build their city. Once they saw an eagle sitting on a cactus eating a snake, that was it. (Look at the Mexican flag.)

And they found it eventually – on a lake. Here’s the map from 500 years ago.

The island (just above the word Tenochtitlan) is where the main square is. We are staying on dry land to the west, and Frida Kahlo’s house where we’re going tomorrow is on dry land to the south.

So guess what – Mexico City floods, and also some of it is sinking.

Anyway, Laura was great.

Most importantly, Eileen learned how to order Tacos!

Then did sightseeing

Cathedral – absolutely massive – photos don’t show it

Museum de Belles Artes

Extraordinary – and free to old age pensioners! Note all the art deco and massive murals.

Light duties for the first day. We’re 6 hours behind the UK, so the body clock is mildly confused. Add to that the altitude and we weren’t at our best.

But we are staying in a lovely quiet area in a huge apartment so are very comfortable.

Main tasks were getting provisions – found a Walmart Express around the corner which ticked that bpx pretty quickly.

Then the Anthropological Museum – amazing and overwhelming in equal measure.

Knew about the Aztecs and Mayans – well at least their existence and a tiny bit of history – but had no idea about the huge numbers of other civilisations over thousands of years. Learned a bit, but it definitely puts the rest of the trip into some sort of context.

It’s a lot more Spanish and not much English here than I expected so didn’t pick up many details. But I think the acrobat might be as much as 3,000 years old.