More ruins, waterfalls, crocs and Zapatistas

The trip to Mexico was relatively hassle free which was surprising as we'd heard a few horror stories. Our introduction to Mexico wasn't great when we were stopped by armed military and ordered out of the van for a quick search.

We managed to get out to El Panchen, just out of Palenque where we discovered that Mexico had hot water. We had one night there before embarking (in comparative luxury - a huge van with at least a seat each) on a day trip to the Palenque ruins, a couple of waterfalls, a transfer to a nice bus and on to San Cristobel.

Goods for sale at Palenque ruins



Largest temple at Palenque



Palenque ruins



Roof comb



Time out, checking the Lonely Planet



Misal - Ha falls, from the front..



..and from behind



Agau - Azul falls, very impressive



Close up views





A perfect spot for a quick dip before a long, winding bus ride to San Cristobel



We arrived late into San Cristobel but had met a couple on the bus who knew a good place to stay so we followed them. It was a nice, family run hotel and our time in San Cristobel was a real highlight of the trip. One night we went to a movie about the Zapatistas, an indigenous rebel group that shot to worldwide fame when they took over San Cristobel. It was very graphic and rather frightening when we realised they were still around!

We also did some shopping at the markets and went on really good trip down a canyon before going on to another city in the hope of going to a zoo but it was closed. Then we got lost but finally found a bus to take us back to San Cristobel.

Looking down the canyon, it was very deep in places but hard to capture on a small camera!



This was bizare, strange moss like plants growing on the side of the canyon



Croc!



San Cristobel was alive with colour and sound. There were constant homemade rockets going off all day and many street processions. We later learnt that this was largely because the day of the Virgin was only a day or two away.

Viva la Virgin!



Church at one end of town



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!



Church in town, and more flags!



It was sad to leave San Cristobel as our Central America adventure was drawing to a close. After 13 hours on a bus, we arrived in sprawling, dirty and uninspiring Mexico City.

We had a day to fill in Mexico City, so we took an open top bus tour and went to the free zoo which was impressive but there were a lot of sad animals due to poor conditions. As always, the highlights were the big cats.

Sightseeing highlight of Mexico City....



Cacti in the botanic gardens



Puma



Panda



Tiger



Jaguar, a few of these throughout Central America



Black Panther



The time came to leave and we were ready to get out of Mexico City. We were at the airport with plenty of time to spare and quite excited about our next stop, LA.