Mexico Chiapas and Oaxaca

After spending 4 months between Colombia and Guatemala I ended up in Mexico!

I did start my trip by the weird and interesting town of San Cristobal de las Casas in the state of Chiapas.

So many friends told me about this town that was kind of "hippie" "alternative" a good place for shopping and go in vegan restaurants. There is a few places where you can do Yoga /meditation /learn ancient practices .. for example in Haramara colectivo.

There is a beautiful shop where you can buy crafts gear and crystals ; stones .. it is called Kukulkan.  And the beautiful local clothes market and food market where you can get a kg of mangos for 10pesos.

But I personally didn't like this city. First I Love nature and enjoy living in nature so much that when I get into a city I feel energyless ..  it is so busy of people ; cars ; restaurants ; shops.. so noisy ; so much pollution. There is not a tree or a park with grass into the city. If you want calm and to breath you have to take a colectivo-bus to a park/natural reserve out of town and pay for entry of course .

I went to visit El Parque Arcotete this was really beautiful and there is caves (extra fees) and a river .. it's good to chill in the afternoon ( if its not raining and it was raining everyday for 2 weeks.. ) .

With a couple of friend we went to visit a canyon with a bus tour and there was "spider " Monkeys ! But we did not see crocodiles unfortunately..

Why do i think this town is weird? In San cris. You will find everything ..

Vegan and lots of meat restaurants . Looads of bars ; Shop for clothes ; decorations.. all kind of shops alternatives or not . Small boutiques and big international venue . You will find the big clothes market of Mexican fabrics ; markets of spices/ teas and natural remedies ( all kind 😉) , Food/fruit market .

A few nice guesthouses (rare) mainly dirty hostels with drunk people ; girls that bring men from outside in Female dormitories (because they are drunk) or crazy hostel owner with useless manager that dont know how to manage an hotel and its bookings..( Luckely there is 2/3 nice budget hostel as El Nagual backpackers and La Isla )

There is so many beggars and Mexican people selling stuff in the street struggling in the middle of expensive boutiques. Disabled people begging; drunk guys at every corner. So many children put on the street forced to work not even they are 5 years old their own family will put them on the street to sell stuffs or beg ..

There is the main shops street "Real de Guadalupe" with art galleries, nice shops... and everything look cute and fun and on the side there is a Burger King and a Starbucks  with the security guard holding a gun in front of it. So this guy holding a riffle at the entrance of this big american multinational coffee shop and people go get a coffee in that when there is beautiful little cafés and special places with real coffee and managed by locals around..

Also the main square in front of the main church (its a city full of churches!) is filled with militaries and cops all heavily armed. I felt unsecured. I really can't handle this kind of energies. To be honest I stayed a little while because I had dental issues but I escaped in mid-time for a salvation trip in the jungle of Palenque ! 

Palenque the Jungle of salvation!

It is a town 5/10 hours drive ( depends how you go😉)  from San Cris. My advice is take a colectivo bus to Ocosingo then one more to Palenque. It can take between 5/8 hours .  Or pay more for a tourist bus that takes the other road for 12 hours with heavy "covid sanitaries" and cops with dogs  controls.

The area of Palenque is known for its Mayan Ruins and its jungle .I stayed in " El Panchan ". It is a small kind of village just close to the entrance of the Natural Reserve that has been built and is owned by one family. I rented a room for 120pesos/night at Jungle Palace. Only there is no kitchen and you wont find kitchen in all El Panchan because they want people to come and spend at the restaurant (and to be honest there is only 2 other small places to eat and thats not so good food.. But that's my tastes.

That is the best place to stay, it's cheap, the lady who manages the place is nice and most of all its surrounded by incredible nature! There is a  bridge with a river and wooden cabañas . The weather is so hot and humid really tropical style. I have seen amazing hummingbirds ; toucan and agouti(mammals) .. the plants are incredibly beautiful its pink and green! Its hanging everywhere its magic with Birds of paradise flowers 😍.

The Natural reserve is just close by the village so you can visit the ruins and have a walk in the jungle really easily (and you might cross the path of a wild pork 😉).

Also if you need to go to Palenque city it's only a 10min drive with the colectivo and 10pesos.

I spent 5 days in this magical place it was really relaxing I felt home even if the weather was like once 35°c then biiig rain shower! Around Palenque there is also 3 waterfalls worth to visit i did only one i think the best Cascada Roberto Barrios that is a  natural park just covered by waterfalls and natural swimming pools surrounded by jungle! Amazing!

Once my dental stuffs got done in San Cris I was finally able to continue my way to the Ocean! So here we go!

Mazunte and Zipolite in Oaxaca! Ones of the most beautiful beaches i have seen in all my travels and so clean!

Zipolite is known as the only nudist beach in Mexico (where you can also be dressed)  So it's a really open minded town. I am here staying for a month i found a cheap flat my owner is a sweet Mexican woman. Zipo is a small town with one little main street a few restaurants and vegan shops. Mazunte is a bit bigger same vibe but different !I personally prefer the beach of Zipo that is bigger and more quiet .

In Mazunte there is La Punta Cometa it's a huge cliff on top of the Ocean where people go and watch the sunset as gorgeous it is and there is trails by the forest and beach to reach this point. Also in Mazunte i got a boat tour for a Dolphin watch! I even saw sea turtles and a Manta ray ! Epic day for only 300 pesos!

A bit more north there is La Ventanilla both a beach and a local eco community tourist village managed by its own people that respect animals and the nature! Here there is mangroves that we can visit on a tour boat ( it's only 100 pesos entry). And we can see..

🐊🐊🐊Crocodiiiles in their natural habitat and turtles and it's a iguana's paradise. Also the beach as volcanic magnetic black sand.

Those beaches and towns are one of the most "hippie"/nomadic/bohemian places in Mexico! So there is also a lot of places that offers yoga ; meditation and ecstatic dance parties in a Goood Vibe! Enjoy!