Our hotel is very appropriately name Casa Vieja (old house). From the outside it looked nothing, but inside it's beautiful.
A beautifully ornate marimba.
Our room was very nice although there was a very steep step up to the washbasin area and past that a door leading to a toilet and shower area. When leaving the loo/shower it was a challenge to open the door without knocking off whichever one of us was at the washbasin!
There are a couple of pedestrian streets with cafés, restaurants and shops and as we were walking along the one nearest the hotel suddenly a man ran past us followed by two policemen, one of which tackled the man to the ground. There was a lot of rolling around but eventually the chap got away but it seems he'd been riding a bike just before the chase. We were both a little unnerved (especially as I was carrying my camera) so I asked a couple of people standing by a shop if he was a thief, but apparently not they thought, but didn't know what - drugs maybe?
I know Chihuahua state is in northern Mexico and borders the US, but I thought I'd show this little chap anyway.
Down in the plaza opposite the main church this band was getting ready to play so we hung around a while but nothing happened.
Indigenous groups come in everyday from the villages around to sell their wares to the tourists.
In the other pedestrian street we stopped off for a glass and to watch the world go by.
Breakfast was taken just up the road in the hotel's restaurant and I wish I'd taken my camera as it was such a lovely room. The only problem was the marimba player who was just too loud and too enthusiastic for 07:30.
After breakfast Francisco took us on a walking tour of the town, following which he said we would meet up with the bus and then visit the local Maya communities. Here's a random selection of shots, with explanation where appropriate.
These "Justice for Freddy" posters are all over town.
I found out when we got home that Fredy López Arévalo was a journalist who was returning home with his wife and children when he was shot dead one evening last November. The assassin was a hitman who escaped on a motorbike but so far the motive is unknown and at least another 8 journalists were also murdered during that year. What with this and the incident last night, suddenly San Cristóbal seems a dodgy place to live.
This smiley lady is from the indigenous Maya group Tzotzil of which there are around 300,000 still living in these highland regions. Her skirt is made from wool and looks just like a shaggy black sheep's fleece and secured by a thick leather belt to hold it up.
Apparently it is still very much a man's world and she was proudly single and intended to stay that way. Someone asked her about wanting/having children and it seems there is no stigma to being a single parent and the whole community helps raise the children; so why should she put up with a drunken womanising man - or words to that effect. She makes intricate beaded and woven things to sell to tourists so most of us placed orders for pens which she delivered to the hotel that evening.
We than had a walk around the local market which was very much for the local people and not at all touristy.
Various types of mushroom.
These are hibiscus fruits - specifically Hibiscus sabdariffa, commonly known as Rosella, Jamaican Sorrel, Florida Cranberry. The flower, fruit, and leaves of this particular species are
all edible and have medicinal properties ranging from lowering blood pressure to working like antibiotics.
It felt rather like being in Lilliput, both men and women are generally tiny and can easily pass under your armpit and often do which is quite disconcerting when you're just pointing something out. I took this lady just for her skirt, but you still can't see it clearly.
I think I've mentioned in various blogs before how Ian and I like to "eria" ise things, so this chicken (pollo in Spanish) stall made us both chuckle.
Not quite Silko, but still very colourful.
There were several of these huge vehicles parked outside the market buildings, so clearly there's plenty of money around.
From there we visited the church of Santo Domingo with its magnificent Baroque façade. Unfortunately most of the group tend to walk right up to something, take their photo and then just stand there, unwittingly messing up my shot, as I need to shoot from further back because I don't want these dreadful converging verticals. 99.9% of the time I don't ask people to move or say anything, as it could so easily be misconstrued, simply because of my camera, that I'm inferring my shots are more important. Believe me, there is an awful lot of camera envy around which I simply don't understand - if you want it, buy it and be prepared to lug it around like I do!
Inside, it's mostly gold!
We then headed off to meet the bus which was waiting near the main square. Obviously I'm very careful about who I point my camera at and always ask permission before taking a direct head shot. Just occasionally though I try a sneaky shot from the hip and it rarely works - this one almost did.
