Agua Azul
(DAY031 : San Cristobal de Las Casas - Agua Azul : 110 miles)
The ride from San Cristobal to Agua Azul is a beautiful, scenic, curvy stretch partially spoiled by sections of terrible road surface, and of course the un-announced topes.
Today, I had a series of firsts...
I had the first close call of the trip when I found an oncoming bus on my lane mid corner. What can I say, his lane was missing. Thankfully I had been in Chiapas long enough to know that the roads are full of surprises, and was slow enough to save my hide.
When I saw the dark skies ahead of me, I recognized what was awaiting: the first rain of the trip. It was brief and light, but enough to get us all muddy.
Nifty visor cleaner eh?
Then I encountered the first hostile expressions. Once from a little a boy who threw something at me, then from a guy who responded to my salute with a spit. I didn't get hit, but that incident alone was enough to alter my mood significantly. Here in Chiapas, I've learned to not expect the friendliness of the rest of Mexico as I have seen it, but hostility?
Chiapas has the largest population of indigenous people, and my impression of them so far had been that many of them are not as friendly as the Mexican people I've met so far. This is not to say that they are unfriendly, but in other parts of Mexico I felt right at home, whereas here I'm not even sure that I am welcome. They mostly seem distant and suspicious of strangers, and unless you engage them and show your friendliest side first, you may never discover that they too are friendly for the most part. That, unfortunately, does not make you feel welcome.
I arrived Agua Azul at around 3 pm, with the intention of grabbing a bite and moving on to Palenque. Then, I could take a day to come back here and also visit Misol-Ha. I was stopped at the toll gate for 6 pesos, but of course they didn't have change for a 100. I convinced the guy to collect on the way out and entered, only to arrive at another toll gate with nothing in between! Now I had to pay 10 pesos, and yes you guessed it right, they didn't have change either. Thankfully(!) the shack nearby sells bottled water for twice its normal price, and has change.
Being Turkish and all, I rode through the parking lot, on to the walkway, and parked her under the shade of trees right in front of a restaurant, just as any Mexican brother would have. But if Victor hadn't suggested, I never would've thought of rolling her on to the grass, all the way to the edge of water! Can't do that yet though, as a couple of chicks are sunbathing there now.
Victor is the waiter at the restaurant. He suggests that I check out the cascades while I'm already here, and move on to Palenque the next day. Doable. The best part is, I can camp right by the water, with Katirga right beside my tent. Must do. Done.
In the evening, everyone's gone except me and a few other campers. At the only open restaurant, I run into Victor and two of his friends and join them for a drink. They're speaking in Tzeltal, and probably are a few beers ahead of me, so the level of communication is next to nil. But then, Victor puts his english to use: "Are you my friend?" (Yes Victor.) "So you will buy me a beer?"
After a good night's sleep I woke up in a wet tent. I think I underestimated the spray from the falls, and there's no way it will dry before I pack it in. Shortly after I emerged from my tent, really early in the morning, 3 guys in an SUV jumped the pavement and on to the grass, nearly landing on my camp! Then they got out, completely wasted and still with whiskey in hand. Danger lurks in the most unexpected places around here. Luckily they didn't show interest in my presence, and left after a short while.
After a watered down cup of coffee, I headed to the cascades again, but with shorts on :)
The ride from San Cristobal to Agua Azul is a beautiful, scenic, curvy stretch partially spoiled by sections of terrible road surface, and of course the un-announced topes.
Today, I had a series of firsts...
I had the first close call of the trip when I found an oncoming bus on my lane mid corner. What can I say, his lane was missing. Thankfully I had been in Chiapas long enough to know that the roads are full of surprises, and was slow enough to save my hide.
When I saw the dark skies ahead of me, I recognized what was awaiting: the first rain of the trip. It was brief and light, but enough to get us all muddy.
Nifty visor cleaner eh?
Then I encountered the first hostile expressions. Once from a little a boy who threw something at me, then from a guy who responded to my salute with a spit. I didn't get hit, but that incident alone was enough to alter my mood significantly. Here in Chiapas, I've learned to not expect the friendliness of the rest of Mexico as I have seen it, but hostility?
Chiapas has the largest population of indigenous people, and my impression of them so far had been that many of them are not as friendly as the Mexican people I've met so far. This is not to say that they are unfriendly, but in other parts of Mexico I felt right at home, whereas here I'm not even sure that I am welcome. They mostly seem distant and suspicious of strangers, and unless you engage them and show your friendliest side first, you may never discover that they too are friendly for the most part. That, unfortunately, does not make you feel welcome.
I arrived Agua Azul at around 3 pm, with the intention of grabbing a bite and moving on to Palenque. Then, I could take a day to come back here and also visit Misol-Ha. I was stopped at the toll gate for 6 pesos, but of course they didn't have change for a 100. I convinced the guy to collect on the way out and entered, only to arrive at another toll gate with nothing in between! Now I had to pay 10 pesos, and yes you guessed it right, they didn't have change either. Thankfully(!) the shack nearby sells bottled water for twice its normal price, and has change.
Being Turkish and all, I rode through the parking lot, on to the walkway, and parked her under the shade of trees right in front of a restaurant, just as any Mexican brother would have. But if Victor hadn't suggested, I never would've thought of rolling her on to the grass, all the way to the edge of water! Can't do that yet though, as a couple of chicks are sunbathing there now.
Victor is the waiter at the restaurant. He suggests that I check out the cascades while I'm already here, and move on to Palenque the next day. Doable. The best part is, I can camp right by the water, with Katirga right beside my tent. Must do. Done.
In the evening, everyone's gone except me and a few other campers. At the only open restaurant, I run into Victor and two of his friends and join them for a drink. They're speaking in Tzeltal, and probably are a few beers ahead of me, so the level of communication is next to nil. But then, Victor puts his english to use: "Are you my friend?" (Yes Victor.) "So you will buy me a beer?"
After a good night's sleep I woke up in a wet tent. I think I underestimated the spray from the falls, and there's no way it will dry before I pack it in. Shortly after I emerged from my tent, really early in the morning, 3 guys in an SUV jumped the pavement and on to the grass, nearly landing on my camp! Then they got out, completely wasted and still with whiskey in hand. Danger lurks in the most unexpected places around here. Luckily they didn't show interest in my presence, and left after a short while.
After a watered down cup of coffee, I headed to the cascades again, but with shorts on :)
posted by Serdar at
1:00 AM
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