Today is the day negotiations with the indigenous people commenced at Waitangi. Tomorrow’s a national holiday, Waitangi Day. Waiting Day (the 6th) is the anniversary of when New Zealand achieved it’s administrative independence from Australia and became a colony of Britain 180 years ago. It wasn’t till 1953 that we gained independence from Britain. Commercial independence followed when Britain joined the Common Market in the mid early 70’s.
So much for the history lesson, we are in San Cristobal today and it’s another lovely day. After spending the morning enjoying warm showers, tidying up and writing blogs we packed and walked the kilometre into town.
It’s a very interesting city. Population 185,000. At an altitude of 2200m and with a large indigenous population. This gives the city a diverse range of clothing, art & culture. It’s also the cause of friction. In 1994 there was an uprising of native people who were protesting against the inequality shown to them. It was brutally put down by the Mexican military.
Tourism is playing a big part in the city’s renewal. There are myriads of boutique restaurants, artisan shops, tea and coffee houses. Churches and cathedrals too.
Our walk around the city included visiting a Telcel shop to update the wifi we bought in LaPaz over a month ago. Wifi is working pretty well for us in Mexico.
By the time we walked back to the camp we were ready for a cold beer. Low alcohol of course..:)
While Chiapas region is supposed to be the most dangerous, we have felt nothing but ease in our walks and driving. Petty crime is supposed to be rampant. maybe we have been lucky or just been keenly observant of our surroundings, and cautious without being fearful.
Our camp has lovely warm showers and is very well set up for long distance tourists. It’s expensive though, 300 pesos a night, or NZ$27.
Visits: 45