11/29, Thursday. Went to Vault theatre to see Bell Book and Candle by John Van Druten (1950). A light comedy about witches. Fun.
It's worth mentioning that Bag'n'Baggage offers free seats to high school students. There was a group of them tonight.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Sunday, November 25, 2018
2018.11.16-25 SE Mexico - summary
In 10 days, I took ~750 photos (kept ~450). On average, I walked ~24K steps, spent US$30 per day.
Good: dry bag and phone plastic case for all the waterfalls and wading pools. Umbrella for the sun.
Bad: forgot extra battery.
My favorite sites: El Chiflon, monastery of Cuilapan, Maya ruin of Colmacalco.
My least favorite site: Mitla.
Temperature most pleasant: San Cristobal de Las Casas
Logistics
ClickBus (use Clickbus20 for ~20% off) can pay with foreign credit card. ~15% surcharge. ADO bus offers 50% discount for advance purchase. But their website doesn't take non-Mexican credit card.
USD<->Peso
Entry requirement for US citizen
Food in Chiapas
pictes (a sweet corn tamale), la chispota (beef with chickpeas and cabbage), niguijuti (pork with mole sauce), sopa de pan (bread with broth and vegetables), cochito (pork in adobo sauce), chanfaina (lamb innards with rice), a legume called patashete, and traditional Chiapas tamales made with chipilín. Local drinks include pozol, taxcalate, agua de chía tashiagual and pinole.
Next?
A moonless night in May in Chacahua National Park to see one of the bioluminescent beaches.
2018.11.16-25. SE Mexico - part 5/5 - Oaxaca City, Oaxaca
11/23, day 8, Friday. Our bus arrived in Oaxaca city just before 7:30am. The landscape looks dry here. I chatted with the California lady who sat next to me about living here. She moved to Guanajuato a year ago. So far enjoyed her stay, despite of some inconveniences, like the water man or propane tank isn't always available when she needs it.
Dropped off my bag at Hostal Naba Nandoo (where I'll spend the rest 2 nights. I highly recommend it for budge travelers), went to the center. 
The San Domingo church is the highlight. Bought a tour at the zocalo for M$200 from Sicaru Agency to Hierve El Agua and Mitla. I don't recommend this agency. It's a shopping tour. Too big a group: 2 vans, one 20p, one 14p. Unbeknownst to me, here, entrance fee is not included. The bilingual guide is nice, but totally useless. His English is as bad as my Spanish. Once he found out that we have a group of German kids, he switched to German instead of English. Not sure how bad his German is. 2 French girls complained. Also, he doesn't know much. I learned more from trailing other guides. The adjective he likes to use is "special". Everything is special.
Our first stop, the 2000+ year old Ahuehuete tree in Santa María Del Tule. M$10 to enter the fence, even though you can see the tree equally well from the outside. There's another one, maybe 1000 years old. Both look very healthy. I do recommend this stop. But if you are penny pinching, skip the entrance fee.
2nd stop El Ray de Matatlan, a mezcal shop. We were separated in two groups, in English or Spanish. We were shown the pit used to cook agave, the horse drawn (w/o horse) mill, and distill pot and wood burning slot. Then we tasted 4 mezcal: the 5 year old, the 1 year with a worm, the 6 month, and the 8 years. There're also flavored mezcal to try. Orange wedges with pepper salt was used to tame the taste.
Next a weaving cooperative that uses wool (from highlands) and natural colors from local plants, rocks and insects (cochineal for red). An 8 year boy and a maestro in his 50s stood by their looms
Then we were driven to a restaurant near Mitla for a buffet lunch, M$150. Several of us chose not to partake. Luckily they have chairs in the shade to wait for the group.
At 2:40pm left the restaurant for Mitla. The guide collected M$70 entrance fee on the bus. This I'd recommend not to bother. The Spanish build their cathedral on the Mitla site, and pilfered the rocks and columns. So only half of the ruin is in the fee part. 
The good thing is that there's no vendors inside, and you can go down to 2 underground chamber, which were too small and claustrophobic. 
Mitla was a Zapotec funeral site. It's said to be sacred to the Zapotec people. It has many mosaic rock decoration. Near the Cathedral, I was pointed to some fine red drawing above door ways by another guide.
4pm, we finally left for Hierve el Agua. On the hwy ramp out of Mitla, the auto toll is M$19 for the vehicle. Due to the bumpy road, we only got there 45 minutes later. Again, our guide collected M$35 (two entry fees $10 & $25). We were given 1 hour. The view of the Oaxaca Valley is excellent. There are two calcified waterfalls, most people and the shops are next to the first one, where the big parking lot is. There are 2 pools (maybe artificial) where you can bath (too shallow to swim). I wore swimsuit and brought my dry bag, but didn't use them. 
One water source is fenced off. You can see water bubbling. 
There's a foot path connecting both above, and I met some Mexican walking below when I reached the 2nd fall. So you can walk a loop. I walked down the 2nd one, and back the way I came. I highly recommend going down to at least of the dry falls. Quite impressive to see it from below. On my way back, saw 5 guys scrambling up the first dry falls. The last 2 people had a bit of trouble. 
By the road, when walking back to the parking lot, I found a tiny hill with great view of the pools and the valley. I might the the only person who was back to the bus on time. So... as a punishment, I had to wait for others. Had time to look around the tourist infrastructure built for this natural wonder. Seems not well used. A semi circle concrete building, with water sinks (no water) outside, a large pool (no water), toilets (half closed, half for M$3).
Back to the city ~8:30pm. Chilly already. Elevation here is around 5000'.
11/24, day 9, Saturday. Sunny, no clouds. 30°C/12°C (85°F/53°F). Followed everyone's advice, I went to Mt Albán on a Lescas shuttle $58/RT. 8:30/12pm is the first one available. Contrary to what I read online, I'm allowed to take any return shuttle (once an hour starting from noon). 3.5 hours is sufficient to check out everything, even if I eavesdropped various guides. The shuttle takes 20+ minutes, picking up passengers on the way. I sat with an Indian couple who were traveling in Mexico for a month, while the husband's US visa was renewed. Two of them has only one 0.5L bottle of water, no hats.
Monte Alban (M$70) is really on top of a mountain, excellent view of the city below. Another Zapotec site 2-800AD. Later occupied by Mixtec people. It's a big court, with higher temples on north and south ends, two structures in the middle and other lower building all along east and west (almost none allows climbing, other than the lower platform of the south temple and one higher temple of the north. I walked clockwise. When we arrived, there weren't many tourists yet, even though it was a Saturday. The north plaza is the most elaborate. It has its own plaza on the lower platform. Probably ceremonial center. A series dancing figures carved on rocks look interesting. The originals are in the museum. The museum is fairly small. But it offers shade and washroom. A good place to idle while waiting for the bus out.
Once back in town, I hailed a colectivo (M$15) to Cuilapan de Guerrero for Ex-monastery of Santiago Apostol. My driver called it convento. I really like this ruin. A small new church is built between the two walls of the old church, and was having a mass. Even though there were occasional visitors, this is a quiet place. Nice to sit under a tree to relax - which I needed: wasn't feeling well. At the back of the group in the shade of the ruined church and big trees is where Vicente Guerrero was executed.
It was still early. I hailed another colectivo to Zaachila. M$10. For the life of me, I couldn't remember why I marked it on my map. The central square looks quite nice. In the middle is a long stall of vendors under the same long roof. Most of them selling liquados. Nice for the hot day. Walked to the ruin noted on Google map. But seems like a wrong entrance. When I ended up is a fence in an alley east side of the ruin with dogs barking and chasing me out. Too hot to investigate the other sides. Went back to Oaxaca on yet another colectivo. M$15. There's a central depot for the colectivos here, where you go and wait for the next one to leave. Direction is "central".
Back in the town, I went to the airport shuttle near Zocalo to book a pickup for the next day, but was informed that they didn't have driver that Sunday, so no service. Gorge at the hostel told me how to take a colectivo, since I had little luggage.
11/25, day 10, Sunday. 10am Free Walking Tour. We met in front of the cathedral. You can reserve it, and because of that, we waited for more than 10 minutes. The tour moved their starting point in recent years from in front of the government building to the current location (1 block north) due to the Solidarity Protest starting from 2006's demonstration of teacher's trade union.
We walked to Culture Center of San Pablo, converted/expanded from the the oldest convent in town. Then the public library named after Margarita Maza - wife of Benito Juarez, a Oaxacan. Then Contemporary Art Museum next door. When I left their clean toilet, I lost the group. There was a mining right demonstration walking by, quite a lot of people of all ages. I found the group at San Domingo. Then, we spent sometime in the organic market of Cosecha, with a big whimsical insect sculpture at its front door. There're about a dozen different stalls selling farm product. I had a drink. 
The street by the ancient Xochimilco Aqueduct is quite lovely and peaceful. Restaurants hid in the side alley under those arches. Our guide is a young girl. She also suggested some restaurants, but I only remembered one called Cabuche. 
Thanks to her, at noon, I took leave of the tour, and went to Teatro Macedonio Alcala, named after violinist Macedonio Alcala. There were a few locals waiting at its front door for free entrance. 10 minuets later, a lady let us in from a side door, and directed us up to the top balcony. 
I don't know the name of the first three movement piano concerto. Yes, the pianist gave an encore. After the intermission, it was Swan Lake. However, I didn't stay till the end: had to go to the airport. Certainly a better than expected finale of my trip.
I walked to Hwy-175 south of the busy bridge (Periferico + 175), waited for a colectivo signed for San Juan Bautista la Raya. Had to wait for a few minutes (less than 10). The ride is about 10-15 minutes. M$15. I was dropped off at the entrance of the airport. From there, it's a 5 minute walk to the departure hall.
The flight was delayed for 30 minutes, even though the display at the airport showed on time all the while. My original connection at Mexico City was only 50 minutes, so I was worried enough to talk to a stewardess. After we landed at Mexico, we were taxing around a circle, before parked. The passengers in the first class were nice to let me get off the plane first. The airport crew sent a driver to pick up me, a guy for NYC, and 2 more to Portland, and drove us to our gate. Thankfully we didn't have to go through security scan again. A security guard in front of the departure gate asked me some questions and let me on my flight. All is well. I was back home around mid-night.
Dropped off my bag at Hostal Naba Nandoo (where I'll spend the rest 2 nights. I highly recommend it for budge travelers), went to the center. 
The San Domingo church is the highlight. Bought a tour at the zocalo for M$200 from Sicaru Agency to Hierve El Agua and Mitla. I don't recommend this agency. It's a shopping tour. Too big a group: 2 vans, one 20p, one 14p. Unbeknownst to me, here, entrance fee is not included. The bilingual guide is nice, but totally useless. His English is as bad as my Spanish. Once he found out that we have a group of German kids, he switched to German instead of English. Not sure how bad his German is. 2 French girls complained. Also, he doesn't know much. I learned more from trailing other guides. The adjective he likes to use is "special". Everything is special. 
Our first stop, the 2000+ year old Ahuehuete tree in Santa María Del Tule. M$10 to enter the fence, even though you can see the tree equally well from the outside. There's another one, maybe 1000 years old. Both look very healthy. I do recommend this stop. But if you are penny pinching, skip the entrance fee.
2nd stop El Ray de Matatlan, a mezcal shop. We were separated in two groups, in English or Spanish. We were shown the pit used to cook agave, the horse drawn (w/o horse) mill, and distill pot and wood burning slot. Then we tasted 4 mezcal: the 5 year old, the 1 year with a worm, the 6 month, and the 8 years. There're also flavored mezcal to try. Orange wedges with pepper salt was used to tame the taste.
Next a weaving cooperative that uses wool (from highlands) and natural colors from local plants, rocks and insects (cochineal for red). An 8 year boy and a maestro in his 50s stood by their looms Then we were driven to a restaurant near Mitla for a buffet lunch, M$150. Several of us chose not to partake. Luckily they have chairs in the shade to wait for the group.
At 2:40pm left the restaurant for Mitla. The guide collected M$70 entrance fee on the bus. This I'd recommend not to bother. The Spanish build their cathedral on the Mitla site, and pilfered the rocks and columns. So only half of the ruin is in the fee part. 
The good thing is that there's no vendors inside, and you can go down to 2 underground chamber, which were too small and claustrophobic. 
Mitla was a Zapotec funeral site. It's said to be sacred to the Zapotec people. It has many mosaic rock decoration. Near the Cathedral, I was pointed to some fine red drawing above door ways by another guide.
4pm, we finally left for Hierve el Agua. On the hwy ramp out of Mitla, the auto toll is M$19 for the vehicle. Due to the bumpy road, we only got there 45 minutes later. Again, our guide collected M$35 (two entry fees $10 & $25). We were given 1 hour. The view of the Oaxaca Valley is excellent. There are two calcified waterfalls, most people and the shops are next to the first one, where the big parking lot is. There are 2 pools (maybe artificial) where you can bath (too shallow to swim). I wore swimsuit and brought my dry bag, but didn't use them. 
One water source is fenced off. You can see water bubbling. 
There's a foot path connecting both above, and I met some Mexican walking below when I reached the 2nd fall. So you can walk a loop. I walked down the 2nd one, and back the way I came. I highly recommend going down to at least of the dry falls. Quite impressive to see it from below. On my way back, saw 5 guys scrambling up the first dry falls. The last 2 people had a bit of trouble. 
By the road, when walking back to the parking lot, I found a tiny hill with great view of the pools and the valley. I might the the only person who was back to the bus on time. So... as a punishment, I had to wait for others. Had time to look around the tourist infrastructure built for this natural wonder. Seems not well used. A semi circle concrete building, with water sinks (no water) outside, a large pool (no water), toilets (half closed, half for M$3).Back to the city ~8:30pm. Chilly already. Elevation here is around 5000'.
11/24, day 9, Saturday. Sunny, no clouds. 30°C/12°C (85°F/53°F). Followed everyone's advice, I went to Mt Albán on a Lescas shuttle $58/RT. 8:30/12pm is the first one available. Contrary to what I read online, I'm allowed to take any return shuttle (once an hour starting from noon). 3.5 hours is sufficient to check out everything, even if I eavesdropped various guides. The shuttle takes 20+ minutes, picking up passengers on the way. I sat with an Indian couple who were traveling in Mexico for a month, while the husband's US visa was renewed. Two of them has only one 0.5L bottle of water, no hats.
Monte Alban (M$70) is really on top of a mountain, excellent view of the city below. Another Zapotec site 2-800AD. Later occupied by Mixtec people. It's a big court, with higher temples on north and south ends, two structures in the middle and other lower building all along east and west (almost none allows climbing, other than the lower platform of the south temple and one higher temple of the north. I walked clockwise. When we arrived, there weren't many tourists yet, even though it was a Saturday. The north plaza is the most elaborate. It has its own plaza on the lower platform. Probably ceremonial center. A series dancing figures carved on rocks look interesting. The originals are in the museum. The museum is fairly small. But it offers shade and washroom. A good place to idle while waiting for the bus out.
Once back in town, I hailed a colectivo (M$15) to Cuilapan de Guerrero for Ex-monastery of Santiago Apostol. My driver called it convento. I really like this ruin. A small new church is built between the two walls of the old church, and was having a mass. Even though there were occasional visitors, this is a quiet place. Nice to sit under a tree to relax - which I needed: wasn't feeling well. At the back of the group in the shade of the ruined church and big trees is where Vicente Guerrero was executed. 
It was still early. I hailed another colectivo to Zaachila. M$10. For the life of me, I couldn't remember why I marked it on my map. The central square looks quite nice. In the middle is a long stall of vendors under the same long roof. Most of them selling liquados. Nice for the hot day. Walked to the ruin noted on Google map. But seems like a wrong entrance. When I ended up is a fence in an alley east side of the ruin with dogs barking and chasing me out. Too hot to investigate the other sides. Went back to Oaxaca on yet another colectivo. M$15. There's a central depot for the colectivos here, where you go and wait for the next one to leave. Direction is "central".Back in the town, I went to the airport shuttle near Zocalo to book a pickup for the next day, but was informed that they didn't have driver that Sunday, so no service. Gorge at the hostel told me how to take a colectivo, since I had little luggage.
11/25, day 10, Sunday. 10am Free Walking Tour. We met in front of the cathedral. You can reserve it, and because of that, we waited for more than 10 minutes. The tour moved their starting point in recent years from in front of the government building to the current location (1 block north) due to the Solidarity Protest starting from 2006's demonstration of teacher's trade union.
We walked to Culture Center of San Pablo, converted/expanded from the the oldest convent in town. Then the public library named after Margarita Maza - wife of Benito Juarez, a Oaxacan. Then Contemporary Art Museum next door. When I left their clean toilet, I lost the group. There was a mining right demonstration walking by, quite a lot of people of all ages. I found the group at San Domingo. Then, we spent sometime in the organic market of Cosecha, with a big whimsical insect sculpture at its front door. There're about a dozen different stalls selling farm product. I had a drink. 
The street by the ancient Xochimilco Aqueduct is quite lovely and peaceful. Restaurants hid in the side alley under those arches. Our guide is a young girl. She also suggested some restaurants, but I only remembered one called Cabuche. 
Thanks to her, at noon, I took leave of the tour, and went to Teatro Macedonio Alcala, named after violinist Macedonio Alcala. There were a few locals waiting at its front door for free entrance. 10 minuets later, a lady let us in from a side door, and directed us up to the top balcony. 
I don't know the name of the first three movement piano concerto. Yes, the pianist gave an encore. After the intermission, it was Swan Lake. However, I didn't stay till the end: had to go to the airport. Certainly a better than expected finale of my trip.I walked to Hwy-175 south of the busy bridge (Periferico + 175), waited for a colectivo signed for San Juan Bautista la Raya. Had to wait for a few minutes (less than 10). The ride is about 10-15 minutes. M$15. I was dropped off at the entrance of the airport. From there, it's a 5 minute walk to the departure hall.
The flight was delayed for 30 minutes, even though the display at the airport showed on time all the while. My original connection at Mexico City was only 50 minutes, so I was worried enough to talk to a stewardess. After we landed at Mexico, we were taxing around a circle, before parked. The passengers in the first class were nice to let me get off the plane first. The airport crew sent a driver to pick up me, a guy for NYC, and 2 more to Portland, and drove us to our gate. Thankfully we didn't have to go through security scan again. A security guard in front of the departure gate asked me some questions and let me on my flight. All is well. I was back home around mid-night.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
2018.11.16-25. SE Mexico - part 4/5 - San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas
11/20. We arrived at San Cristobal de las Casas in 2 hours. At 2200m elevation, it's much cooler here. I walked towards my hotel, where I'll be staying for 2 nights. On the way, I got a haircut for M$70.
After taking a shower to get rid of the loose hair, I bought two tours from the owner Denis (a Quebecois): M$275 for El Chiflon + Montebello, M$275 for Sumidero Canyon (miradores are M$50 extra), among ~10 options. Then I walked up to Church of Guadalupe for sunset. Quite a few people had the same idea. But the two rows of trees block most of the view.
The town is quite lively in early evening. I had a vegetarian tortilla for dinner, bought a beer and 2 yogurt in OXXO. Too bad, no supermarket here. Selection is limited, and price is higher.
11/21, day 6, Wednesday. Up before 6am. Walked to Cerro de San Cristobal for sunrise.
Clouds were too thick to see the sun. A few joggers running up and down the stairs. Yes, you can drive up here. I bought some Acetazolamide from a corner pharmacy. 30 pills for M$300. A bit pricey. Went back to the hostel for my simple breakfast: toast, butter and jam. Coffee was decent. Waite for my tour pick up at 8.
8:10 I was picked up by a 21 seat van. It has a narrow overhead luggage shelf. Continued picking up tourists until ~8:30. 20 tourists. Only me and a Swedish girl don't speak Spanish. The rest are all native speakers. The driver made jokes, talked about the sites.
10:45. El Chiflon M$30. Bamboo. Butterfly. We got our wristband at 10:50, were given 2 hours.
I really liked it here. Shops are limited mostly outside of the entrance. Cascades of blue water, cobblestone walkway, stone roof picnic tables, grills.
The main waterfall Velo de Novia is 120m high, utterly gorgeous. Overview decks well placed. Instead of walking, you can take the zip line till here.
From the zip line, I walked up the trail to the next two waterfalls: Arcoiris and Quinceanera. A lot less people on this section. There's an employee at Quinceanera. Took me about 25 minutes to go up and take pictures, and 15 minute to go down.
I waded in one of the lower pools. Water was not warm, not too cold. I raan back to the van, arrived at 12:53, we left 5 minutes later. Quickly we left mountain and enter the plain.
2:25pm entered the national park of Montebello Lakes. The lakes here are known for their distinct colors. But toady, light rain/mist, everything was grey. Lake Tziscao first, and maybe the largest. As soon as our van pulled over, a wave of calls beckoning us to their food stands, one loud female voice over another. Sounds like crackling ducks. The bus lunched here. The town on the other side of Lake Tziscao is a border town. Beyond is Guatemala.
Lago Pojoj $25 3:30pm. Another wave of crackling duck as soon as a vehicle pulls over. Some of us took the raft rowed over the lake. 30-40 minutes. Not motorized.
At 5pm, we arrived 5-lakes, no one was collecting the M$25 at this time. Half of the stalls were already deserted. Sun was setting. There's a viewpoint at a high point (a few minutes walk) above Lago Agua Tinta. Can see rafts down on the lake. From here, you can walk on the road a little bit to see Lake Montebello.
At 5:40, we stopped at the shore of Lago Montebello. It was too dark to take a reasonable photo. The women had vacated their stalls, so no noise here. Saw some canoes. Wide muddy shore.
We were dropped off in the city center ~8:30pm.
11/22, day 7, Thursday. I walked to the market and the center. Saw baby chicks, rooster and turkeys for sale, no other animals. Bought freshly made tortilla, a cut pineapple.
At 9:17, I was picked up in a 14 seat minivan. At 9:30, we were off after a guy told us what to expect at each stop today. 11 tourists, all but me are Europeans in their 20s.
Waited on the long benches in Cahuare for enough tourists to fill a 40-seat boat to go to Sumidero Canyon. One boat just left. There're smaller boats too. We were each given a wristband for the national park, and a safety vest (mandatory). When the boat passed into the park boundary, we all raised our arm for the ranger on top of a cement platform to check. In the first few minutes, when the shore is still gentle, we saw 1 crocodile in the water, 2 monkeys on a tree. Afterwards we didn't stay close to the shore, rather speed up in the middle. The walls became increasingly tall and vertical. Saw many birds. A swaying little waterfall. A little cave with red wall and a ladder to a small platform with a porcelain Madonna. 
We go north through the canyon to Osumacinta, a reservoir. Here, baked under baking mid-day sun, our boat waited for some little "floating shop" to come by to sell us drinks and snacks. On the way back, the sun is shining to our face. Equally hot, but at least we had wind due to the speed.
At 12:30, we drove out to the lookouts. On the way, you'll see Tuxla Gutierrez sprawling below - it's very big. At the National Park entrance, a lady checked our wristbands. Again the park fee here is posted $34.15. We stopped at 3 lookouts: la Ceiba (no Ceiba tree here), les Coyotes. The last one is the best, Mirador Las Chiapas. Restroom is free here. A store sells snack.
On the way back, we stopped at Chiapas de Corzo 2:45-3:15. Still hot. Beautiful central square with a 500 year-old Moorish fountain. I couldn't find how to enter its big church: Santo Domingo, next to the market. Seems closed.
At 4:15pm, we were dropped off at city center. So glad to be back in the cooler mountain air. I went to El Caldero for dinner. I had "mole de olla", turned out to be a beef stew. At 5pm, I went to the square in front of the Cathedral looking for the Free Walking Tour. Didn't find them. So many groups there, all in Spanish.
Went to ADO/OCC bus station, waiting for my overnight ADO bus to Oaxaca. There's WiFi in the waiting room (I didn't use, so not sure if it works). I was scratching because of some insect bites. Not sure where I got them, maybe at the boat from the vest? They are nasty. Very itchy, lasted 10 days! We were given a bottle of soft drink upon boarding. Assigned seat (almost all taken. I bought the ticket online about a month ago). More leg room than Greyhound bus. There's foot rest, and the seat-back relines more. Quite comfortable. Bathroom is clean.
After taking a shower to get rid of the loose hair, I bought two tours from the owner Denis (a Quebecois): M$275 for El Chiflon + Montebello, M$275 for Sumidero Canyon (miradores are M$50 extra), among ~10 options. Then I walked up to Church of Guadalupe for sunset. Quite a few people had the same idea. But the two rows of trees block most of the view.
The town is quite lively in early evening. I had a vegetarian tortilla for dinner, bought a beer and 2 yogurt in OXXO. Too bad, no supermarket here. Selection is limited, and price is higher.11/21, day 6, Wednesday. Up before 6am. Walked to Cerro de San Cristobal for sunrise.
Clouds were too thick to see the sun. A few joggers running up and down the stairs. Yes, you can drive up here. I bought some Acetazolamide from a corner pharmacy. 30 pills for M$300. A bit pricey. Went back to the hostel for my simple breakfast: toast, butter and jam. Coffee was decent. Waite for my tour pick up at 8.8:10 I was picked up by a 21 seat van. It has a narrow overhead luggage shelf. Continued picking up tourists until ~8:30. 20 tourists. Only me and a Swedish girl don't speak Spanish. The rest are all native speakers. The driver made jokes, talked about the sites.
10:45. El Chiflon M$30. Bamboo. Butterfly. We got our wristband at 10:50, were given 2 hours.I really liked it here. Shops are limited mostly outside of the entrance. Cascades of blue water, cobblestone walkway, stone roof picnic tables, grills.
The main waterfall Velo de Novia is 120m high, utterly gorgeous. Overview decks well placed. Instead of walking, you can take the zip line till here.
From the zip line, I walked up the trail to the next two waterfalls: Arcoiris and Quinceanera. A lot less people on this section. There's an employee at Quinceanera. Took me about 25 minutes to go up and take pictures, and 15 minute to go down. I waded in one of the lower pools. Water was not warm, not too cold. I raan back to the van, arrived at 12:53, we left 5 minutes later. Quickly we left mountain and enter the plain.
2:25pm entered the national park of Montebello Lakes. The lakes here are known for their distinct colors. But toady, light rain/mist, everything was grey. Lake Tziscao first, and maybe the largest. As soon as our van pulled over, a wave of calls beckoning us to their food stands, one loud female voice over another. Sounds like crackling ducks. The bus lunched here. The town on the other side of Lake Tziscao is a border town. Beyond is Guatemala.
Lago Pojoj $25 3:30pm. Another wave of crackling duck as soon as a vehicle pulls over. Some of us took the raft rowed over the lake. 30-40 minutes. Not motorized.
At 5pm, we arrived 5-lakes, no one was collecting the M$25 at this time. Half of the stalls were already deserted. Sun was setting. There's a viewpoint at a high point (a few minutes walk) above Lago Agua Tinta. Can see rafts down on the lake. From here, you can walk on the road a little bit to see Lake Montebello.At 5:40, we stopped at the shore of Lago Montebello. It was too dark to take a reasonable photo. The women had vacated their stalls, so no noise here. Saw some canoes. Wide muddy shore.
We were dropped off in the city center ~8:30pm.
11/22, day 7, Thursday. I walked to the market and the center. Saw baby chicks, rooster and turkeys for sale, no other animals. Bought freshly made tortilla, a cut pineapple.
At 9:17, I was picked up in a 14 seat minivan. At 9:30, we were off after a guy told us what to expect at each stop today. 11 tourists, all but me are Europeans in their 20s.
Waited on the long benches in Cahuare for enough tourists to fill a 40-seat boat to go to Sumidero Canyon. One boat just left. There're smaller boats too. We were each given a wristband for the national park, and a safety vest (mandatory). When the boat passed into the park boundary, we all raised our arm for the ranger on top of a cement platform to check. In the first few minutes, when the shore is still gentle, we saw 1 crocodile in the water, 2 monkeys on a tree. Afterwards we didn't stay close to the shore, rather speed up in the middle. The walls became increasingly tall and vertical. Saw many birds. A swaying little waterfall. A little cave with red wall and a ladder to a small platform with a porcelain Madonna. 
We go north through the canyon to Osumacinta, a reservoir. Here, baked under baking mid-day sun, our boat waited for some little "floating shop" to come by to sell us drinks and snacks. On the way back, the sun is shining to our face. Equally hot, but at least we had wind due to the speed.
At 12:30, we drove out to the lookouts. On the way, you'll see Tuxla Gutierrez sprawling below - it's very big. At the National Park entrance, a lady checked our wristbands. Again the park fee here is posted $34.15. We stopped at 3 lookouts: la Ceiba (no Ceiba tree here), les Coyotes. The last one is the best, Mirador Las Chiapas. Restroom is free here. A store sells snack.
On the way back, we stopped at Chiapas de Corzo 2:45-3:15. Still hot. Beautiful central square with a 500 year-old Moorish fountain. I couldn't find how to enter its big church: Santo Domingo, next to the market. Seems closed.At 4:15pm, we were dropped off at city center. So glad to be back in the cooler mountain air. I went to El Caldero for dinner. I had "mole de olla", turned out to be a beef stew. At 5pm, I went to the square in front of the Cathedral looking for the Free Walking Tour. Didn't find them. So many groups there, all in Spanish.
Went to ADO/OCC bus station, waiting for my overnight ADO bus to Oaxaca. There's WiFi in the waiting room (I didn't use, so not sure if it works). I was scratching because of some insect bites. Not sure where I got them, maybe at the boat from the vest? They are nasty. Very itchy, lasted 10 days! We were given a bottle of soft drink upon boarding. Assigned seat (almost all taken. I bought the ticket online about a month ago). More leg room than Greyhound bus. There's foot rest, and the seat-back relines more. Quite comfortable. Bathroom is clean.
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