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.
