Trippy Road Trip Tripp *part 2*

Part One

Here we go with the continuing saga (did we get to the good part yet?)...

Sooooooooooooo... the next morning after trying unsuccessfully to walk behind the falls of Misol Ha, we loaded up the car again and headed off to San Cristobal de las Casas. Talk about narrow little mountain roads in Chiapas! We passed many little towns, different traditional costumes, and drove through Zapatista areas.

The Zapatista movement is really interesting and I have to say it makes sense to me. The indigenous tribes of Mexico have been marginalized for so long and the governmental structures make it almost impossible to continue their style of life. This is how Wikipedia (partially) describes the movement...

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation -Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, is an armed revolutionary group based in Chiapas, one of the poorest states of Mexico. The EZLN opposes corporate globalization, or neoliberalism, arguing that it severely and negatively affects the peasant way of life of its indigenous Zapatistas. Another key element of the Zapatista ideology is how they aspire to realize a new vision of politics: A truly participatory one that comes from the “bottom up" instead of "top-down." The Zapatistas view the contemporary political system of Mexico as one that is inherently flawed due to what they claim is its purely representative nature and obvious disconnection from the people and their EZLN.

The EZLN claims to, in contrast, reinforce the idea of participatory democracy by limiting public servants' terms to only two weeks a term, lacking visible organization leaders and constantly referring to the people they are governing for major decisions, strategies and conceptual visions. As Marcos reiterates time and time again, "my real commander is the people." In accordance with this principle, the Zapatistas are not a political party: they do not seek office throughout the state and wish to reconceptualize the entire Mexican political system rather than perpetuating it by attempting to gain power within its ranks.

There are billboard signs along the highways that say things about the "bad government" referring to the Mexican government and proclaiming themselves separate. There are billboards along the roadside that say things like, "you are in Zapatista area", they uphold their own laws in these areas and do maintain separateness from the Mexican government in many ways.

Chiapas is culturally rich and is incredible in its biodiversity- such an amazing place!

We had a great time in San Cristobal de las Casas. We tromped around the city, the Cathedral, the Zocalo, the museum of textiles, the open air market, the rows and rows of coffee shops with their inviting smells of fresh picked and roasted coffee (Yeppers! Thar’s coffe a growin’ in them thar mountains!).

We ate the best food evar! We wandered up to a kitchen/restaurant stand full of locals- OMG the food was amazing! Chiapas and Oaxaca both are famous for their cuisine- for goooooood reason! MMMMMMM mole! Yummy chiles rellenos de pollo y quesillo! MMMMMMM! After we ate we drank into the evening, like good tourists should and later still snuggled into our warm hotel bed with our stocking caps on; the end of a most delightful day 2.