More photos of Cristyballs

Even more Saint Cristy Balls Photos

More San Cristobal de las Casas

This was the result.

So yesterday I spent a couple of hours learning to stone set ambar in a silver pendant. Rogelio and his son were fantastic. Great teachers 1-2-1 class. Ambar is mined really close to here.

Dan picked up some Mexican guys who we had a drink with in a dive bar afterwar

ds. I bumped into one of them today and I said I loved my ambar pendant to which he said "And I love you". I had just been saying how much I liked San Cristi's lack of sleezy men. Spoke to soon. He was trying to get me to go up to his studio in the mountains, take magic mushrooms and look at 100 different varieties of Orchids. Humm.....

The other night we stopped in a Oaxacan restaurant to get food for a picnic on the hill. I was given some chapulines (locusts). They went down very well with beer. There is nothing I won't try once!

San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas

So I missed the England game in order to get a bus up out of the jungle up a mountain and to Santy Cristo's Balls as it's affectionately known. I actually love it here. It's a medium sized town. It's beautiful and the people are so nice. I spent the day wandering around by myself and didn't get any marriage proposals at all! In fact I don't think any men approached me at all. Bliss. It is also a lot cooler here as it's 2100m high. Is that high enough to get altitude sickness? I am extremely tired. Staying in a yoga place here too, but slept in and missed the class. Nevermind! Might rent a bike and go up the mountains tomorrow.

Palenque

You can't exactly see it, so we re-enacted the scene of slave being beheaded that was painted on the wall. All the sun and jungle had clearly gone to my head.

this was where the human sacrifice took place.

Can you tell the difference between this and Chichen Itza? It's nicer imo as it's set in the jungle. I'm not wearing long trousers and top 'cos it was cold - more because I was scared of being eaten alive by mosquitos, snakes and jaguars...

So on Monday night I finally managed to leave Tulum on the 8.50pm bus with Dan, a guy from Atlanta who was also going to Palenque. Well actually he wasn't but I managed to persuade him to come with me as a) he's fun and b) I was scared about travelling in Chiapas overnight by myself. Quite what another tourist could do to make me safer I don't know. The bus journey was fairly uninventful despite threats from the Lonely Planet of Zapatista Rebels hijacking in the area. Note to self - don't joke about this possibility with parents in future.

Where I'm staying Yoga Shala Tulum

I just can't seem to leave here.

Tulum - zona hotelera - Yoga Shala Tulum

Some yoga poses on the beach. We missed our class due to too much beer / tequila so thought we ought to make up for it.

Laguna Yal Ku was pretty rubbish. Expensive and we didn't see any fish. So we hopped out and went to Akumal - it's a bit weird - you have to pretend you're going to a restaurant, and the above pic is the sea there. It was beautiful and we went in the sea and swam with huge huge turtles. Loved it.

Then I came back to Tulum and hang out by the beach, had a massage from ArcoIris who is great and massages intime to the waves. I stayed pretty much near this hammock until far too late drinking far too much tequila and beer watching the shooting stars.

I met two French girls Bibou and An Gail here in Tulum and Dan from Atlanta. This was a fairly uneventful dinner but great company.