Now South and Going More South

Thomas and I finally reached Chiapas. It took us 33 days to drive from Monterrey, North Mexico, to here. It could be done in less than 3 days since it is only 1,700 km. However, we manage to drive more than 4,000 km to get here. Not that we were lost all the time, just that we enjoy going off track. The most enjoyable experiences we had and the most stunning sceneries we saw were along gravel roads, a number of them not even on the map.

The quality of the trails and eco-lodges that the Mexicans have developed is impressive. There are people here who care about the environment and do a lot to protect it. This is a strong contrast from areas where garbage are dumped along the road abandon cars.

The latest fantastic places we saw are (see pictures below):

Aguacero (West of Ocozocoautla, Chiapas state) a splendid canyon with cascade-waterfalls. We went further the gravel road to a small village. We stopped at the kindergartner, a modest hut, where we encountered the kids in the playground. We might have been the first tourists they met in their life time.

Hierve El Agua (East of Mitla, Oaxaca state) petrified cascades with an infinity swimming pool. A beauty that I had no idea could exist.

Chorreadero (East of Chiapa de Corzo, Chiapas state) a waterfall spewing out of a mountain through a cave. Entering the cave, we found an underground system that could take a full day to explore, we saw an underground lake fed by a waterfall. Thomas is not a fan of crawling in muddy tunnels; beside we are not speleologists, so we turned around.

Canyon of Sumidero (North and South of Tuxtla, Chiapas state).

Tambuque Balnerario (South of Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosi state) another river spewing out of a stone wall creating swimming pools.

Huasca (North-East of Pachuca, Hidalgo state) with its basalt walls and waterfalls.

Canyon de la Angostura and Puente de Dios on the Rio Escanela (West of Jalpan, Queretaro state) where the water springs from all over in a narrow canyon.

We went climbing a few times. However, we climbed only 3-4 routes at each places. Here they are, in the order I prefer them:
El Pena de Bernal (East of Queretaro)
Parque National El Chico (North of Pachuca, Hidalgo state)
Copoya (South of Tuxtle, Chiapas state)
Yagul (West of Mitla, Oaxaca state)
San Sebastian Tutla (East of Oaxaca, city)

We continue to avoid the cities, unless there is a festival. We visited a zoo with local animals only, a great cactus garden, a British man’s bizarre domain, a few ruins, monasteries, missions, churches and other odd structures. Hopefully Thomas will write something about them in his next update.

Next destinations will be: a coffee plantation at the end of some road, San Cristobal de Las Casas, Agua Azul, Palenque, etc.

We have decided to prolong our trip. Instead of returning North next month, we will drive to Costa Rica. Thomas will spend March in California and me in The Bahamas. We will leave the VW Camper in Costa Rica, where we will return and resume our journey for 2 more months. We plan to drive back slowly in April and May. After all, May is a much better time to travel in the Copper Canyon, North West Mexico in the mountains, naturally.