LPG Refill Proceedure:

Hire a local taxi and then ask the driver to take you to "La oficina de gas LP". It is located on the main highway on the west end of town but the gate and wall surrounding it are unmarked. There you will tell personnel the size of your tanks and then they will issue a receipt after you pay. The filling plant is about twelve miles east of town on the highway to Ocosingo and Palenque. No, you cannot pay at the plant (go figure). At the time of writing the new style OPD US bottles caused a bit of confusion. Chassis mounted tanks take longer to fill so be patient. Be sure to extinguish ALL pilot lights before you enter the plant because careless personnel sometimes spray liquid propane around when disonnecting bottles on the filling platform. It may be easier to fill your bottles before you arrive in San Cristobal de Las Casas.
 
Purified Water Delivery
 
Purified water is dispensed in five gallon "garrafones" which are clear plastic water cooler type jugs. The cost is about a dollar and delivery trucks make the rounds mornings and afternoons. They rarely enter RV facilities so you will have to meet them outside your gate.
 
One Through Five. The Top Attractions In San Cristobal de Las Casas
 
1. Nearby indian village of San Juan Chamula. Smart travelers use a guide for around ten dollars per person. This charge includes transportation, food, and guide service. The best guide is a native indigenous woman by the name of Mercedes Hernandez. She speaks fluent English and five other languages. Mercedes can be found weekdays on the north end of the main plaza (also called Zocalo). She carries an opened green and yellow parasol which is like a guidon. Be there no later than nine AM to ensure a spot on the day's tour, which involves about one mile total walking in the five and a half hour tour. Take toilet paper, and a liter of drinking water. The churches at Chamula and Zinacatan require 10 pesos to be paid as an entrance fee which is not part of the tour's hundred peso fee. Positively and absolutely (is this clear enough?) NO PHOTO TAKING and NO CAMERAS allowed on church grounds or inside Chamula or Zinacatan churches. After attending our fist visit, our group of ten Canadians and Americans agreed that if the indians pounced on a violator, our group would join in with sticks and stones! Regardless of what you may think before a visit, ten minutes inside the church at Chamula will fill you with a great desire to be respectful -- the images, heat from (at least) one thousand candles, and pine needle aroma may be the most powerful and touching experience that you will ever experience in Mexico.
 
2. Plaza 31 de Marzo. Jam packed with color, music, and Indians dressed in native costume on their way to market. This is the place to sit and people watch until your butt hurts from the wrought iron bench seat.
 
3. Mercado Municipal. Six blocks north of the plaza on Insurgentes. This is a "meat and potatoes" market, the artisans market is just before the municipal market (look to the left just at the church). The municipal market consists of a large building surrounded by a rabbit warren of tiny stalls. Need pitch pine to start a campfire? Look for tiny bundles of "ocote" for thirty cents US (30 pesos). Surrounding towns send forth profusions of flowers including roses and calla lillies, many of which are sold as arrangement for a tiny fraction of what a smaller arrangement would cost elsewhere. It is impossible to describe such a market as this -- it is a sensory overload of sight, sound, and aroma fit to blow more than a few mental fuses. Billions or beans of every color and description, need a pirated DVD of that favorite movie just released to theatres last week (thirty pesos)? Barbecued corn on the cob, millions of candles, local lettuce(s), the best carrots in the world, coffees, teas, tiny scrap metal charcoal grilles, fake watches, sunglasses, it's a bit too much to absorb in one trip. Better just concentrate on fresh garden produce today and then return for booster "shots" later on.
 
4. Feria de Artesania. This is the artisan's mercado which was mentioned above. Another rabbit warren, this one consists mainly of textiles many of which are hand woven or emroidered. The most expensive thing I found was hand embroidered "huipiles" which are long blouses worn by indigenous women. The craftsmanship and materials are stunning, two weeks worth of work for a mere four-hundred-fifty pesos (about thirty nine dollars). Even hardened customers tend to blow a fuse and load up here. I have witnessed several seasoned "Shop till you drop" women almost acheive total rapture shortly after entering this market.
 
5. "Follow The Doors". San Cristòbal de Las Casas was founded almost five hundred years ago. The entire downtown area is large and the architecture is preserved and protected by a strict set of municipal codes. Many buildings have large carved wooden doors that just scream "Quaint!" Ancient forge-wrought hinges and lock sets. There is no real trail to follow, so let your eyes and delight lead you to unexpected destinations. The downtown area is pure candy to the eye, in its way, this city holds its own against Florence, Paris, and San Francisco. Following the doors may lead you to the house of now-deceased Chiapas explorers and anthropologists Franz and Trudy Blom, tours at 11:30 daily. Then there's the Amber Museum that features the state of Chiapas top gem. Fossilized tree sap. Warm to the touch and to the eye, Chiapas Amber is reputed to bring good luck to the wearer.
 
6 through say 1,000,000! Imagine a quiet Sunday morning just after dawn. A fine mist passes through the tall pines. Suddenly the peal of a five hundred year old church bell echoes through the valley. Another bell from another ancient church joins the first. Then the massive bell from San Cristobal's main cathedral joins the cacacphony. You glance at the tiny road in front of the campground. A line of indian merchants dressed in centuries-old costomes bearing wares for the Sunday market is threading their way from surrounding villages. The only negative thing in your life right about now is the realization that you must depart someday.
 
Note: Is it any wonder that ten out of ten visiting RVers have postponed their departure from San Cristòbal de Las Casas? I have spent an entire month here and I almost cannot bear to leave. But hey, there's next season, right? I may even decide to guide a tiny group of three rigs on a three month excursion. But cranky restrictions apply. I don't guide for profit but for pleasure, and I can afford to be eccentric :-)
 
Saludos de San Cristòbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico!
 
David

BACK

MAIN MENU