Oaxaca to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas Mexico: A 2 day drive.

November 1, 2008


Facade of Zapotec ruins.

Bruce blogging: After a whole fun-filled week in Oaxaca City the gypsy in us began stirring.

We were in store for an eventful day.

We drove 25 miles to the city of Mitla to visit their ruins. They were fairly impressive and worth the minimal entrance fee but not eventful.

We were ready to drive the 200 or so miles to Tehuantepec...our intended stop on our 2-day drive to San Cristobal. We THOUGHT we took the proper road leaving Mitla but we didn't. Mexican highway signs can be deceiving or non-existent. The first indication that should have told us we were on the wrong road was the encounter with the huge swarm of Africanized killer bees. They flew into us as we drove down the highway. It was a huge swarm and I had my window down, big mistake. I don't know how that bee's stinger got into my left eyelid but when I pulled off the road and looked at Pat she said, "Oh My God, let me get the tweezers!". There are a lot of great reasons to have Pat around but one big reason is her medical training. Within a seconds she had the stinger out of my eyelid using her tweezers and magnifying spectacles and had cortisone on the wound. The result was I never had any significant swelling. BTW, the next day we drove into another smaller swarm. Okay, they might have not been Africanized or even killer bees but at the very least they were slightly irritated, Mexicanized bees. That event may have taken our minds off of our route because......

We just knew we were on the correct road to Tehuantepec so when GeePee (our laptop GPS) said we were way off track we ignored it and kept driving. Only when, after covering 22.5 miles in 2 hours and up a few thousand feet, a gentleman in Ayutla told us we took the wrong turn BACK IN MITLA (before the killer bees). We then realize we had ignored numerous warnings that should have been heeded. We had to turn around and retrace our error, which only took 1.5 hours. The positive was that it was a beautiful drive in the Oaxacan mountains. When we got back to Mitla we eventually found the proper road. The sign was down the road about a quarter of a mile that we should have seen.

Right: Landslide, possibly happened during rainy season.


Oaxaca is a beautiful, mountainous and green state. Driving is a pleasure although you still have to be on your toes with all of the topes, potholes and animals. In the past, gasoline stations were few and far between but now there are Pemex stations everywhere and gasoline prices are government regulated and virtually the same everywhere. Gas is about $2.40 USD per gallon and was the same during the scam oil supply-demand run up.

Below: Agave patch, side of mountains with innumerable cacti in the high desert.


We drove until about dark and boondocked in the small city of Jalapa. When we initially arrived we asked a lady, in her late 50s, where the hotel was. Instead of giving us directions she jumped on her bicycle - it was a little girls' pink bike with monkey handle bars and the banana seat - and told us to follow her. She took us to the only hotel in town. Pat offered her 10 pesos but she declined and rode off into night. The hotel price was right at $20USDs but we decided to stay in the van; the first time we slept in the van since being in Mexico and we both slept well.

The next morning we drove on to San Cristobal in Chiapas. We drove along the Tehuantepac isthmus which is very windy. The clouds coming over the mountians from the north looked like a serious squall. There were numerous wind generators popping up on this route and more are being added.

The remaining drive was uneventful until the highway started climbing into the mountains from Tuxtla Guiterrez. We climbed 7,500 feet in 45 minutes. The Mexican road builders are amazing. This is a multi-lane highway (cuota=toll road) that just keeps climbing and the views are magnificient.

We drove out of the mountains into San Cristobal and it was like driving back into time. This town is the prettiest town so far.

We parked the van on a side road near El Centro and proceeded with our hotel search. This search has become part of our routine and it serves two purposes: to find a hotel and to get the lay of the town. It has become an enjoyable part of our first day routine. The first hotel we select is usually not the one we decide on for the rest of our visit because the next day we continue our search while exploring the town. Of late, the only problem is too many good choices.

No matter the class of hotel, courtyards are decorated with plants.