Museum of the Highlands of Chiapas, Textile Center of the Mayan World, Na Bolom Museum, Moxviquil Reserve and Orchids Garden, El Arcotete Park, Mammoth Caves, Rancho Nuevo
Looking into things to do in the city of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, I went to the Museum of the Highlands of Chiapas, which also had the Textile Center of the Mayan World as part of it. After a walk through the city streets I found myself in a market next to what looked like a convent. I asked around, and it turned out that was the building I was looking for, a former convent that became a museum. I expected to pay a small fee to enter, but after registering I was encouraged to just go in free of charge.
There was a big yard at the center with a dried out fountain at the center of it. As I walked around the yard, many of the doors were locked and I had no idea if that was normal, but it seemed a bit odd to me, as I wasn’t quite sure where to go. Then I spotted an open door, and after entering the room, I saw “caution” tape both on the right and the left. It seemed like an area under construction. There was a staircase at the far end of the room, straight ahead of me, but I wasn’t sure if I’m allowed to go up there. As I was about to turn around a man with a name tag came in, and in fast Spanish either asked me if I needed help or simply told me he was going to escort me up. Unsure if I had any choice in the matter, I went up with him.
He left me at the top of the stairs, where I found the Textile Center. As expected, there were many pieces of clothing there, as well as different fabrics, patterns, and designs. There were also some signs spread around the floor, in both Spanish and English. At first I read as much as I could, but I didn’t really understand it. I didn’t feel like I’m going back in time by looking at the clothes and fabrics, and perhaps I wasn’t supposed to, but pretty quickly I started to get bored with it and didn’t bother reading all the signs. After going all the way around the second floor and looking at the large collection in the different rooms, I made my way back downstairs.
There were a couple of rooms on the first floor taking a look at the textile history a little bit more, and then it was a transition into the Highlands of Chiapas. This part felt a bit familiar to me, with many different items on display, mainly tools, vases, and funerary items that were used by the Mayans. As I made my way through the gallery, a few more people started to come in, although it was still pretty empty. Feeling like I didn’t learn much, I made my back to the doors and left the museum.
I walked around the city again until I got to Na Bolom House, a museum, a restaurant, and a hotel. For some reason, I had to buy a ticket from the store across the house, but once I did, I was directed to have a look at the different rooms in a counterclockwise direction, and then head to the garden behind the restaurant.
The first room I went into was about the Lacandones, or Hack Winik, the people who lived in the jungle around Chiapas. The room was filled with photos, tools, puppets and other items on display that belong to the Lacandones. In addition to it, there were some signs, and stories, both in Spanish and English. I wasn’t quite sure who they were or how they were connected to Na Bolom, but it was still nice to learn a little bit about them.
The second room I went into was about the house itself, which is what I expected to start with. It belonged to the archaeologist Frans Blom, who made several expeditions and discoveries in Chiapas and made San Cristóbal de Las Casas more or less his home base. The name of the house was derived from his name, and from the Mayan word for Jaguar, “bolom”.
The tour around the house continued, with various details about Fras Blom, his wife, and their expeditions in this part of Mexico. There were quite a few documents and items on display, and overall it was quite informative. Going around the different rooms, I did learn some things about the man, his achievements, and the experiences he had. There was also a bit of information about the house itself.
Once I had a look around all the rooms, I made it to the garden, which was a bit disappointing. I didn’t expect a botanical garden, and although there were quite a few plants around, and a couple of colorful flowers, for the most part if felt faded, and sad.
While I could just walk around the city and visit a couple of museums without much of an effort, in order to see more of Chiapas’s nature I needed to get on public transportation. For me, it was a bit difficult to figure out which colectivo to take, and from where. As a result, I found myself walking for quite a bit longer than I expected before I got on a colectivo that was heading more or less in the direction that I needed. After a short ride, the driver made a turn which was in the opposite direction of where I needed to be, so I got off and walked for a little bit longer before I got to Moxviquil Reserve and Orchids Garden. Within this park there were two attractions, a botanical garden and a hiking trail, and I paid the entrance fee for both.
I headed in the direction of the hiking trail first, and after only a couple of minutes I managed to get confused, go on the trail that leads to the botanical garden (and what looked like rental rooms), and asked the first man I spotted how to get to the hike. He kindly showed me the right way to go and went on his way. It turned out that I needed to follow a sign to a bathroom, and beyond that was the start of the trail.
After finding the right path, I did manage to follow the few signs and arrows that were around the trail and started walking. Pretty quickly I was surrounded by trees from both sides and couldn’t see the view of the city. Instead, I looked around at the forest, which was quite nice, although a bit boring, without much variety in color. It wasn’t a challenging road, but going up it was a nice workout. Nothing particularly amazing, but it was nice.
I started to wonder how long it would actually take to complete the loop, which according to the sign in the beginning was two kilometers, and consulted the smartphone several times along the way. The midpoint, or the point of interest along the trail, was marked as a cave of sorts.
I walked for a little while longer, and eventually I came across the cave in question. It was a hole in the ground, going down into darkness, with a small waterfall going into it. Without any safe way to actually get inside, all I could do was look around for a little bit, before making my way to the starting point and completing the loop trail. The cave was, again, nice, but not impressive. To me it wasn’t worth it just for the cave, but more for the path itself.
Back at the starting point, I went along the path to the botanical garden. To me, that was a disappointment. It was described as both a botanical garden and an orchid garden, which made me expect more colors, and more orchids. I’m not an orchid expert, and I did go on Google to make sure I’m not missing anything, but in that garden I didn’t see much. There were quite a few plants, most of them green with occasional pops of colors. If there were many orchids in there, then I somehow managed to miss most, if not all them. Very quickly I left the garden, and after asking for directions, I headed out of the city.
In order to get to El Arcotete I had to take another colectivo, and I got on the first one that had the park name listed as a destination. However, it turned out that this particular colectivo was getting into the Arcotete area, but not the park itself. I got off in a pretty random looking spot, along with two other travelers, walked for a few minutes along a paved road, and then along a dirt path. Not really knowing where I am, I just followed the two ahead of me, and thanks to them took a shortcut in order to get to the park faster.
The main attraction in the park was called “The Arch”, and after only a few minutes walk I got right to it. It was quite big, and on one side of it people were climbing, but to me it was unimpressive. I couldn’t understand why it was such an attraction to people, and after a few moments I moved on along the trail. I crossed a suspended bridge that went over a stream of water, and kept going along. I enjoyed the flow of water, and the road itself was quite nice to walk on. It was a good place to just relax for a little while. A few more minutes passed by, and I came across a sign that informed me I got to the end of the trail and need to turn around.
On the way back, I spotted a split in the road with a sign pointing to something I didn’t understand, and I decided to follow it. After climbing a few stairs and walking around for a couple of minutes I got to an area where some people were waiting to do a zipline. I had no interest in that, and the path kept going, so I continued following it into the forest. I passed a few people who were heading back from somewhere, came across another sign that mentioned something about music, and started going uphill. At the end of the road was another zipline, which seemed abandoned. With nothing else in sight, I simply turned around and went exactly the way I came.
When I saw another sign, pointing the direction to some caves, I wanted to check it out. There was an additional fee, but it wasn’t high. I passed through a door along the edge of a cliff, climbing The Arch and entering the cave area. I’m not sure if cave is the right word to describe, but I’m also not sure what is the right definition of a cave. Regardless, I found the whole area quite interesting. The stone walls, and stalactites, and the dark parts of the cave gave it a different feeling, which I enjoyed. It took several minutes (and being careful to to hit my head) to get to the end, and while the view from there wasn’t
that great, it didn’t feel like the reason for going into the cave. I stayed there for a little bit, and then made my careful way back down, and after a stop for lunch, I left the park.
Looking at the map, I noticed a place not very far from El Arcotete, which was called the Mammoth Caves. The colectivos drivers at the stop right near the entrance of El Arcotete said they don’t go there, and told me I need to walk for a while to get to another stop. I went back the way I came in, first on a dirt path, and then on a paved road, to where I was dropped off. According to what I was told, there was some time until the colectivo was going to arrive, so I just kept walking, and then I walked some more, and eventually made it to a corner which was within walking distance of the Mammoth Caves. As I was a bit tired, I decided to wait there for a while to see if I could actually catch the colectivo. A few minutes later a pickup truck pulled next to me and offered me a ride to the caves, which I accepted.
I walked around a large open area for a couple of minutes before I was approached by a kid who said I need to pay an entrance fee. After I did that, he also said I need to pay for something else I didn’t quite understand. It might have been a scam, but I wasn’t in a position to argue, so I simply gave him more money and he left me alone.
Inside the cave it was quite cool, in quite a contrast to the hot sunny outside. In the first few moments inside the cave I understood the name behind it. There was a stone wall that had an unusual shape, with a sign next to it saying it was called “The Mammoth”. To me, that shape being a mammoth was something that a child would’ve come up with. It was a vague shape that required some imagination in order to make it a mammoth. And as I walked around the cave I noticed more shapes like that, not of more mammoths, but of an ostrich, an elephant, and some dinosaurs. Other than that, the cave was just a nice area to walk around, even though it was a bit too dark in some parts of it and I needed to use my smartphone to light the way.
Making my way around and then toward the exit, I’ve noticed a path going down into darkness. Using the smartphone, I carefully made my way around a dirt path, which turned into improvised wooden stairs, until I got to a pool of water. I couldn’t see how far it goes, or if there is a dead end somewhere, as the light from my smartphone didn’t reach that far. Although the water didn’t seem deep, I was by myself and I didn’t want to risk it. With this curious discovery stuck in my head I left the cave, and after looking around outside for a little bit, I headed back into the city to rest for a bit.
My last stop in San Cristóbal De Las Casas was Rancho Nuevo, another park with a couple of caves which were supposed to be interesting to explore. After about half an hour’s drive I was at the entrance to the park, where I paid an entree fee and then proceeded to walk across the park for a few minutes before I got to the main area where all of the attractions were.
Before getting into any of the caves I saw a sign that pointed to a viewpoint and immediately started to follow it. I went up some stairs for a while, and then a dirt path, but I didn’t get any views along the way. Pretty quickly the road started to go down, and a couple minutes later I was at the top of a giant stone slide. The people sliding were using cardboard pieces and flattened plastic bottles, which I thought was a smart idea.
I kept walking, and after a moment of confusion made my way to the caves, where I paid another fee, and was followed by one of the employees the entire time. The cave was smaller than I expected, but it was still nice to see the stalactites and stalagmites inside it. Being followed the whole time somewhat ruined the experience and made me feel a bit pressured to just get it over with.
Upon asking, I was informed that there was another cave, and although I didn’t quite understand the instructions on how to get there, I did see people going on a path which I could easily follow. I got to the other cave, paid another small fee, and was on my way again, this time without anyone following me. This second cave was bigger, and easier to walk around. There was a paved road all around, for seven hundred and fifty meters according to the sign, and then there was an option to keep going a bit deeper into the cave for yet another additional fee.
Being free to explore without any pressure, I enjoyed the second cave quite a bit more. And as it was bigger, there was more to see as well. There were no signs there, and perhaps they weren’t necessary, but it couldn’t been interesting to learn a little bit about the history of the cave. Eventually I made it to the end of the road, and as I didn’t want to pay any additional fee, I turned around and made my way back to the entrance of the cave.
I thought I’d stay in the park for longer, but there wasn’t much else that I was interested in doing there. I used one of the flattened plastic bottles and got on the slide, failed to find the museum (although I didn’t try very hard), and decided it was time to leave the park and conclude my time in San Cristóbal De Las Casas.