welcome to san cristobal de las casas the most popular magical town in the state of chiapas
located just three hours from the guatemala border you'll find a unique blend of cultures
very different from the rest of mexico for example did you know that the state
of chiapas belonged to guatemala for a debatable amount of time
san cristobal has an interesting and complicated history and i'll be sharing this story throughout
the video so be sure to stick around through the end for some novella quality drama
my name is jenny kevin's behind the camera and we are Eat Baila Travel today's vlog is gonna share
seven things to do in san cristobal as well as some really cool history about this town
number one climb up to the churches for a panoramic view of the city
this is iglesia de san cristobalito it's quite a climb but the view is great
there's also iglesia de guadalupe we'll go all the way over the view here midpoint
awesome this is a great place to also come to see the sunset behind the mountains a lot of people
gather up here around five six o'clock maybe seven depending on the time that you come and it's
just gorgeous beautiful different from puerto escondido but with the mountains worth the view
number two roam the magical pedestrian streets
there are three main pedestrian streets in SanCris there's the miguel hidalgo
i love the huge variety of restaurants and cafes and like wines you have
food from all over the world and mexican food of course regional food
it's such it's way more tourist oriented than i had expected
and like a really good and organized way because i've seen cities and towns that grow into tourism
but in a very dysfunctional way and i'm really pleased to see the balance here in SanCris so far
definitely not what i expected to see in san cristobal de las casas a dj for a street party
i feel like san cristobal is the kind of place that says i know i'm awesome i know what i have
to offer and here it is in all confidence we happen to be here during holy week and
we've seen so many cultural events here already they've transitioned from holy week
getting ready for the day of the child our kids day and they've got a stage set up toys theme
performances throughout the week and of course people in costumes representing their culture
it's a beautiful park and a place to just hang out speaking of cultural events there's live music
check it out and it's marimba
we just put up a vlog on marimba music so if you're not sure what that is be sure to check out our vlog on marimba the sounds of Chiapas
my favorite of the pedestrian streets is real de guadalupe because you have
the beautiful view of the church right all the way through
when the spanish arrived in the 16th century they found most of the indigenous nations
divided into mayan and non-mayan peoples with the non-mayans being mostly zoques and the chiapas
so here's where this story begins conquistador hernan cortes sends one of his military guys to
the region today known as chiapas right after they subdue the aztec empire long story short the first
guy he sent fails due to fierce resistance from the tsotsiles peoples in the highlands
the second guy he sends his name diego de mazariegos
mazariegos had much more success than the first guy but many natives preferred to commit suicide than to subdue to the spanish
one famous example of this is the battle of tepetchia where many jump to their deaths in the sumilero canyon
over time indigenous resistance was weakened due to warfare with the spanish and disease
the two main groups of the central highlands that south tsotsiles and the tsetsiles were the first to
be subdued enough to establish the first spanish city today known as san cristobal de las casas
number three enjoy a cup of coffee or hot chocolate if you're in chiapas coffee here
is unmissable and i am a huge coffee lover so i've gone to so many different places to try the coffee
this cafelogia is one of one of the coolest places because it has almost a museum inside
but i have a preference and my place is Yik Cafe i'll take you soon but if you're in san cristobal de
las casas or Tuxtla make sure you take advantage of all the organic and delicious coffee that chiapas produces
by the way i love my coffee like my steaks medium roasted not too dark roast just
right in the middle and this place roasts those coffee these coffee beans perfectly
it has a very like cherry flavored type like the coffee flavor doesn't have like that nasty roast
coffee like burnt taste this is why i like it so much so if you're in the area and you like your
coffee beans lightly to medium roast come to yik cafe also if you're a big coffee geek or you just
like to learn stuff in general i highly recommend our friend La Karencita's vlog about how
the coffee from chiapas came to be known around the world thanks to one particular
super badass indigenous woman and so what i got
any guesses what i got? so creamy
so i got a hot chocolate but it's 90 organic cacao and just
10 panela which is sugar and then of course a tiny bit of lactose-free milk
i love that lactose-free milk is an option in a lot of mexico usually at no additional charge
number four explore the nearby parks caverns and grottos there are several nature parks around
san cristobal for hikes and walks we visited arcotete eco park and 10 out of 10 recommend
this place was amazing and unlike any caverns we've ever seen before
to see the full footage of our arcotete visit you can join our patreon membership where
we share exclusive content with our eat baila travel members
from the colonial period chiapas was relatively isolated from both colonial authorities in mexico
city and authorities in guatemala one big reason was that it there was rugged terrain
and it was hard to reach and travel through and another big reason that it was just
not attractive to the spanish it lacked mineral wealth and access to open markets
so they were like eh they kind of just ignored it
how, babe? how?
this kind of worked in their favor for a little while because the isolation meant they
didn't have as many battles during the fight for independence and it had slightly less of an impact
on its native population compared to the rest of mexico today chiapas is one of the mexican states
with the most indigenous populations and with the most indigenous languages spoken like tsotsil
in san cristobal you'll hear much more tsotsil than you will spanish
number five you can take a day trip to the sumidero canyon one of the most impressive natural landmarks we have ever seen
we took a tour from the city of tuxtla gutierrez but there are tours leaving from san cristobal as well
check out our vlog on canon sumidero for more info on this excursion
number six visit one of the many museums in san cristobal there are lots of museums in san cristobal but the one that you absolutely
don't want to miss is steps in san cristobal welcome to steps in san cristobal we are a
non-profit organization that cares about children education we work with the indigenous communities
around the city and also we try to teach kid to learn how to read and write in spanish but also using their culture
steps is a non-profit and non-governmental organization that is dedicated
to the education of children in indigenous communities they offer workshops and activities
telling stories and legends to learn about the indigenous cultures here in the area of chiapas
we go to the communities and record the stories and the original stories from the communities
and then turn them into books and so then we go back to the communities and teach the kids how to
read and write in their with using their culture in the morning we have the cooking workshop in
which you learn how to make tortillas quesadillas in a traditional drink which is pozol then we
have a story time at 3 p.m which is in spanish we tell you a story from the community and also the
explanation of a traditional ceremony then we also have another cooking workshop at
night in which you learn how to make a tamales and a traditional drink ponche
we really really enjoyed everything that we learned here and we highly recommend that you come visit
the activities are free and all they ask is a small donation to help carry on the amazing
work that they do for children and we hope to see you here in san cristobal pretty soon
number seven take a weekend trip to the chiflon waterfalls cascadas el chiflon
is an eco-park of waterfalls and a river with an incredible turquoise color that is just out
of this world check out our chiflon vlog for tips and how to get there from san cristobal
so here's where things get pretty crazy chiapas goes from being the
neglected middle child to the kid in the middle of a custody battle in 1821
numerous cities throughout chiapas declared its independence from the spanish empire and around
the same time central america was gaining its independence from the spanish empire as well
so now you have the city of san cristobal in favor of joining mexico you have other
cities in favor of staying free and sovereign and then other areas wanting to join guatemala
damn that sounds messy
it is
in 1822 a mexican elite declared chiapas a part of mexico but a year later
chiapas declared its independence and then a few months later there was a vote that ended in favor
of incorporating with mexico it was alleged that it was a vote manipulated by the mexican elites
but wait it gets messier
it does?
the southernmost region of chiapas called soconusco maintained a neutral status until 1842
this is 20 years later until a mexican general showed up took over the area and declared it part of mexico again
the state of chiapas was officially declared a state of mexico in 1824 but
guatemala wouldn't recognize as annexed to mexico until 70 years later in 1895.
so wild story huh we really enjoy learning and we love to share what we learn with
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ciao