The Mazariegos Convention Center, near the central park in San Cristobal. (click on pics to enlarge)
The Thirteenth Annual Amber Exposition is open here in San Cristobal de las Casas. The Amber Expo is being held at the Casa Mazariegos Convention Center until the 9th of August. The expo hall is essentially the center of an old colonial building that has been nicely restored and has had the courtyard covered with a permanent roof. The amber expo is not huge, but has about 5 or 6 aisles with 12 or so vendors on each one.
Amber is basically just tree resin that has hardened over thousands of years into a rock like substance. Copal incense is actually young amber before all of the resins and oils have dried out of it. I have always considered amber quite beautiful, but after enough time here in San Cristobal it loses some of its charm. Even when the expo isn’t here, there are tons of places to buy amber, from high end boutique jewelry stores to hippies in the park and everything in between.
Inside the expo the prices seemed about in line with prices at the park, once a bit of bargaining is done. A nice, but simple, amber bracelet with marble sized pieces of amber surrounding it
cost about 200 pesos, or $15.00.
Inside the convention center at the Amber Expo in San Cristobal.
There was also not much in the way of fine jewelry there, most of the workmanship was quite rustic. I wasn’t in the market to buy expensive amber, but if I had been, I would not have been happy with the selection.
The good news is that if you are in the market to buy amber, San Cristobal de las Casas is THE place to do it. There are canyons in the mountains between here and Palenque where a lot of the amber in this region comes from. Some day I will find someone who knows exactly where they are and I will search for it myself, until then the jewelry sellers at the park in front of Santo Domingo church are where I would direct anyone looking for a deal on nice amber jewelry to go.
A typical amber jewelry sales booth at the expo here in Chiapas.
Amber pendants and necklaces at the Amber Expo in San Cristobal de las Casas.
A young street vendor selling roses. (as always, click any photo to enlarge)
While sitting and drinking some lemonade at a sidewalk cafe in San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico, I took some photos of a young boy selling roses. He walked past us, sat down on the sidewalk, and began trimming the loose petals off of his roses. Once he had the buds all cleaned up he stood up and started selling his wares. The first man he asked just ignored him, so after the man walked past he threw the loose rose petals at his back, like red confetti. Kelly called him over, picked out a nice rose, and paid him the requested 10 pesos. A bit much by local standards, but totally worth it for these photos.
A young boy prepares his roses for sale on the streets in San Cristobal, Mexico.
Carefully pulling the wilted petals off the red rose buds.
A tourist at the street side cafe selects the best rose.
After a successful sale the young rose seller in Mexico moves on.
I have received a question from Davide – “Could you give me driving directions from Panajachel to San Pedro la Laguna at Lake Atitlan in Guatemala for an automobile, July 2010?
Too much personal crap to haul along to take a water taxi.”
My free opinion is that instead of the 1 1/2 or 2 hour drive into San Pedro on very changeable roads, I would find a Parqueo in Panajachel and then;
A. Hire a private shuttle from San Pedro to take you and your supplies, have him bring a helper if there is quite a lot. Have them help you load and unload. He will know the roads. If you are parked in San Pedro and there is a slide, getting out could be a mess. The road in is steep, and in fairly poor condition. Once there, it will be easy to take a boat out in a pinch. The shuttle drivers can seem a little nuts, but they know the roads well. Try Casa Verde or Bigfoot in San Pedro.
B. Hire a private launcha (water taxi) at the dock in Panajachel and get a helper, fast and most easy option if it’s a clear day. Should run no more than Q300-ish.
A view of Lake Atitlan looking towards San Pedro and San Juan from the dock in Panajachel
To drive yourself go up and out Solola then turn left onto CA1 towards Quetzaltenango. Drive for about 30 minutes-ish, depende, more or less, then make the left turn for Volcan San Pedro. There are signs on the highway, and a walkway over the highway where you turn left into the lake. That road continues down, through little pueblos including San Pablo which gets a bit tricky, but you will turn right in this town and continue down. It is a switchback filled and steeply inclined brake and transmission punishing road. I and and least three other people I know have lost brakes going down into San Pedro. Be very careful, don’t overheat your brakes, watch out for loco chicken buses and pickups full of concrete. The drive from the turn off the highway down in to San Pedro is about 1 hour-ish, depende, mas or menos. Do not do this drive yourself in the rain unless you are some kind of ace at driving bad roads in poor conditions and a bit loco, seriously.
This is a photograph looking out over San Cristobal de las Casas in Chiapas Mexico. San Cristobal is a city that has its center between two large hills, each with a church on top. This photograph was taken from in front if the Church of Guadalupe looking towards San Cristobal Chapel. If you are considering a vacation to Mexico, be sure to include Chiapas in your itinerary. San Cristobal is less than an hour away from the main airport at the state capitol of Tuxtla Gutierrez. In San Cristobal you can walk the streets in complete safety until late in the evening, eat at great restaurants and have almost unlimited choices in hotels, haciendas, hostels and bed and breakfasts.
A view of San Cristobal in Chiapas Mexico. A charming colonial city full of great places to stay, eat and play.
