I got up before the crack of dawn and tried to sneak away without anyone noticing in the darkness. I failed and was punished with a packed lunch for my trip to San Cristobal. I met a new guide Gaby of German extraction who will look after me for 3 days! She and driver Carmen (that’s what his name sounded like) took me first to see the waterfall at Misol Ha as a replacement for not seeing Tonina. We were there before the site opened at 7am! Even though we stopped at an Oxxo so Gaby could have some coffee and I could admire Mexican cars being driven on the road even though being apparently burnt out. Tonina’s original land owners are blocking the site demanding a cut of the proceeds from visitors.

The heavy continuing rains meant Misol Ha was very impressive, and also too intense to be able to walk behind the falls as one could normally. The rivers being in flood meant they were carrying a lot of soil so the waters at Agua Azul (literally water blue) were chocolate coloured not azure. The Agua Azul site was very slippery, the surging waters threatening to flood where a few stalls were selling so-called meteorite rock and other dubious goodies. A couple of dogs followed Gaby and me along, dogs roam loose in Mexico and lie in roads waiting to be run over. One of the cafe owners (47 years old) at Agua Azul apparently bought and married a 14-year old girl. Laws are not always enforced in indigenous areas.

We had to take a dirt track to avoid a township Oxchuc where roads were being blocked. It was said that those in power in Oxchuc are only distributing government aid to their supporters. On our way we saw numerous villages spread out over the mountainous jungle we were driving through. Mist and fog circled around at times restricting visibility. We saw plenty of the indigenous people wearing local costumes, particularly the women, but strangely these costumes date from when the Spanish took over the country. The Spanish enslaved the natives, split up the land and slaves by haciendas or rancheras, then assigned different costumes to different areas so they knew which area a slave came from. Now those costumes have been handed down through the generations.

We passed through a moonshining village dedicated to producing “Pox” (said Poush) a 40% proof spirit from corn or sugar cane. Quite illegal but the authorities turn a blind eye and don’t collect any taxes. We passed a graveyard in an indigenous village where there was a 5000 peso fine for taking photographs. The Day of the Dead is more vital and celebrated differently in the areas where Roman Catholicism and pre-Hispanic religions have blended together rather oddly.

I had a quick rundown on Mexican politics and the zapatistas and revolutions. Some Mexicans considered a recent president so venal they labelled his residence “Museum of Corruption” on Google Maps. The president reacted strongly by banning anyone making fun of the president. Reminded me of British MPs making it illegal to unearth any of them cheating on expense claims.

We reached San Cristobal early afternoon to the sound of fireworks which continued during the day. Some Saint had decided to have a Saints Day. San Cristobal is 2000 metres high and it felt justifiable to wear a thin pullover. The city centre is like Merida with a grid of narrow intersecting streets but very few traffic lights so you have to play chicken to cross the road. It does have 2 pedestrian streets which is something. The buildings are limited to 2 storeys high.

The Casa Vieja hotel is olde-worlde, no air conditioning in the rooms, I couldn’t work out how to lock the room at first. Gaby is going to try to get my room changed which is kind of her. On her recommendation I went to a place called 500 nights and saw they had a Japanese style restaurant in the building! I tried to have lunch there but ended up in an adjacent Peruvian style place! So I had to go back in the evening and try Maho. Most of the meals I’ve had in Mexico they give you a nacho like starter and they did here. Well in the UK we expect even foreign food to be a meat and 2 veg (or 3 veg if you’re a vegetarian). The salmon dish was tasty but I have my doubts about how authentic the cheese souffle was.