Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
DAY 26
San Cristóbal de Las Casas, San Juan Chamula
This was an intensive trip. I was traveling faster than I could write, with no time to see or
digest it all. I was on the run from 6 a.m. to midnight. It was good for my health since I
didn't snack and I slept well.
I signed up for a half-day tour, a visit to Chamula, which has become a destination in itself
due to its blend of pagan and Catholic rites. Victor, our guide, knew as much as any anthro-
pologist about the people. He had even spent two years providing assistance and liaison to
the Spanish newspaper correspondent Valentino Díaz in his contacts with Sub-comandante
Marcos, the Chiapas rebel leader.
Chamula is six miles and centuries apart from San Cristóbal. At the edge of town, we
stopped at a cemetery silhouetted by a burned out shell of a church that stood silently in
back of the graveyard. Many graves were brown, covered with pine needles. Victor said,
“Pine needles connect people with the earth. In homes needles are spread on the floor.”
Victor explained why the church was a forlorn skeleton. He said, "Too many pine needles,
too many candles, and too much liquor." He pointed out the crosses in the cemetery, “White
