And we met a new warning about topes. When we got to Chiapas, we found more topes than could possibly be necessary. Roadside sellers put them up to slow people down so that they can sell them something. They aren't marked and some only seem vicious as there is no one around to try to get money out of you. I've heard that the government is trying to stop this practice and now little Chiapan women with babies on their backs and a child holding the end of a rope barrier stop traffic and demand payment. Unsettling. Poverty is extreme in Chiapas and the Indians have been politicized. No trouble from Subcommandante Marcos or the ELZN at the moment, but there is tension.
We got as far as Misol-Ha, a very nice waterfall, the first night and stayed in a rustic cabin where we could see and hear the falls all night. A pleasant stop. It reminded us of the family cabin in the Black Hills with the damp and the sound of water.
I'm glad I'm not traveling this way, but the young couple who did seemed content. Swimming was allowed at the foot of the falls and they'd been for a dip. Hot travel in the mountains was all I could think.
Our next stop was Agua Azul (Blue Water)--aptly named. I think the falls went on forever--upwards, with curio and food stands the whole way. Again swimming is allowed.
The falls below reminded me of Mammoth Springs in Yellowstone, except that there was water flowing over the rock, rather than sediment.
I'll start getting the San Cristobal de las Casas pictures ready. It's a lovely mountain town and I took many pictures.
