Forums > Areas > Southern Mexico

Bubba

May 9, 2004, 9:15 AM

Post #1 of 7 (1303 views)

Shortcut

San Cristobal de las Casas to Palenque

Can't Post | Private Reply

We will be driving from the Chapala area to Oaxaca and San Cristobal then up through Palenque and back through Villahermosa and Puebla. That one leg of road through Chiapas from San Cristobal to Palenque looks a bit primitive and goes through an area in which there has been some unrest in the past. Alternatively, one can double back to Tuxtla Gutierrez and go to Palenque via Villahermosa but that adds a bit of distance. Have any of you had experience driving the San Cristobal-Palenque road through Ocosingo? If so, you insights would be appreciated.

mepsi

May 9, 2004, 10:29 AM

Post #2 of 7 (1287 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Bubba] San Cristobal de las Casas to Palenque

Can't Post |

We drove that route last year with no untoward occurrences. The road was in good condition except for the usual topes in some totally unexplainable places. Ocosingo has the reputation of being a Zapatista community but I don't think you'll have any problems during daylight hours and using normal caution.

Palenque this time of year should be nice and humid though. We were there in march and it was HOT and humid so I'd try to get to the site early.

Monte

sfmacaws

May 9, 2004, 11:03 AM

Post #3 of 7 (1279 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Bubba] San Cristobal de las Casas to Palenque

Can't Post | Private Reply

We drove that road a couple of years ago in a 27' RV towing a jeep. Same experience as Mepsi. There was some talk of unrest at the time but we saw no problems. The military leaving Palenque (we went the opposite direction, Palenque - Ocosingo - San Cris) told us not to stop for kids along the road. Don't know. We didn't see any kids trying to get us to stop, not even any kids selling or begging at the topes. And there are a LOT of topes! Hundreds! Someone counted them and it was an astronomical number.

By the way, Bubba, you'll be going 'down' to Palenque. It's a mountainous road with twists and turns but you'll be used to that after driving 'up' to San Cris from the isthmus. It's gorgeous land, I think the mountains look very 'Cat in the Hat' -like. We drove in and out of the clouds on our way up, with the mountains disappearing and reappearing in the mist.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

Bubba

May 9, 2004, 6:10 PM

Post #4 of 7 (1252 views)

Shortcut

Re: [sfmacaws] San Cristobal de las Casas to Palenque

Can't Post | Private Reply

Thanks to both of you. We visited Chichen Itza in the summer so we know about heat in these places. Man!

Any ideas on lodging in Palenque?

By the way, we have two Mexican guidebooks that alternately inform us that Villahermosa is:

(1) A beautiful and most pleasant place to spend a day or two.
(2) A dump to be driven through with utmost dispatch.

The old beauty and beholder thing.

Ed and Fran

May 9, 2004, 7:02 PM

Post #5 of 7 (1245 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Bubba] San Cristobal de las Casas to Palenque

Can't Post | Private Reply

Bub's

We like the Chan Kah Resort hotel out near the ruins. Very quiet, decent restaurant (great coffee), wonderfull pool, small bungalows spread out over the grounds. Chan Kah also has a downtown hotel (mid-range, clean) where we stayed also. It up to you whether you prefer to stay in town to sightsee.

We spent a lot of time in Villa, and imho it's somewhere between the two guidebook opinions. I think it was more of a provincial backwater (although the state capital0 until Pemex Exploration and Production (PEP, the drilling, pumping, pipeline branch of Pemex) made it it's operational headquarters. That brought in lots of engineers and bureaucrats and all the support businesses to provide for the increased business. So the city has more of a modern feel than you might expect. Good hotels and restaurants.

There's a good park (forgot the name) that has a lot of the stone figures from La Venta (the actual La Venta site is a swamp and not accessible). There's also a decent anthropology museum along the river just south of downtown. The cathedral is reputed (according to the locals) to have the tallest spires of any cathedral in Mexico. Of course it must be the smallest cathedral from front to back (probably ran out of money after building the spires). They also have one of those wild game parks (Yum-ka') with exotic local animals just outside of town by the airport. That's about it, downtown has nothing exceptional that would make you want to spend a day walking around, no offense to a Villahernmosan's who might be tuned in, it's just not overtly touristic.

Enjoy your trip,

E&F

sfmacaws

May 9, 2004, 7:03 PM

Post #6 of 7 (1244 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Bubba] San Cristobal de las Casas to Palenque

Can't Post | Private Reply

We generally stay in Villahermosa on our way south, but we are in an RV so we stay at Walmart :) I don't think it is a dump, it's a fair sized Mexican city with modern stores and shopping malls. I'm sure there are dumpy parts of it but I haven't seen them in our overnights along the main roads. It's always pretty hot there, it goes from just hot to classic tropical hot and steamy.

There are good hotels (although I can't give you any names) and the museum there is not to be missed, IMHO. The Olmec heads - huge - that were found in ruins throughout the area are at the museum as well as a lot of other Olmec stuff that I think is worth seeing. It's a nice museum in a large park with lots of parking. There is a gorgeous bridge on the southern approach into the city designed by someone famous with a soaring quality that is nice. There are some large corporations, no doubt oil related, with headquarters there so there are jobs and what looks to be a sizeable middle class. Did I mention it is hot? and humid?

The town of Palenque looks to have numerous hotels and B&Bs. Again I can't help you as we are in the RV.

I can tell you to stop at the village of 18 de Marzo between the Palenque turnoff and Villahermosa and buy some cheese. Wonderful. You'll see the cheese store in the middle of town on the east side of the road. They make great yogurt, and fruit wines as well.

You will love San Cris, it's one of my favorite towns in Mexico. Used to be my absolute fav but now that I had such a good time in Patzcuaro, it's got competition. It sounds like a wonderful trip, enjoy.

Jonna - Mérida, Yucatán

mepsi

May 10, 2004, 9:40 AM

Post #7 of 7 (1215 views)

Shortcut

Re: [Ed and Fran] San Cristobal de las Casas to Palenque

Can't Post |

We also stayed at the Chan Kah. The location is really good and the swimming pool is outstanding. We didn't eat there but some of the other guests we spoke to spoke highly of it. I would probably stay there if and when we return.

Monte