Updated: Jul 15, 2021
After spending two months on the Pacific side of México, we got the feeling we were ready to explore a different side of the country.
I'll take you through the journey of a road trip from Puerto Escondido to San Cristóbal & then to Comitan and the area.
WHAT ARE THE WAYS TO GET FROM PUERTO ESCONDIDO TO SAN CRISTÓBAL?
There are three ways to get from Puerto Escondido to San Cristóbal.
Bus
Flight
Driving
Bus rides are pretty convenient in México. The prices are cheap, the long rides are usually during the night time and to be honest, the buses are comfortable.
It's a 9-hour ride and costs approximately 650$. you arrive at San Cristóbal early in the morning witch gives you all day to find a place to stay, get to know the city, and you won't get the feeling of almost day that went down the drain.
Flights are very easy here as well, the cost is approximately 1600$ and takes about 5 hours. You arrive at Tuxtla Airport and take a bus to San Cristóbal.
We drove by car and that was such an experience.
Long story short, it took us three days, 4 stops at mechanics, tears, laughter, and a very big relief.
Our first stop was in Huatulco, visited our friends, walked the safe streets, enjoyed the playground for the last time. We stayed at some random hotel I have no need to recommend or dis-recommend, 400$ a night so absolutely nothing special.
Waking up early in the morning and moving on, having no idea what would be our next stop. The rule is we go until we feel we had enough time in the car.
Salina Cruz- the weirdest smelling city I've been to in my life. We stayed in a cheap hotel waiting for the morning to come so we can get going...
Arriaga, Chiapas.
A nice little town, 3 hours away from San Cristóbal. We spent the night at a hotel called Ecology Inn And in the morning we happily jumped in the car and drove straight to San Cristóbal.
You CAN drive it in one day if you have the energy and your kids are fine spending 9 hours in the car!
SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LA CASAS
Arriving in San Cristóbal was very exciting! The city is colorful and vibrant, the locals are fascinating and we had the feeling we were gonna love it. We spent the first night at casa de yagil and then looked for a house to spend the next month in. With a budget like ours, we had two options.
Smelly apartment behind a restaurant.
Cabin in the mountains.
We chose the second option of course. We found a beautiful cabin 10 minutes away from the center of town, the cabin was fully furnished and in the living room was a big fireplace. We had a big front yard and a place to hang our hammock and the first few days were magical even though we had water issues in the cabin, we stayed optimistic. BUT after a while, waking up to a morning with no way to brush our teeth cuz there is no water, days went by where we couldn't shower took a toll on us and we started feeling sick, tired, cold and frustrated and we decided to pack up and leave.
WHAT IS THERE TO DO IN SAN CRISTÓBAL WITH KIDS?
Most of the days in San Cristóbal we rathered spend outside exploring the area.
Rancho Nuevo Park
A huge park with concrete slides, horseback riding, a zip- line, and a big cave.
We were there twice and the kids had a blast. They have restaurants and a small market with clothes and souvenirs.
Sumidero river
An hour and a half drive to Chiapa De Corzo will bring you to an absolutely amazing river. We chose to do the boat ride with no tour guide or group and we kinda feel stupid about it. The minute we arrived at the entrance, we had a bunch of tour guides jump at us, promising us that they have the best price. So, we asked with our broken Spanish if the ride includes seeing the big canyon, the main reason we went there, and one said to us "yes! Canyon" so we got on the boat all excited, enjoying the ride.. and a minute before getting to the canyon, the boat captain turned the boat to go back!! We were shocked trying to understand. They tricked us badly and we did not see the canyon. I was so pissed off!
Shame.
BEING SICK IN SAN CRISTÓBAL
As I said earlier, we got really sick after a week and our fun stopped. Bad bad flu, fever and all. We got told that there are pharmacies with doctors that can examine you with no fuss. That was a really good tip and we did go to a doctor who checked us and gave us med's that really helped us. The doctor examen cost us 40$ and the med's 40$
The right thing for us to do was to move on. Our bodies were screaming out to us that we cant stay in San Cristobal any longer.
And so we did.
Our next destination is Comitan, Chiapas
