Traveling around Mexico – Bienvenidos a Chiapas!

Mexico is an immensely large country, has countless tourist attractions to offer and even after visiting this country several times, it still keeps surprising and convinces almost every traveller through its incredible landscape diversity and the friendly and openhearted people. But how to decide which part of Mexico and which of the many tourist attractions to visit first? In this travel blog, I will try to answer this questions at least partly and take you on a trip to Chiapas, the southernmost state of Mexico and show you why this part of Mexico is especially suitable for travellers on a tight budget and which tourist attractions you definitely need to visit.

After @bypaul and I spent exciting days in Guatemala, we left from Huehuetenango and drove in one of the public buses towards Mexico. We crossed the La Mesía border and made our way to Comitan. Comitan is a small city just a few hours from the border. From here we wanted to start two day trips to the waterfall Cascada El Chiflon and to the lakes Lagos de Montebello. After spending one night in Comitan in a cheap hostel not far from the main square, we left early the next morning and took one of the minibuses, which brought us near the entrance to the waterfall El Chiflon.

Cascada El Chiflon

The Cascada El Chiflon is a 100-meter-high waterfall. It is divided into several smaller and larger waterfalls and offers two paths to climb up on both sides almost until the top. In the dry season, it's also possible to swim in the river and to cross from one side to the other. In the rainy season you should be careful if you want to cross the river, as the currents can get strong enough to carry you away. So before you enter the trail make sure to check out on which side of the river you prefer to climb up, as later on you won’t be able to cross to the other side.

Observation platform at the Cascada Velo de Novia

Rainbow Waterfalls

Lagos de Montebello

Still excited about the impressive waterfall, we were looking forward to seeing what Chiapas had to offer next! Our next stopover were the lakes Lagos de Montebello, which are located near the border to Guatemala. They are known as one of the most beautiful lakes of Mexico, are still far from mass tourism and offer their visitors a great experience in nature. Surrounded by forests, partially connected underground and filled with crystal clear water, these lakes are definitely worth a visit.

Lago Peña Blanca

San Cristobal de las Casas

After two exhausting days, we stayed one day in Comitan to relax a bit and explored the city. The following morning we left and took a bus to San Cristobal de Las Casas. This colonial city is probably the most famous tourist destination in Chiapas and should not be missed on any visit. It is located in the highlands of Chiapas at 2100m and offers its visitors a pleasant cool climate throughout the year. The cobbled streets and the well-preserved colonial buildings and colourful house walls invite you to explore the city on foot and a visit to the market and one of the many viewpoints should not be missed.

Maya city of Toniná

Our last stop in Chiapas were the famous Ruins of Palenque, but on the way there we had planned two more stopovers, which we already were looking forward to. The first one were the imposing ruins of Toniná. This ancient mayan city is not much noticed by tourists, but definitely worth a visit. One of the highlights is a gigantic 72 meter high and even wider pyramid. It can be climbed up to the top and offers a beautiful view over the surrounding countryside. Furthermore, several tunnels also allow access to parts of the interior.

Acropolis of Toniná

Cataratas de Agua Azul

Like the ancient city of Toniná, our next stop was as well on our way to Palenque and only one day after we had enjoyed the view from the top of an enormous pyramid, we arrived at the next highlight of our trip. Agua Azul is one of the tourist highlights in Chiapas and is also very popular among locals. This collection of small natural waterfalls on the River Rio Agua Azul is a beautiful natural spectacle. Especially in the dry season, the water has a beautiful turquoise blue color and invites its visitors to swim in various natural pools.

We spent a full afternoon in Agua Azul and explored the area through a small path that winds its way up the river to various natural pools and countless small waterfalls.

Palenque

Now we headed towards our last stopover in Chiapas. It was already late in the evening when we arrived in the small city of Palenque, but immediately we realized that we were no longer in the highlands. Despite the late hour, the heat and above all the humidity were hard to bear and we did not want to imagine how hot it would get during the day. The city itself did not have much to offer, but it served as our starting point for visiting the ruins of Palenque. As it was already late we stayed one night in a hostel near the centre of the city and before we visited the ancient city of Palenque the next day, we changed the accommodation and looked for a room in one of the forest cabins not far from the access road to the ruins. Surrounded by jungle, the climate was a lot better to endure than in the city.

The ancient city of Palenque is certainly one of the most magnificent testimonies of the Mayans in Mexico. Countless pyramids and buildings in excellent condition can be admired here. As this site is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Chiapas and to avoid the heat, it is definitely better to get there early in the morning when it is not too crowded and cooler.

Chiapas had been overwhelming and we could not have imagined experiencing that much in so few days and were really impressed by every site we visited. In addition, Chiapas is certainly one of the cheapest states in Mexico and especially for travellers on a tight budget the perfect destination! I can really recommend Chiapas and all of the places we visited on our trip to everyone!

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All photos were taken by myself. Thank you for reading!
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