Arrival at Puerto Chiapas, Mexico, is through a narrow breakwater entrance into a small bay, but large enough for the ship to turn around and dock with the bow facing the entrance. Docking is completed by 8 am, and we are on shore soon after to take a ship organized shore excursion to see the local highlights.
Chiapas is the Southernmost State of Mexico, sharing a common border with Guatamala. There are still Volcanoes, but they are less prevalent except for a very large one , 4000m above sea level, which sits on the border with Guatamala, (half in Mexico and Half in Guatamala). It dominates the skyline of the nearest city of Tapachula, and is plays a very important role in the culture of the indigenous people.
At the port, they are obviously used to cruise vessels, with good facilities, including a restaurant, resort complex with a swimming pool for people who don’t wish to venture far. The nearest town of Tapachula is fair hike, but there are shuttle services available.
We headed off on our bus tour at 8.30am, with our guide for the half day, Maribel. She is about 3 ft high and of similar girth, but bright a bubbly and tries hard to make our tour interesting , not as easy as it sounds.
First stop is Tapachula, which is a large town, and a bit run down. It is Sunday, so there are not a lot of people on the streets so early in the morning, and it is also All Souls Day, so those people that are up, are on their way to the cemetery.
The Courthouse
The Church
Our Guide, Maribel
City hall
The highlights or Tapachula tour does not take long, there is an old church, a city hall which we are told is very important, because it is where people must go to pay their taxes, and there is an old court house. We are treated to a short presentation on local womens’ traditional dress, some marimba music, and then it is back on the bust to head for the planetarium where were are to learn more about the Mayans.
The highlight of City Hall was these 2 stained glass windows depicting Mayan Life
And this happy soul celebrating All Souls Day
Cultural display at the courthouse photos below
The planetarium is more of an exhibition centre, with a theatre. We wander around the display area and look at local artwork, handicrafts a few microscopes with insect displays, and a display of a range of telescopes before entering the theatre to get a presentation on the Mayans knowledge of astronomy, which as we know was very substantial. Following this there is a fully costumed Mayan Dance display, which was very well done.
Another Lady dressed up for All Souls Day
The last part of our trip was to some Mayan ruins (the Izapa Ruins). It is not a spectacular site, but the history was interesting.
We were back at the port by 1.30 pm.
Chiapas didn’t seem to us to have a strong identity and appeared to be a mix of Mexico and Guatamala, without a strong influence of either. It is also pretty run down. The economy is agriculture based, with sugar and tropical fruits being dominant.
It is hard to see it becoming a major tourist destination.
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