Greetings From The Chiapas Highlands

OK, folks. We have been in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas for about a week now as is normal for us at this time of the year and all winter until April but continue to read this forum daily although we have not been posting here since we are not, at present, in Ajijic but I just wanted to check in and say hello since we continue to strongly support this forum as a superior alternative to its constipated local rival for Lakeside community discussions of interest to expats thereabouts. I want to once again extoll the virtues of the All Mexico Info Group Oracle Forum out of Morelia, Michoacan as that forum not only concentrates on matters involving Michoacan but all of Mexico in general. I bring this up as this is where we post about our experiences in other parts of Mexico and thought perhaps many of you were unfamiliar with this forum but might enjoy it in addition to your visits to this more focused Lake Chapala forum. Dawg used to post Chiapas and other Southern Mexico anecdotes on the Mexico Connect Southern Mexico Forums but no longer am a member of that magazine´s constituency so I welcome you all to join me on the All Mexico Forum as I will be posting information about our adventures in Southern Mexico and other travels about this fascinating country there and not on Mexoico Connect with whom I no longer participate. Please join me on the All Mexico Forum for some fun and here as well when we return to Lakeside as we consider this to be the best and most entertaining forum for Lakesiders despite the Canadian forum managers like Canuck Bob, God help us.

hound dog wrote:OK, folks. We have been in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas for about a week now as is normal for us at this time of the year and all winter until April but continue to read this forum daily although we have not been posting here since we are not, at present, in Ajijic but I just wanted to check in and say hello since we continue to strongly support this forum as a superior alternative to its constipated local rival for Lakeside community discussions of interest to expats thereabouts. I want to once again extoll the virtues of the All Mexico Info Group Oracle Forum out of Morelia, Michoacan as that forum not only concentrates on matters involving Michoacan but all of Mexico in general. I bring this up as this is where we post about our experiences in other parts of Mexico and thought perhaps many of you were unfamiliar with this forum but might enjoy it in addition to your visits to this more focused Lake Chapala forum. Dawg used to post Chiapas and other Southern Mexico anecdotes on the Mexico Connect Southern Mexico Forums but no longer am a member of that magazine´s constituency so I welcome you all to join me on the All Mexico Forum as I will be posting information about our adventures in Southern Mexico and other travels about this fascinating country there and not on Mexoico Connect with whom I no longer participate. Please join me on the All Mexico Forum for some fun and here as well when we return to Lakeside as we consider this to be the best and most entertaining forum for Lakesiders despite the Canadian forum managers like Canuck Bob, God help us.

Peter has you on the payroll now eh Dawg.......jajaja. Tell him to come and visit us sometime. We miss him.

Thanks, Ferret. I´ll later post the link to the All Mexico Forum. since I think that you and others will enjoy it. What I really like about that forum is that, unlike Chapala.Com and Mexico Connect, the moderators stay out of your hair and invite discourse even if controversial as do the mods here.

As for weather phenomena, we are no better off here than you guys at Lake Chapala. It may be raining in the Chiapas Highlands for another week as it has been for several day or even longer as we have only been here since last Sunday. Plus, at 7,000 feet, it´s a bit chilly. I may have to drive over to Huatulco.

Bama Boy Dawg has no real problems with Canadians but harassing Canuck Bob seems like a worthwhile endeavor. I actually used to work for a Canadian boss in San Francisco that sorry sumbitch.

Well he should have taught ya how to spell San Francisco........eh!

BTW....by the time your back in Chapala I'll be there to greet you with a cold cerveza and shot of fine tequila. Stay safe Mr. Dawg.

CanuckBob wrote:Well he should have taught ya how to spell San Francisco........eh!

Corrected, you no good Canadian Yahoo.

I had this buddy from Los Angeles when I lived in that town in the distant past who was a wise guy and, when returning from Tijuana in the 1960s, upon being asked where he was from, drunkenly replied, "San Franceeeeeesco". I think it took him at least a week after that to clear the border. Border agents were neither then nor now noted for their senses of humor.

CanuckBob wrote:BTW....by the time your back in Chapala I'll be there to greet you with a cold cerveza and shot of fine tequila. Stay safe Mr. Dawg.

You´re on, Amigo.

It´s about time to leave Chiapas for the shores of Lake Chapala and it´s always good to leave as well as return to our nice little village of Ajijic. We used to always drive the 1,400 plus kilometers down through Mexico City, Puebla, Orizaba, Minatitlan and then on into the Chiapas Highlands but this year coming down we detoured over the Arco Norte and then to Puebla and up through Cuetzelan and Hueyapan, Puebla and down the Veracruz Coast from Papantla to Veracruz City and back to the autopista to Minatitlan and it was a good trip except it kept raining corpses all over the roads around Veracruz City. It has really gotten nasty down there but we made it through alright. I´ll post some details on that trip later.

Returning to Chapala, we plan to drive up the Oaxaca Coast to Juchitan and Puerto Escondido before heading inland to Oaxaca City and then directly back to Ajijic. With the new autopistas eiither now open or soon to be open from San Cristóbal to Ocotlan, Jalisco through Oaxaca State, it is now possible to drive from San Cristóbal all the way to Ocotlan through Oaxaca City rather than take the Veracruz route and these new autopistas in Southern Mexico plus the Arco Norte have made the drive much easier and faster whether one drives through Veracruz or Oaxaca which is a little longer drive but the exciting news is that now one can drive from Chapala to Oaxaca City in one day over mostly great roads. These infrastructural improvements will really open up Oaxaca State, Chiapas, Tabasco and the Yucatan Peninsula to Lake Chapala residents and this is pretty exciting. It also, with the new autopista soon to open from Oaxaca City to Puerto Escondido, will open up the Oaxaca Coast to Lakesiders. Dawg would guess that once that autopista opens, Ajijic to Puerto Escondido will take about 12 hours give or take according to your speed. Then on to Huatulco will be another couple of hours. The Oaxaca and Chiapas coasts are very interesting places to visit and now relatively easy as well.

See you soon and I´ll post my report on the Oaxaca Coast route.

I thought you were staying down south until April?

CanuckBob wrote:I thought you were staying down south until April?

We normally go to Chiapas in January and stay until about June but mt wife tricked me into coming down for October I think so that I could cut the grass. See you soon CB.

Dawg