# The Road to OZ



## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

San Juan Cancuc is just beyond Tenejapa up (and down as it were, more or less, from time-to-time as one proceeds) from San Cristóbal de Las Casas in the Jovel Valley in the Chiapas Highlands and, as is true of so many places hereabouts in Chiapas, is a magical place burdened with hopeless poverty and interspersed with shantytowns and remote homesteads while graced with extraordinary and spectacular beauty. The village of Cancuk is the home of indigenous Maya living in what most of us from other parts would describe as shacks dotting an environment of indescribably pleasant forests of banana, coffee and various other impossibly green and thriving flora overlooking deep mountainous canyons and sheer´peaks typically found on the backroads of the rural Chiapas Highlands.

These modest homes and villages sit amongst and gaze upon spectacular forested vistas of such extraordinary beauty that the experience of visiting them cannot be described in words alone. 

The remarkable and rugged beauty of the Chiapas Highlands surrounding San Cristóbal must be seen to be believed but much of it is not easily accessable to the tourist. That is the region´s drawback and constitutes the basis of much of its charm. Go there if you have the opportunity.


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## Angelpie99 (Apr 4, 2015)

It sounds amazing, just the sort of place I would love to visit -- or even live.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Angelpie99 said:


> It sounds amazing, just the sort of place I would love to visit -- or even live.


I doubt this is the kind of place where outsiders would be welcome, whether they be Mexicans or immigrants from other countries.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

I will take your word for it
Would not like to be there


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## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

We visited SCC in the early 90s, but just for a few days. I would like to go there again.


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## cuerna1 (Mar 7, 2015)

Hound Dog said:


> San Juan Cancuc is just beyond Tenejapa up (and down as it were, more or less, from time-to-time as one proceeds) from San Cristóbal de Las Casas in the Jovel Valley in the Chiapas Highlands and, as is true of so many places hereabouts in Chiapas, is a magical place burdened with hopeless poverty and interspersed with shantytowns and remote homesteads while graced with extraordinary and spectacular beauty. The village of Cancuk is the home of indigenous Maya living in what most of us from other parts would describe as shacks dotting an environment of indescribably pleasant forests of banana, coffee and various other impossibly green and thriving flora overlooking deep mountainous canyons and sheer´peaks typically found on the backroads of the rural Chiapas Highlands.
> 
> These modest homes and villages sit amongst and gaze upon spectacular forested vistas of such extraordinary beauty that the experience of visiting them cannot be described in words alone.
> 
> The remarkable and rugged beauty of the Chiapas Highlands surrounding San Cristóbal must be seen to be believed but much of it is not easily accessable to the tourist. That is the region´s drawback and constitutes the basis of much of its charm. Go there if you have the opportunity.


Well written piece. Feels like you are writing a travel guide 

Some 40 years ago I lived in Guatemala. I was in the business of processing Izote (Yucca) cane and sending it to Europe and Miami as house plants. People would mostly go to remote locations, cut the cane (which was used as fencing) and bring it to my place where I paid them a penny or so per linear foot. 

Sometimes the supply would dry up so I would get in the pick-up and head off into the Guatemalan mountains - just on the other side of some imaginary line drawn by man which separates Chiapis from San Marcos - looking for new sources. Believe it or not it was a competitive business and I had to visit the most isolated places trying to be the first person there. I came across some very interesting villages where I'm pretty sure they didn't see people like me often. I remember one place where the people were very dark-skinned with bright blue eyes and blonde hair - everyone ! Perhaps I happened upon a place where certain Germans had found to hide ?

That whole area is truly special.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Isla Verde said:


> I doubt this is the kind of place where outsiders would be welcome, whether they be Mexicans or immigrants from other countries.


You remind me of something that happened to my wife, me and a Mexican national friend of ours from Lake Chapala several years ago. We were visiting the mostly indigenous communities of Larrainzar and another nearby village known as Aldama which is so small and isolated in wonderfully rugged mountainous countryside that you would be hard pressed to find it on most maps of the región which is fine with them. These communities are not located that far from San Cristóbal de Las Casas and the local community of Chamula which is a well-known tourist attraction primarily for its famous church. Larrainzar is noted for being a Zapatista village and its inhabitants famously disdain outsiders whether tourists or even locals from just down the road.

While these communities are not far from San Cristóbal as the crow flies, it takes a while to drive to the área over such rugged terrain (but generally good roads) so count on about a two hour drive through indigenous lands where local law administered by the local council prevails and seriously so. If you are wise, you as an outsider will respect their customs and religious shrines since, while up there, you will be tolerated unless you step out of line so going there is not dangerous nor even unaccepting of your presence but tread lightly.

Anyway, here we were in Larrainzar visiting a local merchant´s home/taller when this woman merchant blurted out, "What are you Gringos doing here in Larrainzar. We don´t like Gringos here and Comandante Marcus has warned us about you." Needless to say, being called a "Gringa" did not please our Mexican friend from Lake Chapala who comes from a long line of Mestizos native to the Lake Chapala región and she responded something to the effect that she was as Mexican as this merchant and did not appreciate the gratuitous put-down. Of course, what our Mexican friend did not understand (nor we at that time several years ago), was that this Larrainzar merchant simply did not identify with the appellation "Mexican" so this interchange ended unpleasantly and we exited her home rather shortly after that sin merchandise.

Now that I have related this story, let me make it clear that my wife and I have returned to the Larrainzar/Aldama área a number of times since that unfortunate episode and we have felt no personal animosity but no smiles of welcome either. In fact, this week we plan to return to that región but even go further into the boonies beyond Aldama traversing a dirt road to the tiny settlement of San Martin to visit a local artisan specializing in leather products and we are looking forward to that adventure. If we make it back to San Cristóbal, I´ll relate the experience on this thread. I might point out that, as we know locals, we are not concerned with our welfare on this trip but. at times, locals up in the mountains assess back country roads differently than do we so, while our artisan friend states that this high-mountain dirt road is quite satisfactorily maintained, his definitions of "well maintained" and "safe" may not meet our traditional criteria. Sincé I am a country boy from rural South Alabama, I know about back-country dirt roads having been stuck on a few back in the 1950s while trying to make out with that week´s Betty Sue so I remain skeptical until proven wrong.

More later or check out a ravine beween Aldama and San Martin.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Anonimo said:


> We visited SCC in the early 90s, but just for a few days. I would like to go there again.


Well, Anonimo, as you may know, we live in Ajijic on Lake Chapala about 1/2 of each year and in the historic center of San Cristóbal about 1/2 of each year - normally in Chiapas in the fall and winter and Lake Chapala (where damaging inundations are less likely) during the rainy summer season. I know you live in the sticks near Pátzcuaro and, I believe, judging by your historical posts, you would enjoy exploring the back country of the Chiapas Highlands. If you eventually decide to give San Cristóbal and environs another try, let me know by PM on this fórum <snip> and, perhaps we can get together for some pox or (if you object to local moonshine) an espresso or two. Don´t try to communicate with me on one of the Chapala fórums. I no longer fish in those lakes.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Just a point regarding my anecdote about references to "Gringos" in Chiapas. I forgot to make this point in that posting and then it was too late to edit but I think it is important for me to explain that the terms "******" or "Gringa" are particularly strong epithets in Chiapas and most locals here do not consider those references which they interpret as harshly racist put-downs, as appropriate. I bring that up because the unacceptabilty of these racially or ethnically descriptive terms is demonstrative here so those of of you planning to visit this área should use those words with discretion or, perhaps, not all all when referring to yourselves or others you disdain or remark about casually in seemingly innocuous communications with locals.

I point this out because the usage on these descriptive words is taken rather lightly in the Lake Chapala región but not here. Please respect local sensitivities as all travelers should wherever they may venture.


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## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

I hope to be in touch with you, but as of now, we have no specific plans to visit SCC in the near future.

I understand that we know some of the same people in Pátzcuaro and perhaps elsewhere.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Hound Dog tere is no San Martin, the place is called Santa Martha and the place we went to for lunch was past Saklum...
A magnificent place but no place to live unless you are from there.
San Juan Cancuc is not a place to live either unless you are indigenous.

I met a Mexican woman who moved t an indigenous village much closer to San Cristobal but off the beaen path. She is running some kind of a retreat and they call her the bruja because she does not go to church and although some are nice to her she told me she was barely tolerated. 

In Santa Marta there was a fiesta and Santa Marta was being taken out on a procession..we were with a young man from the area, he introduced us to his uncle who was a mayordomo in the fiesta but he himself was Presbitarian and would not go close to the church so I went to speak to the mayordomos to ask them permission to enter the church. They invited us in as a ceremony was taking place. It was magical. 
They told us they had not seen any foreigners at their fiesta and asked us why we came and all kinds of other questions.. they were friendly although totally drunk so we had a nice conversation and left as these things can turn very quickly.
Fascinating area to visit but when the nephew would not step in the church because he is a Christian even if his uncle is a mayordomo and lives in a separate area, it gives you a hint of the culture and you know it is not a place where moving to would be a pleasant experience especially if you did not speak Tsotsil. Many people there do not even speak Spanish.. 
Yes it looks beautiful and exotic but it is poor beyond words and altogether totally intolerant of people who are different and do not follow their rules.
On the return trip we picked up a man who was walking from Saklum to Santa Marta a mere hour an a half and he told us it was a short trip as he took him 3h to walk to Chenalhó , when he had to go.
People are almost self sufficient, they grow most of their food and God help them if they forget to buy something when they are in Santa Marta or Chenalhó., the colectivos leave at 4 or 5 in the morning and there are no colectivos after that...The road is a dirt road that goes out when it rains, not a good place to get sick either.. No thanks about living in that beautiful area.


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