The Mayans Rise Again - While the town is very nice and well organized downtown, the most fascinating is the growth of authority for the Mayans. While most cities in the Yucatan are run by a few Spanish and many mestizos, some of the cities in Chiapas have growing power and authority by Mayans. The nearby Indigenous Villages are entirely run by Mayans under their traditional practices from the post-900 A.D. years after the royalty was overthrown. Several former Catholic churches are now run by the Mayans with a blend of Mayan and Christianity. Lovely weaving and other skills are now made and sold to visitors and create a money basis to strengthen the trading systems in the mixed stores. My experience in mestizo areas was mostly without much smiling by the Indigenous people but they were open and frequent in the exclusive Chiapas Mayan cities. Their towns expect visitor courtesy and the following of their reasonable rules. Remembering it is their town made us greatly enjoy another culture.

A Trip to the Past - San Juan Chamula is a Mayan town with it's OWN form of government so please make sure to abide by the local rules that any tour guide will give you. A visit into the San Juan Bautista Church will bring a sense of tranquility and calm to your soul as the church is filled with locals praying with a mix of past beliefs in animal offerings. There are no pews but the floor is covered in pine needles and the endless lit candles to a great variety of saints keep the church warm. Prayers are in the local dialect with saints names in Spanish. NO Pictures allowed. I was presented with a local 'Ilole" (shaman) who I accompanied to his home for a spiritual cleansing which lasted about 20 minutes. Whether it was the church, the town of the cleansing..... I left feeling lighter and better. Zinacatan is another Mayan town. Unfortunately there was a big wedding taking place so we were not allowed to enter the town square or church, but instead went to a local artisan house where the clothing was exceptional and fair prices.