Hi, this is Fikret. I’ve been keeping away from the writing stuff since I have been taking the photos – in other words, I have avoided the work – but this time I want to scrabble a few words.

In the previous entry we reported from “pleasantville” Zipolite on the coast of Pacific. Zipolite, with its backpacker tourists and ambience resembling the southern coastal towns of Turkey, was so not Mexico that we wanted to flee the scene as fast as we could – even   if it meant turning down the chance to put on lotions and sunbathe far away from the winter time of our “lonely and beautiful country.”

We didn’t hurry, though. We stayed for a day, and stepped on the gas of our car, Cucaracha. Our destination was San Cristobal. It drew our attention mainly for the Mayan ruins surrounding the area and the villages with population consisting of Mayan descendants who still use the ancient language instead of Spanish. Yet, the road was long. So after we drove half the way, we had to spend last night in Juchitan de Zaragoza.

To be honest, Juchitan was the least interesting place in Mexico we have so far visited. We left the hotel in the dusk for a walk in the city.

The pirate CDs and DVDs we saw in every place in Mexico, including the capital Mexico City, invaded the streets in there. The results of market research we conducted showed the huge pirate market which is many times bigger than Turkey.

There are bazaar areas in Mexican cities which resemble the municipal bazaars in İstambul, but these are a lot more crowded. Some have “eating” places that look like our buffets. You can fill your stomach in a cheap way in those places. And we stopped by one of them right away. The place was managed by a mum and her daughters…

In here, the meals are always served with dry beans and lemon aside, no matter what you eat – it’s even better when they serve them mashed. And it doesn’t change whether you eat in a cheap place or in a restaurant.

But we have to warn you about the small places which have no price lists. As soon as they realize you are tourists – and it is impossible not to realize that, first of all because of your appearance – the prices start changing. I wouldn’t like to speak behind the señora but it felt like the place we sat down to eat low cost dinner robbed us a bit. But since the conversation was pleasant and the food was delicious, we didn’t mind that when we left the wooden benches we sat.

The guide about Juchitan said it was “a city where often seen gays transvestites live freely.” And that was what we prepared ourselves to see. But we didn’t see anything radically different in Juchitan than the other Mexican cities we had visited so far.

We left Juchitan behind in the morning. (Don’t forget that while reading in Turkey: you are eight hours ahead of us!) We spent most of the day on the road, like we did the day before. Finally we left Oaxaca – pronounced Oa-ha-ka – state and entered Chiapas, a state that is famous for its Zapatistas.

We were cheerful. We had promised to let you know once we arrived back in Mexico, and now here it is: We’re back and we’re happy.

In the picture, you see Nur who hasn’t eaten anything since the morning and threatening us to leave: “If you see me walking in Chiapas, and I am angry each time you pass, walk on by.” Metin is explaining to her that he is hungry too, but we can only leave after I take the photos of the sings I want at the border of Chiapas: “You start walking. We’ll pick you up.” I finished taking pictures and we are back on the road.

At last we stopped by some place that looked like a store/buffet mix, and had a breakfast. Of course, we had dry beans, lemon and hot sauce aside our fried eggs.

After breakfast we hit the road and finally arrived in San Cristobal. Until now we like what we have seen but I can’t say we have toured deservedly, yet.

Metin caught a little guy while walking the streets of San Cristobal in the evening and started asking him some questions about Mayans, to which he got no satisfactory answers. This research attempt costed us 5 pesos – we had to give the cute little guy some pocket money. And we decided to use more conventional ways while going on with our research.

Tomorrow, we will search for a Maya village to investigate the 2012 issue. And we will turn to people who are more in command