San Cristóbal de las Casas

San Cristóbal de las Casas needs 3 days: the colonial center of cobblestone streets and colorful facades at 2,200 meters altitude, on one, a visit to the Tzotzil indigenous villages of San Juan Chamula and Zinacantán on another, and an excursion to the Mayan ruins of Palenque amid the jungle, on the third. November-April avoids the rainy season. It's inexpensive by Mexican standards. It's the most important living indigenous cultural center in southern Mexico, with a Tzotzil and Tzeltal Maya population that keeps its language, dress and syncretic religious rites -photos are forbidden during ceremonies at the San Juan Chamula church, which blend Catholicism with Maya healing and Coca-Cola as a ritual offering-.