Pueblos Magicos Fall Tour 2025

Diary 5

The Magic Town of Chiapa de Corzo is less than an hour from San Cristóbal de las Casas, but it is straight downhill taking you from a temperate climate to a torrid one. Another major difference is that San Cristóbal is a prime destination for both domestic and foreign tourists, while Corzo has only the former.

   I had always heard that the National Park Sumidero Canyon was stunning so here was an opportunity to bag another Pueblo Mágico and see this natural wonder, even though - gasp - I would have to book a tour. I reserved a room in Chiapa for one night, planning to spend one last morning in San Cristóbal, and the afternoon walking around the new kid before the boat trip the following morning. Looking online, the reservations for the boat tours ran about $50 and included a pickup and return to your hotel in San Cristóbal. I thought that was odd. I looked up ticket reservations from Chiapa de Corzo where the embarkation docks actually are, but Google kept taking me back to the place where all the tourists were. Aha. I figured I would just go to the horses mouth since I had lots of time to check it out.

   Arriving in a colectivo, I had a short walk to my hotel, which in turn was only a block from the docks. Very convenient. It was shut up behind a locked gate, so I pulled the cord on a bell. A couple of minutes later a woman sauntered out from the back, let me in, and checked me in. Sort of. She didn’t know where my key was and also couldn’t find a TV remote. Normally I don’t care, but this time I wanted to watch the World Series that evening. In fact, it was hours later after an afternoon walking around that I was moved to a different room where she was able yo provide me with functioning remotes for both the air and the television. And for the rest of my stay, she was nearby when I wanted to go in or out. Good thing, as I hate feeling locked in.

   I spent two minutes walking to the river where various touts tried to get me into their restaurants or to sell me boat tickets. All around were food and crafts booths which went on for blocks and crowds of Mexican families. I didn’t see any other foreigners. Around the corner was a ticket counter. The price was 450 pesos, about $24. Good thing because I certainly didn’t need the transportation which was part of the online version. I was already here. Actually the price wasn’t 450 pesos either. With my Mexican resident Senior card it was down to 290. So the original online price of $50 had shrunk to $15. 

   A ticket for the next day in hand and feeling pretty cocky and proud of myself, I wandered off to see Chiapa de Corzo. The main plaza was open and handsome with two impressive pieces of older architecture. But after that nada, nothing. The town which lends itself to the state name of Chiapas does not seem to have much of anything that might give it magic. It all boils down to the canyon. Chiapa like a number of other Pueblos Mágicos gets its mojo from surrounding natural beauty, not for the place itself.

   The tour the next day was definitely spectacular. We spent over two hours passing through some breathtaking scenery. We saw crocodiles, monkeys, pelicans, and egrets. The misty falls of the Christmas Tree were special as was being dripped upon while passing beneath them. To get a full flavor of the boat trip, there are sufficient YouTube videos. One sobering note was carefully transiting a portion of the river which is marred by acres and acres of floating garbage, scum, and plastic. Very sad.

   One of the things about visiting Chiapas is that it is a long way from the rest of the country in terms of Magic Towns to visit. From Chiapa and Tuxtla Gutierréz I had an eleven hour overnight bus trip to get to Oaxaca. And from there, my next town in the state of Tlaxcala was seven more. I spent a pleasant day in Oaxaca breaking the trip, but I have been there many times before. It is a wonderful destination, but my central thesis about Mexican travel was reconfirmed. Oaxaca is absolutely deluged with tourists. There are packs of them on every street in the central area of the city and it seems to be getting worse all the time like in Lisbon, Barcelona, and Venice. The culture is suffering and becoming distorted as more and more energy is devoted to servicing these vistors. Meanwhile so many of the worthwhile destinations that I write about remain almost totally neglected.