Puerto Chiapas, Mexico

Puerto Chiapas, is in the State of Chiapas which is the southern-most state in Mexico, just north of the border with Guatemala on the Pacific Ocean. We were greeted by beautiful new Cruise Ship port facility with a thatched roof palapa housing shops and a tourist office (no wifi, at least not today). Also, there is a lovely pool available for passengers and crew and some lively local music was provided.

We are not sure how many ships come in here as there is not much tourist infrastructure in the area and almost no one speaks English.

The port is about 35-40 minutes drive from the nearest town---Tapachula, and we were able to get a round trip shuttle for $10 each. The taxis don't come into the port facility as the charge is astronomical, but there were many red or green taxis available at the entrance to the complex which was about 250 yards. 

Tapachula is definitely not a tourist town and the locals were as curious about us as we were about them. Even though we visited on a Tuesday there appeared to be lots of people just hanging out in the main square--Parq. Hidalgo.

I would have guessed it was a weekend. We wandered around smiling, clutching our Spanish translation sheets from our on-board Spanish lessons 1 & 2, and "Beunos Dias"ing anyone who smiled back or looked our way. Mark (now known as Marcos) and I really got into it while Fritz and Andrew pretended not to know us.

Many of the streets are under major construction, which made it easier to stroll, as you didn't have to watch for wild drivers, but they were a bit hazardous as Andrew managed to walk into rebar sticking out of a steel beam just at ankle level.

We felt like savvy shoppers when we found a nice Internet cafe where I could use my ipad and the guys could use the desk-tops provided. Foreign keyboards and google pages are always entertaining to use, but once they discovered how to get "@" all went well. 

Returning to the main square Mark and I again whipped out our translation sheets and I inquired "Disculpe, donde esta el bano?" And with 5 minutes of verbal instruction and a pointed finger we were directed to the bathrooms in the Municipal Building.

 We then baffled 3 guys in the park (3 teeth between them) asking for a place with beer. We have been warned that there could be a dialect issue, but when we mimed drinking they pointed out a place where we were able to have a couple of cold cervezas.