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The original attraction of San Cristóbal was that it was a cozy, quiet mountain town, with plenty of locals and not too many tourists. Unfortunately, this image has drawn a plethora of tourists to San Cristóbal, and it's ultimately been the town's undoing. There are Internet cafés, tour agencies, hotels, and herbal medicine stores on every street corner. And every second person you walk past in the street is a fellow gringo. Not quite the simple, spartan, unsophisticated place I was expecting.

I bought myself a long-distance phone card, called Marca Ya, when I was in Veracruz. Ever since, the damn thing has given me nothing but problems. First, it refused to work at all. Then, when it did work, it seemed to charge more per minute than it was meant to. And now, it's expired itself about 2 months before it was meant to. I am officially a dissatisfied customer. If you get to Mexico, stay away from Marca Ya phone cards: they suck.

San Cristóbal has an enormous selection of Internet cafés, none of which are rubbish, and none of which charge more than 8 pesos / hr. But there's one that stands out way above the rest. Over 40 brand-new PCs. Very high speed Internet. Everything working perfectly. And all for just 5 pesos / hr! The cheapest and the best Internet in Mexico.

This place is nice, but it has some serious shortcomings. It's definitely not the partygoer's hostel: after 10pm (yes, 10pm — ridiculously early!), they lock the front door, and you have to bang on it for up to a minute to get back in. The crowd was nice when I was here; but I heard that the crowd is much better over at the Backpacker's Hostel. I should have gone there instead; although I was happy with somewhere a bit quieter, I still like a good vibrant community. This time, Lonely Planet recommendations, you let me down.

Rather than catch a bus from Palenque to San Cristóbal, Alan and I decided to make the journey via colectivo (shared taxi / minibus). This was the first time I've undertaken a major intercity journey by colectivo, and all up, it was a great experience at a great price. Colectivos may be a little slower, and a little less comfortable (than buses), but they're also way more fun, and they get you where you're going, same as a bus does.

Tara, Dan, Alan, and myself got a colectivo back from Palenque ruins. Since Alan and I were planning to go straight into town and find some transport to San Cristóbal, and since Tara and Dan also needed to go into town, we convinced the colectivo driver to stop in El Panchán, and to wait for us for 1 minute. However, I hadn't already packed up, so I needed to do so in a hurry!

After two full days of just hanging out in the Jungle at El Panchán, I finally made it to the ancient ruins of Palenque this morning. Tara, Dan, Alan, and myself hopped on a colectivo (shared taxi / minibus) after breakfast (which we had at Don Muchos, of course), and gave ourselves a nice little tour of what I suspect is Mexico's best and most magnificent archaeological site.

This trick has to be even more widespread than the "almost free" lie, and it's even more aggravating. You go to the ATMs in Mexico, and you usually get a wad of 500-peso notes, sometimes with a few 200s thrown in. Then you try to use these notes to pay for something — dinner in a restaurant, for example. 9 times out of 10, they'll be rejected, with the excuse "no tengo cambio" (lit: "I haven't got change"). ¿No tiene cambio? Why the hell not!

At Don Muchos tonight, I decided to order myself a little Margarita after I finished my dinner. I don't know what the hell they put in that drink, but it must have been damn strong; because that was the only alcoholic beverage I had tonight, and it put me right out like a light bulb. I didn't even make it back to the hammock: I dozed right off at the dinner table, and I missed most of tonight's juggling show.

I tried out the Internet café at El Panchán, and I'm sorry to say that I wasn't impressed. When I got there, the Internet wasn't working at all. Then, when they finally got it restored, my mouse didn't work, the connection was slow, and the PCs were filled with more spyware than a James Bond movie. And all for a ripoff rate of 15 pesos / hr.