Day 314 – San Cristobal de las Casas to Palenque
Bus trip from San Cristobal de las Casas to Palenque with OCC
Goodbye San Cristobal de las Casas
Today we checked out of the Airbnb, Casa Flor De Vida. After saying goodbye to the hosts we walked to the bus station with our luggage. We had booked an OCC bus, which is a different line of the ADO Bus company as far as we could tell. It was the same ADO bus station. We were also able to check in our large backpacks.
The OCC bus felt more basic than a ADO bus, even though both are sold as being 1st class services. Our 10am bus, left at 10.11am with only half the seats occupied.
After an hour the bus stopped at another OCC bus stop. Here the rest of the seats became occupied. We ended up staying here for 45 minutes as maintenance attempted to fix the TV system. From the familiar shut down sound, they are running Windows XP.
The bus stopped several more times at smaller bus stations along the way. At another stop, all the passengers were asked to leave the bus.
At the stop, we asked a cafe staff member for various menu options, but every item was out of stock. Luckily there was another shop to buy snacks from. Around 30 minutes later the bus was ready and we continued our journey.
Hello Palenque
We arrived at the Palenque bus stop at 7pm. After picking up our bags we walked to our hostel Casa Janaab.
The hostel was in a touristy part of town, which had some shady tree covering the streets and nice restaurants. The staff at the hostel were really friendly. We were staying in a private room, which was massive and clean. The shared kitchen downstairs was also nice.
Therefore we walked to a nearby supermarket, Chedraui to buy supplies. The shopping centre is a massive combination of a Kmart and a Woolworths. Essentially it has everything. We had a nice home cooked meal before heading to sleep.