palenque,ocosingo questions
 

Hi, i am flying into tuxtla guiterrez airport arriving this sunday afternoon - then bus to san cristobal de las casas for one night - with plan to get up early and
take bus in morning to palenque- spend 2 nights there( mision palenque or Chan Kah Resort , then 1 night in ocosingo( Central Hotel) to see tonina and then back to san cristobal for 3 nights before leaving from tuxtla gutt. airport. does this seem feasible? would appreciate ANY input. this is a last minute trip and i am presently making hotel reservations. thanks, steve

Could work! Depends on what you want to do and experience.

In Palenque, expect to spend a full day on site, including at least an hour or two for the museum (small, but with some exquisite and very unusual pieces).

There is a lovely set of waterfalls / riverside sites between Palenque and San Cristobal -- Misol Ha, Agua Clara, and Agua Azul. I took a day trip that covered the three from Palenque; there may be similar day trips from San Cristobal.

I loved San Cristobal de las Casas and thought it easily worth at least 2 days. It is probably too late to book it, but check with Bela at Bela's B&B: http://belasbandb.com
Taking a tour of the Mayan communities outside of San Cristobal is well worth considering. And the crafts market by the remarkable Santo Domingo is one of my all-time favorite markets. :-)

The Tuxtla-Guiterrez airport is about halfway between San Cristobal and Tuxtla, so it should work well at both ends of your trip. I think there are vans to San Cristobal that went more frequently than the busses, but that could have changed.

I didn't make it to Ocosing or Tonina.

Hope that helps!

Have you looked at the hotel Quinta Chanabnal? We LOVED that place.

Do check out my photos and blog from 2 weeks spent between those spots in 2010. Tonina isn't right by the road - may have to get creative to get there. We arranged a driver to take us between San Cris and Palenque with Tonina and waterfalls as scheduled stops coming and/or going. Try to get to the Maya site 1st thing in the morning.

My photos with blog and travelogue links on the main page of each collection are below in case you're interested - lots of other info including museums, village trips, etc. in/near San Cris.
Happy trails!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

Chan Kah is a nice resort, the rooms when we were there (6 years ago?) seemed a bit dated, but the grounds and pool are great. Recommend it. Howler monkeys are a bit noisy, but fun. Also agree with kja on Agua Azul, etc. If you only have time for one stop, Agua Azul would be it. El Chiflon near Comitan is well worth a visit if you have the time.

And I agree with baldone -- if you have only time enough for one stop, Agua Azul is the one.