When the sun comes out, the inhabitants of San Cristobal do too, and suddenly it seems that everyone is smiling.
We take a trip down the andador, or walking street, where people go to see and be seen, and the atmosphere is mellow and cheery. Even the ladies at Santa Domingo craft market, at the end of our road, look distinctly happier.
Like many people here, they make a living out of selling and making “artesanias” – an all-purpose word that encompasses some of the nastiest items I’ve seen in a long time, together with some of the most exquisite embroidery.
Little toy Subcomandante Marcoses are very popular, in honour of the head of the Zapatista uprising that took place in 1994. The doll in the balaclava bears little resemblance to the campaigner for indigenous rights who led an occupation of San Cristobal over ten years ago.
When we last visited, most of the Santa Domingo ladies were selling embroidery featuring native sunflowers and lilies, and we bought a relatively unusual piece featuring birds. Now, they seem to have branched out a little. One lady proudly shows me a piece of work featuring a pussycat in a rather soppy bow, together with a slightly scary looking crocodile.
And what is the creature at the bottom? “Es kangaroo”, says the native lady proudly. Not entirely native to Chiapas – goodness knows where she has seen one of those. Perhaps they have been showing reruns of Skippy?
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