Category Archives: Mexico

Tepoztlan

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Blue Beal and amethyst

Blue Bear rests in a giant amethyst

While visiting Cuernavaca, a group of us decided to visit what was described as a “cute little town” up the mountain from the city. Not knowing exactly what we  were getting into, we drove halfway across town for lunch suitable for a vegan and stopped at a rock shop so our driver could show off his knowledge of geology, and arrived late in the afternoon at the “cute little town” (ancient  – all narrow cobblestone streets with the usual picturesque zocolo in the middle) at the base of a spectacular mountain glowing in the setting sun.

Tepoztlan, Mexico

Tepoztlan, turns out to be the location of a pre-Spanish pyramid on the mountain and a center for the largest Rastafarian/Hippie village I have seen since the 1960s. Something to do with that pyramid, I suppose.

Since the sun was already setting, we were not allowed to climb the mountain and view the ruins so we did  the next best thing. We browsed the junk (most imported from India) in the market stalls that lined the zocolo, snacked on jicama, vegan bread, toasted grasshoppers (ICK!) etc., and bought postcards.  The ex-convent/museum (there seem to be a lot of those in Mexico) was filled with artifacts from the indigenous cultures who lived here centuries ago. Though many similarities to other archeological sites, each has its own uniqueness as well. Always interesting.

We all agreed that we would like to come again, on a weekday, when we can climb the mountain, examine the ruins, get a great overview of this cute little town, and avoid most of the modern, hippie culture on the main street.

Friends at Tepoztlan, Mexico

Jill, Vanessa, Amarani, Emanuel, & Dan

Care to join us?

I just want to be understood

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Please pardon my silence the last couple weeks. I have been traveling and exploring and either had an unreliable Internet connection or no energy to write. Let me catch  you up on the highlights.

Having been in Mexico, pretty much “en todo espanol” (total Spanish) for a month, it was time to give my brain a break. Though I can speak a little Spanish — more all the time, I just wanted to truly be understood for a change.

Friends in Cuernavaca, Mexico

Bob and Kathy

So I boarded a bus to Cuernavaca (the city of eternal spring) somewhat South and West of Mexico City where I stayed with Bob and Kathy, a lovely Witness couple from Colorado, who shared their home, the challenges and joys of retiring in Mexico and their fabulous, gluten free brownies (and recipe) with me.

Cuernavaca, about 45 minutes from Mexico City has become almost a bedroom community, definitely a weekend retreat from the noise, pollution, and crime of the BIG city up the road. Mexico City residents also come for the cooler temperatures and after the big earthquake a few years ago, a sense of safety. What was once a naturally air-conditioned weekend get-away or a mecca for Americans wanting to learn Spanish, is now a sprawling megalopolis of its own filled with all the trappings of both Mexican and American life (Walmart or Costco anyone?).

Like most Mexican towns, the city fans out from the zocolo, this time instead of being dominated by the church though, it is bordered by the Palace of Cortez, itself a sprawling 1500s structure that now houses a museum, and a municipal building almost as large.

Palace of Cortez
Municipal building & Zocolo

The zocolo itself is simply a stone plaza with a few benches and trees around it. As typical, artisaninas (crafts people) and food vendors of every description hawk their wares and try to get a few pesos out of you. On weekends you might be treated to a clown performing loudly in this open space, or the opposite, a mute floating angel.

Clowns
Floating angel
Artisan Market

There is a lovely artisans market next to the palace with some nice Mexican souvenir options, but to me the most interesting and lovely sight can be found in the “little zocolo” to the side of the main one, where a kiosk (gazebo) designed by Gustave Eiffel (of Eiffel Tower fame) and carried to this location in pieces by mule, adds a bit of early 19th century whimsy and grandeur.

“Little Zocolo”
Eiffel designed kiosk

The city is built on a succession of barrancas , steep ravines which help to channel water (abundant here) and cool the climate. A highlight is Salto de San Anton, a waterfall, near the center of town, that cascades about 150 feet into a pool exposing some pretty cool rock formations in the process. I am not sure if it was that we were there on a weekday or some other  reason but we were not allowed to walk either the path that goes under the falls or over the top. As we walked along the street looking for a view from the top, a nursery owner who uses the cool moisture of the falls to benefit his plants, allowed us to come into his garden for a peek. Not the best view of the falls but to be allowed to walk around his garden area was muy magnifico, like a small botanical garden.  Actually their are many plant growers and sellers here and the street was filled with green and flowering plants of all kinds. And imagine it is only mid-January!!! Back home the seed catalogs have not even arrived yet.

Blue Bear at Salto de San Anton
Pool below waterfall, Salto de San Anton
Rock formation, Salto de San Anton
lily pond
Azaleas

Bob and Kathy live at the end of one of the barrancas (or I think it was a small one). They rent a cute little Mexican cottage, likely built in the 40s or early 50s as income property (housing Spanish language students), in a garden setting that is sunny, yet cool and quiet  (a nice escape from the big city out the gate and down the street a few blocks. The cottage has been added onto a few times as every room and even the middle of some rooms go up or down a step or two. Very quaint and cozy though.

Throne room

I especially liked the guest 1/2 bath — a true “throne room” — just watch your head when you rise your majesty, the ceiling rafters are only about 4 1/2 feet above the throne!

I am afraid I asked a million questions and probably talked their ear off but it was so nice to be truly understood.

Break time, Cuernavaca service group

Break time, Cuernavaca service group

It may not be the end of the world but…

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The superintendiente (CO) is in town so that has meant many travels visiting people in their homes. Between mountain climbing in Tetipac, and Indiana Jonesing it in Dolores, I have had my share of adventures right here in Taxco.

Taxco, MexicoTaxco is built on several mountains, and I can safely say that, with the exception of the zocolo, a small park area in the middle of town, if you are not climbing up, you are headed down.

Houses are perched on the side of a steep hillsides. Sometimes there are proper steps and other times, there is a dirt path to scramble up or down. And sometimes the dirt path, leads to a set of steps that for some reason adorns just part of the hillside (often the part in the middle.)

I have joked about needing to be part mountain goat when walking in some parts of town, and that was true of a recent day in service. We started at the bottom of town, walked up a not too steep hill, past the chickens and pigs, and headed out into the outer reaches where the cobblestones stop and the gravel road begins; but that was not the most challenging part of our day.

img_5923-qprOn our way back, we were going to visit Veronica. We came to a house set about 8-10 feet below the level of the road. There was no obvious way to get to this house, still, it was apparent that someone lived there. It was indicated to me that we should go down the hill, but how? Where?

Never fear, there is always a way. In this case, it was a few tumbled rocks, next to an unfinished building foundation, that led to a dirt path with a trickle of water running down the middle. Now how was I supposed to know that this was the callejon (little street, aka alley) and not a drainage path???? I followed Sarah and our Mexican companion and picked my way down the path, thinking we were going to the house, but noooooo! we walked right by, and then it really got interesting.

Friends on dirt path

Tame compared to where I was walking.

The path beyond the house dropped steeply down the mountainside. Now a mountain goat I am not, but believe me I needed to be as this path, all twelve inches wide of it, winds steeply, like the roads, down the hillside, with plants, most of which have some sort of burr or thorn, grabbing at you from both sides. There were rocks in places, giving some footing in the loose soil, which cascaded down the hill as we walked; tree branches and even a discarded tire or two formed make shift steps along the way.

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Veronica & Luis Angel

 

Down, down, down we went, step by slow, careful step, when suddenly we came to a set of stairs. Oh good I thought, when just as suddenly as they started, they ended 50 feet (and one house) later at a 4-foot high platform which we had to scramble around, hands in the weeds, to get back to the path.  After descending probably 300 yards  in this fashion, we came to the house.  Veronica, her husband, and 6 month old son live in one room – about 12 x 12 or so – in a 3 room house probably shared with one or the other set of parents.

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There is a small plastic table with a few plastic chairs, a two burner gas cook top and a small refrigerator, plus a dresser, double bed, and a mattress on the floor where she sits pulling a cord that rocks the baby suspended in a makeshift cradle (created with a blanket wrapped around a couple of ropes and secured with clothes pins. ) The mattress, covering most of the floor, is not only where Veronica and her husband sleep, the double bed serving as a changing area for the baby, is also a safety measure in case the baby falls out of the cradle. (Think about this family the next time you complain about what you do not have.)

When it was time to go, we stepped over the dog and scrambled up the dirt path with the rocks and sticks, around the base of the stairs to nowhere, climbing the hillside, up and up, over the old tires, until finally, all weak knees and out of breath (at least me) we reached the road at the top. I can’t imagine carrying a baby or groceries up or down this way, but they do.

Later, our Mexican companion confided to Vanessa that she was worried about me the whole time. “What would I tell the brothers if I broke her?” she said.

Today, I had the opportunity to view the path from a house across the way. Doesn’t look so bad from there!

 

Street Signs

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Taxco is not a small town, yet it is small enough that the residents (the permanent ones anyway) seem to know everyone. There are no traffic lights in Taxco, though there are traffic police that stop traffic on busy roads so pedestrians can cross. Other than that, it is pretty much a first come, first go philosophy, or the typical Mexican attitude of if you can squeeze your car into the space, do so. Add that to the general steepness of the terrain and as you can imagine this philosophy comes with a lot of horn honking and occasionally (amazing really how rarely), scraped paint,  broken lights, and shouting.

img_5684-qprBut having no traffic lights does not mean that there are no street signs. This being a colonial town, with the exception of the main highways into and through town, the streets are as they have been for centuries made of cobblestone.The road builders, set each stone by hand, and sometimes, using the three colors available (black, white, and red) take the opportunity to add some creative variety to their jobs by placing a pattern into the pavers.

img_5606-qprThere are the typical white lines down the middle, supposedly the line demarks two lanes but usually they serve more as a guide for one car, as if it could not get around the bend without straddling the line.

Other times, the lines form patterns — leaves, geometrics, even intricate pictures  in stone outside businesses or in the plazuelas.

Here are a few of my favorite street signs. enjoy the show.

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Experiences — Cerro Gordo and beyond

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Blue Bear and SarahLast Week I was mountain climbing in Tetipak. This week I went with Sarah on a short combi ride from Taxco to Cerro Gordo, where you can see for miles and miles. My friends and I visited a pretty pair of towns separated by a surprisingly clean, babbling river that cascades over rocks and 3-4 foot  falls (at least this time of year) here and there.

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My companion and guide, Jorge’ (call me George), pointed to the mountain in the distance where the spring-fed source of the river could be clearly seen cascading in an arch, hundreds of feet high.(Look closely and you will see the white streak on the top right side of the closest mountain.)  No wonder the water was so clean!Mountains outside Ijide, Mexico

As with other twin cities, one seems to be filled with grande casas (houses) and rancheros, while the other seems to provide the workers and services.

I thought a herd of cattle in the middle of town was  interesting.

(They were apathetic though.)

And then there was the stream that ran across the main road and tumbled down a pretty little waterfall. Careful, don’t get your feet wet.

There was even a bridge over the river reminiscent of an Indiana Jones movie, complete with missing slats but minus the deep chasm below.

Rope & slat bridge, Ijide, MexicoOf all the little off-the-beaten-path places I have been this trip, this was by far my favorite. The streets and callejons were broad, the ups and downs not so steep, the abundance of flowers and greenery refreshing, and the cascading water provided musica naturale — ahhhhhh, a little taste of paradise.

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