Mexico - Day 3

This day started a little before seven since our ride was going to be here at 7:30. After we ate breakfast we sat arounding waiting....until about 9:00. I was able to squeeze in a small nap, considering I did not sleep well the night before. The sounds in Mexico during the night time have been difficult for me to get used to. And I also woke up in the middle of the night with stomache pain. Something I ate the previous day was not agree with me. I was able to choke down some pepto bismol chew tablets (they taste just like chalk), but I did not start feeling any relief until the afternoon. These first 3 photos were along our way to Taxco. During the spring and summer months it is very green.

We drove for about an hour before we made our stop at a spa in Ixtapan. There is a good chance we will be coming back another day to enjoy a massage and maybe a facial or something. Pedro wanted us to look at it and see if it was anything we were interested in....well of course! I have always wanted a massage and it looks like I am going to be getting on at a decent price :) We got back in the car and headed to the caves in Cacahuampila.

This cave was pretty cool! Throughout the tour they were pointing out what they though certain formations looked like. What I want to know is who did they send down there to figure all that out? At one point in the tour, a place for concerts was set up which had permanent seating for 400 and they bring in removable chairs for about 400 more. I can only imagine the sound that is produced down there. The whole walk in and out was about 2.4 miles. They have made a trail, but it is not completely even and when you get to the end there are stairs....lots and lots of stairs. This is when I found out that my left knee was not feeling very well. By the time we got out I felt like a gimp. Although going up was a lot less painful than going down. The following photos are some taken while at the caves.

at the entrance to the cave

Us with Pedrito and Gaby

Jared at the entrance

Nativity

Looks almost like a way out, but is not.

Rocks that form the next photo.

"The Two Lovers"

-created by shadows of the rocks-

A bird head

"The Elephant"

-left center on the bottom-

"Praying Child"

-shadow on wall-

"Chinese Tower"

This is a group of ladies bums mooning you :)

(that is what the tour guide said)

This is some teeth. It will look good on Jared`s office wall someday.

Not sure.

"Give me gum-gum dumb-dumb"

Jared and Pedrito

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

Gorilla

Champaign or beer bottle

-the end of the road-

Coming out of the cave

Pedro, Maricela, Pedrito, and Gaby

Part of trail to cave

Taxco (tasco)

Our next stop was Taxco....a silver mining town. The first thing I noticed was how much warmer it was. The temp was 80 degrees when we got there. I have since found out that Toluca (the place we are staying) is one of the colder areas of Mexico, but is still warmer than what we are used to. The street in Taxco are narrow, just like every where else, but the pueblo is built on a hill so you are climbing or descending everywhere you go. We took a quick stop at a part of an old mine and looked at some of their jewelry. The prices were good compared to here, but we were going to find better prices in the middle of town. We had to take a stop at the bank to exchange our currency, so why Maricela and Jared did that I walked around the main town square with Pedro and Gaby. Everyone wanted us to buy something from them. That is one thing I did not forget about when I went to Ensenada back in high school. They finished up and we headed through a bunch of little shops, down, down, down to where our final stop was. It was narrow and people were everywhere. We made it to our desination, found some things we liked and then headed back up to the town square and back down the other side to where the car was parked.

One of the many streets

Cathedral in Taxco

(a rich guy in town had it made for his son while he was away learning to be a priest)

Picture up the hill of the pueblo

(Taken from the town square)

It was a lot of up and down and my knee was not liking me very much. The up portion was a little better than the down. Taxco was a very fun town! I think I would enjoy living in a spot like that. One problem I might have is how devoted they are to their catholic religion. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that, they just take it to the extreme. If you are interested, ask what they do during holy week.

We got back in the car and started our long drive home. I fell asleep eventhough the roads had lots of curves, which made me nervous at times. It was better for me just to close my eyes and sleep. We stopped in a town about and hour outside Toluca for some food. Pedrito was sleeping very sounding so the owners of the resturant let Pedro park the car in their driveway so Pedrito could stay in the car and sleep. Our meal was very good! It was interupted when part of the ceiling fell into Maricela`s dinner. Nothing too traumatic, just surprised everyone. We jumped back in the car and headed to our beds. We were all exhausted. I don`t remember much about getting ready for bed.