Tapalpa/Our last few days in Mexico

With our time (and money!) in Mexico quickly running out, we decided to make one final trip with some friends to the nearby Pueblo Magico: Tapalpa. The Mexican Tourism Bureau has complied a list (here) of particularly charming towns throughout the country that are considered worth a visit and Tapalpa made the cut. Another one close to Guadalajara is the town of Tequila, which I guess we will be saving for our next visit to Mexico (hopefully soon!) because we ran out of time (and money). We left the city Saturday afternoon with Moises and his girlfriend Alba, and made the hour and a half trip up into the hills. We lucked out when Moises's sister, Edith (who knew that was a popular Mexican name?!) offered her boyfriend's family's (whoa) vacation home for us to spend the night. Moy also mentioned that he might want to stop in nearby Sayula on the way back to visit an old friend who owns a boutique hotel there, so we were able to kill two birds with one stone. After traveling up a very curvy road (and several donkey sightings!), we arrived in the small town in the late afternoon and unpacked our things. When I say small, I mean that it's the kind of town where people stare at anyone who drives by, mostly out of curiousity/boredom, but also because it's REALLY likely they might know them.

Donkey sighting

The house was adorable and decorated in what Alba called "a very traditional Mexican style". It seemed like no one had visited in the last couple weeks so we dusted and swept a little before grabbing a jacket (the air was quite cool even at this time of day) and setting out to check out "Los Piedrotas".

view down into the living room from the top of the spiral staircase

upstairs loft

Los Piedrotas are basically enormous rocks plopped down in the middle of a valley. I'm still unsure of how or why they're there, but it made for some decent entertainment, since Moises and Danny treated it like they're personal jungle gym.

Los Piedrotas

We explored the area a bit and took in the view.

The terrain looked a little dry (due to it being dry season and all), but the view was still pretty great.

I even found a cactus tree to play with

After jumping around on the rocks, we'd worked up quite an appetite, so we headed back in to town for food and to pick up some groceries.

The small town is quite charming, especially at night and because it was a Saturday, lots of people were walking around. There was even a large inflatable screen in the square showing, what appeared to be, some sort of promotional film (some might call it propaganda) for a local politician.

We walked around for a bit, and bought tamales from a street vendor. They had tons of meat-filled options, but since I've been doing the vegetarian thing for about a month now, I opted for the Tamales con Acelgas, which Alba told me was pretty similar to spinach. The woman selling tamales took two out of the warmer, covered them in sour cream and queso cotija (crumbly goat cheese that ALWAYS comes on refried beans) and we ate them while we sat in the square.

Moises with his tamales

We went into a nearby bakery and Alba bought some cookies to take back to her family. We sat for awhile outside of a restaurant and listened to the mariachis play while Alba sang along. We talked about what a strange feeling it was, to be sitting in the small town in Mexico, listening to authentic mariachis, knowing that in two days we would be back in the States with our families and friends.

As it started to cool down even more, we headed back to the house to light a fire and enjoy some red wine and s'mores.

I even played a little guitar

We finally let the fire die down and we all headed to bed, agreeing we would have breakfast in the morning and then make the hike to the waterfalls outside of town.

We woke up, packed our things and cleaned up a bit. We ate breakfast in town overlooking the square. Danny ordered Carne a la Mexicana, Moy got the Chilaquiles (note the queso cotija atop his beans):

Alba ordered Molletes con Chorizo. Pretty diverse and typical Mexican breakfast food. I would include a photo of my Huevos a la Mexicana (eggs with tomato and serrano chiles mixed in), buuuuut I MIGHT have eaten it too quickly to document.

Molletes

After breakfast, we all got into the car and headed out to the waterfalls, stopping to ask about 11 times if we were heading in the right direction. The locals were EXTREMELY helpful, sometimes even repeating the directions several times just to make sure we understood. We took the dusty road up into the hills, seeing several interesting sights along the way

like these guys

and more donkeys. this one seemed to be just sort of wandering around unattended

Did I mention it was really dusty???

We finally arrived at the spot where you park and begun the hike down to the falls. I felt pretty hydrated so I ignored the people at the top selling water and fresh fruit (mistake) and we plunged forward. The steep and rocky incline was pretty tough, and we made our way down slowly and carefully like little billygoats.

 It was fairly warm out and I'd packed my bathing suit, so I was really looking forward to a refreshing dip in the falls after braving the 90 degree heat (also a mistake). We arrived at the first set of falls and took it all in.

Notice no one swimming? Not a great sign

Alba had been to this spot before, and she told us there was an even bigger waterfall not far from where we were so we walked over to check it out.

Impressive.

The photo above is me testing the waters to see if it was fit for swimming. Short answer: it wasn't. Somehow, the water was so cold that when you put your feet in for longer than a few seconds it actually HURT. However, we still gave it a try and sat on the rocks to sun ourselves like iguanas and rest before the hike back up the mountain. 

You know it's gonna be a rough hike up when on the way DOWN you keep saying, "Man the trip up is gonna be TERRIBLE." And it was. Danny and I, being the competitive Americans that we are powered up the hills ahead of Moy and Alba. At one point we passed a doubled-over woman who sounded like she was either dying, or throwing up, or both. It looked like she was seriously regretting her chilaquiles. With what I like to think of as an amazingly tiny amount of whining on my part we finally reached the top and I proceeded to buy one very large, VERY reasonably priced, bottle of water. Danny enjoyed a bag of potato chips doused in hot sauce and i woofed down some fresh watermelon while we waited for the rest of our group.

Youuuuu might be a redneck...

We grabbed a quick dinner in town and then drove down the mountain to Sayula, which is basically located directly below Tapalpa at the base of the hill. Moy's friend opened Gran Casa Sayula, a small boutique hotel, about a year ago and has been asking him to come check it out ever since. We pulled up and all of our jaws dropped. The place was GORGEOUS. Honestly, it's one of the nicest and most charming hotels I've ever seen and if you or someone you know is within a 200 mile radius, GO THERE. Here's the website: http://www.grancasasayula.com/

After a brief tour and history of the building, we sat and enjoyed some cocktails by the pool, regretting that we'd already eaten because the menu looked terrific and we were offered whatever we'd like. 

Downtown Sayula, getting a tour of the grounds

Cocktail hour: a Sayula Sunset

We even got to try some Raicilla, which no one, including Moy and Alba had ever heard of. It's similar to tequila but the flavor is much more smokey and instead of coming from the typical agave plant, it's made from lechugilla which grows wild. It sounded pretty similar to moonshine, but tasted MUCH better.

We reluctantly left after we realized it was already 10pm and we had a long journey back. We got back to Guadalajara and dropped Alba off at her place, saying our final goodbyes in case we don't see her again before we leave tomorrow morning. 

Speaking of leaving, I've been pretty much packed for about five days now. Danny just started this morning and we have to leave for the airport by 6:30 am tomorrow morning. As we speak, he is about 3/4 of the way finished with the packing process and it's looking like it might be possible. We REALLY want to avoid checking/paying for a third bag if at all possible. When we arrived in Mexico, Danny's bags were pretty much at capacity and we have both since done quite a bit of shopping, so we will see how it all goes. We're having our last meal tonight at Pig's Pearls with some friends and then maybe having one last tequila in El Centro at a famous cantina called La Fuente. We've both had an awesome time here, but we are ready for the next adventure. This will be our last post from Mexico...at least for awhile...Sallie in a Sombrero signing off!

This place is a zoo!

Me with my favorite animals right outside the entrance to the zoo

With only a little over two weeks left in Mexico, Danny and I are attempting to cross off a few remaining activities on our bucket list. Yesterday, we spent the day at the Guadalajara Zoo, doing just that. Since we are both huge animal lovers (and I had heard you could hand-feed giraffes!) we figured it would be a great way to spend a Friday. Moizes bought a new car while we were gone over the Semana Santa holiday, and ever since he's been offering to chauffer us around whenever we need to get somewhere that's not walkable. It's MUCH more pleasant than a smelly taxi ride where you usually end up having to haggle with a less than amiable taxista for an unfair fare (see what I did there?).

We arrived around 10 am right when the zoo opened and bought the "paquete completa" for 145 pesos, which gave us access to all parts of the complex including the safari (we fed carrots to giraffes!) and the aquarium (jellies and a shark tunnel!). Moizes warned us to get on the train as soon as possible to take you around the zoo because it fills up quickly and the zoo is quite difficult to walk in its entirety. However, after reviewing the map, we realized we could just take the train to the far end and make our way back to the entrance, stopping along the way to oogle the animals. The train ride was actually pretty awesome because the train tracks wind through, or atleast close to, several major animal exhibits and you could get a really close view of the animals as well as figure out which ones were a "must-see". As we exited the train at the final train station, this gorgeous view greeted us:

Hello beautiful!

The land on which the zoo is located has a beautiful view of the canyon and I would have gladly paid 145 pesos just to see this alone. After taking in all the beauty we could stand, we headed off to see all the lions, tigers and bears.

White lion (I think the sign said 1 of only 25 in captivity, but who really knows)

Walking around the zoo wasn't too bad because, unlike the zoo in Asheboro, NC near where I grew up, there are animals to see every hundred yards.

Like this white tiger.

 They're also kept in smaller (but big enough) areas so that you can actually, ya know, see them instead of staring out into a large field squnting to catch a glimpse of an antelope. Luckily, we were there during the cooler part of the day, so the heat wasn't too bad either. Most of the animals seemed to be taking it easy in the shade and weren't super active, but still really fascinating to see up close. I'm not sure if it is due to the time of year, but a lot of the animals (the monkeys especially) had babies and it was fun to watch them playing with/pestering their parents. There were also random gorgeous peacocks roaming the grounds and Danny snapped a few candids of this guy while we were in the rainforest area:

Did you think this was gonna be a white bear?

After the rainforest animals, we started to make our way towards the entrance for the safari ride. After waiting several minutes in line, a huge zebra-striped jeep/truck/safari-mobile pulled up and about 30 of us hopped aboard. The man running the tour (who was dressed in what one can only assume was the zoo's idea of authentic Masai garb) passed out handfuls of raw carrot to everyone. The safari journey made it's way through a make-shift African plain. 

Sweet Harry Potter hat, nerd. 

They had ostriches, rhinos, zebras, and antelope all hanging out together in one large area. The truck passed by in close proximity to the animals and they seemed pretty unaffected by our presence. That is, until we entered the giraffe area. As soon as the truck neared the giraffes, one very large giraffe instantly recognized what was about to happen (I guess once something happens about 30 times each day, they catch on) and started almost trotting toward the truck. Ofcourse, all of the passengers went crazy and started holding their carrot-filled hands out to the giraffe's mouth. 

Me included.

Danny gave me his carrots, insisting it was way more fun to watch the look on my face as I fed him. He was quite "toothy" 

After the safari, we decided to check out "Monkey Land" which was pretty much every bit amazing as it sounds. Each group of visitors entered inside a large area surrounded by nets. As you entered one door, the other was closed behind you to keep the monkeys in. They had lemurs (with three little babies hopping around!) as well as baboons and squirrel monkeys.

The squirrel monkeys were by far the most entertaining as they had a little rope obstacle course in their area and they had no fear of humans. They even jumped on the rails to get closer to us and some people even held their arms out for the monkeys to climb on (I overheard a zoo worker saying that if they got bit, it was their own problem).

Might've been this guy.

I can haz?

Danny and I both agreed to have one as a pet one day and it was clear he could have spent hours in Monkey Land. And I could have spent hours watching him spend hours in Monkey Land. 

Who's a happy guy?

Afterwards, we checked out the aquarium which was small, but a nice bonus considering it was included with our package. We petted some manta rays and then walked inside to check out the fishies.

They even had one of those cool water tunnels you could walk through while little sharks and tropical fish swam overhead. Neato. If you're ever in Guadalajara and have some free time on your hands, the zoo is worth checking out. I'd go back just to touch the monkeys again. But maybe that's just me. Hopefully next weekend we will make a day-trip to Tequila to visit some distilleries.

Hasta la proxima!

A Little Jaunt in the Yucatan...

...or maybe it's more accurate to say 8 insane days criss-crossing all over Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Isla Cozumel! We managed to keep it cheap by buying tickets way in advance and staying in 12$/night hostels. The occasion was Semana Santa, or the Catholic holy week, celebrated all over Latin America and parts of Europe. During this time EVERYBODY is on vacation so it is literally impossible to find any accommodations in coastal towns unless you book way in advance. Luckily Sallie had the foresight to get plans started in early February. Two friends from my business program, Utsav and Anosh, were also able to join and I'll forever be indebted to them for teaching me how to manage a moped (more on this to come). Anyhow, as many of our Mexican friends told us beforehand, Cancun definitely won the prize for prettiest beaches. 

Baaaammm!  (Click ^ = bigger) 

So the first day in Cancun we found the public beach access sidewalk, immediately cut across the beach, and plopped down right in front of the RIU Palace, one of the 50-some 5-starrers in the area. I must admit it was a tad amusing to see the looks the faces of the people around us when they realized they DIDN'T have to spend three hundy a night to lounge on the those beautiful beaches. 

The water in this area stayed knee deep over 200 meters out with zero waves. Get! Outta! Here!

But after 2 nights in Cancun we were pretty ready to take off. Besides the beaches and giant clubs there is surprisingly little to see. We were staying in the downtown area which felt like a small Mexican town, with little cuisine outside of the native Mexican and few bars and areas of interest. We decided that Cancun is mainly for Spring-breakers and people looking to stay put at luxury hotels. The following morning we hopped on a bus for the hour drive to Playa del Carmen. Tickets were 45 pesos a pop, or around $3.50 USD. 

When we arrived we found the town much more to our liking. The beaches were still outstanding and you didn't need a hotel wristband to join in one of the beach soccer or volleyball games that are always popping up.

Sallie trying her best to look grumpy after I woke her up from a long beach nap.

The nex day we made it to Tulum, a historic area with ruins right on the coast. Gotta love flute-playing colorful dudes way up on top of a giant pole. Why not, right?  http://youtu.be/19ILtzlr8So

And it was super cool of them to let people swim in the ocean below the ruins.

Also managed to find some killer Indian. Place was called Curry Omm for those thinking of visiting.

After 3 days in PDC we were still sad to be leaving. Luckily our last night of the trip was still unbooked and we managed to convince the hostel to squeeze us in. Thus we took a 20-30 min ferry to Isla Cozumel. A sleeply little island in the Carribean. You can actually get a great view of the island from a cool rooftop bar called Azotea Lounge on 5a, in PDC.

Nicest hostel of our trip, Amigos Hostel. The owner, Kathy, was super helpful.

Bright and early the next day we rented mopeds to save on taxis (the island is surpisingly big, at 10 miles across and 25 wide). We had heard the Cozumel was the best place to snorkel so we headed South along the coast until we found a spot recommended by Kathy. Utsav and I especially were looking forward to this and it ended up being even cooler than anticipated. It turns out that you can snorkel almost anywhere on the West coast. All you need is a mask and some flippers and you're soon chasing around schools of colorful funny fish and watching a crazy underwater drama unfold as all the sea fans, blow-fish, crabs, and unknown creatures try to stake their territory. The Little Mermaid would not have been at all out of place there and after swimming behind a long barracuda for a while I wouldn't have been surprised if she turned up. Sadly, we didn't think to buy underwater cameras so all you have to go on is my not so fanciful description. Did I mention all the animals were singing 'Under the Sea'? 

Aww... best friends forever!

Preach it!

Followed a random path off the side of the road to find another fly snorkel spot.

There's mucho fire dancing at night in the main square. All of the dancers were very talented and I can say that with confidence. After 3.5 months in Mexico I've seen a crazy amount.

Morning ride to the East side of the island. The waves were monster.

Hmm, can't quite put my finger on it...

The island was perfect for just taking it easy after all our tramping around on the mainland. Here's a clip from our fairy ride back to PDC:  http://youtu.be/Fu1hRg_9dlg

                                           

The trip was undoubtedly an adventure I will remember for years and likely the longest such vacation I will have time to take for a while. I can also say that none of it would have been worthwhile without the outstanding people that came along with me for the ride. In particular, I have a great deal of gratitude and love for my wonderful girlfriend and traveling companion, who without fail has always been there to make my life easier so that I can finish my work in high spirits and then head out again with her to see what other new things lie-in-wait out there in the universe.

This one.