Tepoztlan

Thursday, August 2

We do not have far to drive today. Just have a couple of hours drive to Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico. It is a beautiful town surrounded by bizarrely shaped mountains, like carved cliffs. It is sort of a magical mountain hideway. It is a town of artists and New Age types. It kind of - Gabriola meets Banff meets Mexico. 

We had set our Google Maps to the Posada Ali because we read this hotel was reasonably priced in a town of pricey accommodation. People come here from Mexico City to unwind and relax so some lodging prices are high. The choice of accommodations here ranges from Vacation House rentals, to expensive hotels, to Hospedijaes (hostels with shared bathrooms).

The streets here are cobblestone. Many streets are on hills and the streets are not really set out in a grid pattern.  After parking we will leave Pepe the van at the Posada and walk around town. Los Colorines for lunch.

We had the best ice cream and walked around an artist market. The ice cream it turns out is from a national chain that started in Tepoztlan called TepozNieves

We visited the Ex-Convento of Dominico de la Navidad - well preserved frescos were on many walls and ceilings (the best we have seen). The restored convent was host to what we guessed was an archeological conference. 

We went out for supper at a restaurant with rave reviews from our travel books. When we arrived it just had started to get dark, but we did see that "Axitla"was set in a jungle like garden beside a creek.  It was decorated in full Mexican style.  The food was superb as the guidebooks stated. We met the owner, an English speaking man from Philadelphia, USA. We sat and had a drink of Mescal with him. While drinking William informed his father had just passed that day, Ken made a toast to old men. William moved the chat along to living locally and encouraged renting here. Another Canadian couple he knew moved around the area between Tepoztlan and Cuernavaca then back to Canada. He also mentioned the town with no tourist services - Izucar, was locally referred to as armpit.

Friday, August 3

Today was spent wandering the area and eating ice cream for a treat.

Saturday, August 4

We woke up feeling refreshed, although Ken still has somekind of lung disturbance. He is coughing lots when lying down. Tepoztlan still seems quite mysterious to us so we will walk around the town and to where, potentially there is camping. Once out of the downtown the immediate scenery is gorgeous - lush fields, plants grown at home on the inside, grow like weeds here, many stone fences, etc. Once we find the creek we also find a switch back type stone path leading down to it. The cypress trees are huge and provide very welcome shade.

We came upon a little oasis in the style of a Swiss Chalet. It had an amazing garden. The gourmet selection of European goodies was amazing for a smallish Mexican town. We found the camping spot and walked back to town (a long hike). 

 

After lunch I toured the huge artesian market which took up both sides of a long main street plus spelling out up the other street also this was in addition to the regular market. It had East Indian treasures, knitting, embroidery, baskets,wooden ware, jewelry, tie dye, incense and other hippie gear. I bought another tapete.  A green wool hall runner for $700. pesos, a bargain for the hand woven work involved.

Sunday, August 5

Domingo, a day of rest, well sort of. We ate breakfast in our room even though at home we have a big breakfast often on Sunday.  We sat in the common area and blogged.  I actually got started on some of my own art work. Then is was time to check out but we could leave Pepe parked for an hour or so.

We ended up eating al the market - good food and cheap. I have no problem getting vegetarian food, especially in an area of great cheese. We had quesidillas and sopes on blue corn tortillas. We drove to the YMCA camping spot that we had walked to the day before. This particular spot Ken found on travel WiKi but it was not in the Church's"Mexican Camping". The park has over one hundred different trees along a trail around the park. We even saw a squirrel. We trekked back into town - ate more ice cream and roasted corn.

The weather was looking a bit like rain but we did not heed the warning signs. It started pouring rain. We huddled under a very useless feeling umbrella beside a high stone wall. A little off white coloured dog adopted us and followed the two of us and the umbrella. We think he was scared of the noise.The thunder was extremely loud and echoey in this area because of the cliff like mountains.

Working on the blog

Campsite for the rainy night