An adventurous day

Wednesday, February 25


At the suggestion from several people we decide to make a day trip to Tepalpa.
With map in hand we leave early so wee can see as much as possible and still be home before dark.
After heading north towards Guadalajara we need to turn south direction Guzman. We decide to take the back road into the mountains.
We climb higher and higher through some pretty nice country.
There aren’t very many villages and after an hour driving, we are delighted to see a sign that directs us to Atemajac de Brizuela. We have no idea what to expect and continue to climb up the tiny cobblestone road and stop to take in the fantastic view. We park the car and walk, or rather climb our way up even higher. We pass some very old buildings and neat little stores. This town has a lot of character. It is ancient with it’s old adobe houses and some colonial style structures. As we continue to walk, we smell freshly baked bread and Ramiro follows his nose to buy some pastry at the little bakery. The living quarters are in the back, as in many of these places. Often, the men go to work in the field or in the city and the women run a little business in which their children or mothers often get involved in as well.
Once we reach the square the market is already in full swing. Fresh orange juice is made while you wait. Other items offered are bread and fresh cheese.
As on most squares there are always a few men sitting around. I like to know how Ramiro fits in that picture and ask permission to take a picture with Ramiro in it. The three men do not hesitate to make room for him and soon an interesting conversation starts. Because not many visitors come to this town at an altitude of 2,600 meters. The men are just as curious about us as we are about them. We learn a lot from each other. The older of the three men is obviously retired and wants to learn English. We teach him a few words, but he forgets quickly. His young looking nephew, tells us that he is the judge and should be at work at this time. But he rather takes part in the conversation. For the third man it is no issue to sit here all day, most of his work on the ranch has already been done.
They are not all that surprised when we tell them how cold it is in Alberta. “Up here in the mountains, it is not unusual for the temperature to drop to 10 below zero in December. In June the rains start and the entire town is one big mud slide. Other than farming, there is not much else a person can do to make a living up here. So many man go to Guadalajara during the week to work and come home for the weekend only. That’s when it gets busy in this town of 1500 inhabitants. The town also draws from the surrounding ranches and on the weekend it can get pretty busy here, especially in the bar.

As much as we enjoy the conversation, it is time to move on. After a warm handshake from all man we continue our adventure south direction Tapalpa and are surprised by the chance of scenery. It almost looks like British Columbia with all these evergreen trees. Later we learn that this area, which has many recreation areas where cabins can be rented, is called the Mexican Alps.
Wherever there is a flat spot with no trees, there is a ranch with lots of cattle.
It is very dry here at this time of year and the only green we see is that of the evergreens.
tappaah is another surprise. The lumber from this are is put to good use and almost all commercial buildings have the portales in front with beautiful wooden posts. The balconies on the top have a certain Swiss look to them. The roofs are all covered with red shingles. and most of the houses are painted white.
Tourism is obvious with the many souvenir shops and restaurants.
Where ever there is an open door we want to snoop around. sometimes realizing we enter a private residence. There is a cute, very colourful hotel in town. We sneak into one of the rooms, when we see the door open. Old, but cute. The lady tells us that after this week the price of a room will be 25% less.

We buy a few small pots we plan to hang in our new entrance at home. We give in on our long time anti-souvenir policy and buy a small framed plaque with the Mayan horoscope for each of us.
Lunch is not served until two o’clock, but we are hungry. We order a drink and watch the activities on the square. Time goes by quickly and before we know it lunch sits in front of our nose.
We want to see more and rather than turning east to catch the road back home we decided to take one of the smaller roads further south. We have no idea where we will end up and there are no directional signs anywhere. When we ask for directions to Punta de Aqua, which we only know from the dot on the map, we are told, that this is not a town, but a ranch. Well, we want to go there anyway.
Dust is flying around as we swerve to avoid the many rocks and holes in the road. We wonder if the bottom of the car will fall out now or later. But we’re having a great time.
We have to ask for direction several times and usual hear, straight ahead. But what does than mean if there is a T in the road. We use our instinct and after half an hour on the road through hell we are surprised by a beautiful lake right in the middle of desert.
We understand now why the man said “it’s only a ranch”. At one time this area was a very prosperous farming community. There is little left of the adobe homes, they are ruins. In time these will fade away. This place should be a heritage site. There is no write up about it anywhere. It will disappear in history with little or no record.
The bull ring is the most primitive I have ever seen. The church is the only building which looks half decent. It must have some Government money in it, like all other churches. An old women carrying a large key, approaches the church. We ask her all kinds of questions, but she does not know much, other than that there are still about 50 families living here, and they all come together on Sunday, like one big family. I want to ask her if we can see the church, but our conversation turns another direction and I forget. We really like to stay longer and walk around, but we are afraid of the dark and after continuing south for another 10 km, which takes us almost an hour we turn back north again.

As we arrive home, Louise and Jerome welcome us. “We need to celebrate our new rental home here in Jocotepec with Champagne. Please join us”. We are very happy for them. They will now live here full time. While Jerome finishes cooking his chicken on the BBQ, we suggest they join us with their chicken and I cook upthe artichokes we bought the other day. It will be dinner inside though, because as soon as it gets dark the mosquitos come out and they are nasty.
We have a wonderful evening together. There is only a tiny bit of the Dutch Advokaat left and Louise really wanted to taste it. Later Jerome, who is a computer buff, makes an attempt to improve the internet connection. We are succesful for two minutes and it goes down again.