Tolantango at Last: Day One The River

Better prepared this time. Straight to the convi shuttle bus station after a very quick cold shower and I was on my way.

The ride down the valley is an adventure in itself. I was more than happy to have an experienced professional driver handle all those tight curves.

Lots of people drive their own cars. Just take those hairpin turns slowly.  Very slowly.
 

Yay!  I made it. I was all fixed up for 4 nights and 5 days with a room with a view in no time.

Holy smokes! This pool is warm.  It was sunny and warm but there was a cool breeze. I kept going to the river.

That river is bath water warm! I stayed in there for a long time.  This was the warmest I'd felt since leaving Huatulco.

The rocks are coated white with minerals.

         

I did my best to stay clear of the rocks. I was at the highest and warmest pool of all, the first after the danger zone of rapids above and the current was quite strong. You coulď get pretty banged up on the rocks there if you were pulled over.

At other pools further down, I saw people gingerly climbing over rocks to get from one pool to another. It could be done but definitely not at the top pool. I tried swimming upriver in the lower pools and it wasn't too hard. You could do laps that way. Swim up the length if the pool, let the current pull you back and start again.

There's my hotel room, way at the very top.

        

          

Such a great first day.

Getting lost en route to Ixmiquilpan

 Finding the Pachuca bus station is no problem if you know what you're doing. I didn't and still don't.  A convi from Real del Monte (familar turf) back to the big city, restock on cash before continuing to the bus station and onward to Ixmiquilpan and, ultimately, beautiful Totanlongo. Foolproof plan.

To be safe, I extracted the daily maximum from the ATM. It all came out in small biĺls, hundreds and fifties, a wad so thick my wallet couldn't hold it, let alone fold. Yikes. That was a conspicuous stack of notes to be travelling with to unknown places. I shoved most of it into my zip jacket pocket.

Now. Bus station. Find a convi or taxi and we're off.  I walked to another popular convi spot by the square with the big statue to ask around but there was no transportation of any kind there. The police had blocks and blocks of streets closed to traffic for some reason. Keep walking.

I came to one of the local city bus terminals Edgar had pointed out on the way in tiwn.  Closed. They were still cleaning up the broken glass and debris left behind by the riot girls of International Women's Day 2023.

Taxis were super scarce. No problem. I knew the direction. Or did I? Soon I was hiking along 8 lanes of seperated highway roads with multiple exit ramps and overpasses. I had no more confidence in my sense of direction.

Finally, a taxi! He didn't know why so many streets had been closed either.

Finally, rolling down the highway.  Glad I'd checked with the driver before storing the big backpack under the bus. The real bus was 15 minutes late. Who knows where my luggage would have ended up?  The driver of the real bus had me carry everything on board. What do you expect for 44 pesos? A bathroom?

Ixmiquilpan has a rather tiny bus terminal. Depending on which direction you're coming from, you might not see it all. My driver just pulled over to the side of the road. I'd asked him earlier if there was an actual terminal and he'd assured me there was so  I was still waiting  to see something like at Pachuca or Actopan well after Ixmiquilpan. There was another stop further on where he collected packages and shortly after that I finally realized I'd missed my stop.

The driver let me off on the side of the highway, at least minimizing the damage.

So there I was, in the middle of nowhere, wondering how far I had to walk back to town or at least find a bathroom. I had only walked 10 minutes when, out othe blue  local public transport rolled up over the hill. Saved again. A woman I had marched on by raised her hand and this little bus pulled right over. I followed her example and it worked for me too. Good thing too. I estimate from that ride I had been looking at a minimum of 2 hours or more of midday sun hiking with all my luggage

Found a cheap hotel quickly enough. Interesting place that has clearly seen better days. 

Looks like it was an amazing deluxe place back when it was new in the fifties or sixties. Now the pool is dry, the showers are cold, only about a third of the wide sweeping vinyl awning remains and the tvs don't pick up any stations. But the price was right, the feeling of an impending urban exploration adventure was quite intriguing and, as I soon learned, it was ideally situated to get on the bus to Totanlongo the following morning.

Time to wander Ixmiquilpan and figure out my next move.

I managed to get lost only once and a little backtracking set me straight again.

For sure Real del Monte was the birthplace of pastes.

This imposing church dominates the town.

I assumed this church was  Saint Antonio,  the one where the Tolantongo shuttles gather.  So glad I asked someone who knew. The real Saint Antonio was significantly smaller and near the market where I'd just stuffed myself with Barbacoa. More backtracking and I found it right away. Practically around the corner from my hotel.

Saint Antonio. This is the place, at a huge walled convi parking lot within sight of the church. Look for the sign that says Entrada. 

Next stop  Tolantongo

Getting Lost En Route to Huasca Ocampo

 

From Monte de Real to Huasca Ocampo is only 20 minutes, in theory. None of the convis stopped at the downtown station and a policeman told me to just walk out to the highway intersection.

I waved at the first convi to come by but that didn't work out. I thought he'd told me I had to walk to the intersection. This was an intersection, wasn't it?  But what did I know? Off I went, looking for the next alleged 'cruce'.

No cruce in sight yet.

OK.  No intersection in sight. Time to turn back. 

Another convi came by. The driver said the same thing about the cruce, only this time it clicked. He could only take me as far as the intersection to Huasca and I had to make it into town from there. I was on my way.

This is where I got off on the highway.  Hmmm.  No public transportation in sight. Time to start walking.

Still walking half an hour later and wondering if I could make it by nightfall and had enough money on me to pay for a hotel.

Treacherous plummet off the roadside with no room for both traffic and pedestrians.

Then, as if by a miracle, the real Huasca Ocampo convi rolled around the bend and they had just enough room for one more. I was saved.

Beautiful downtown Huasca.

A taxi from there to Prismas Basalticos.

This was the place!  Was it worth all that trouble getting there?  Definite yes. The pictures tell the tale.

Tirolesa is Spanish for zipline. I have always been afraid of those things and couldn't imagine riding one.  But I have always wanted to so badly. In theory they're safe but sometimes old cables snap and for someone like me with a terror of heights, there was the real danger of arriving on the other side if the dead from a panic induced heart attack.

I thought about it and thought about it. A stoem was building quickly. What if it made the harness swing wildly side to side or even do loops? I knew I was thinking too much. I told myself to cut it out, marched up to buy my ticket and away I went over that deep gorge. For just an instant after liftoff, I wanted to change my mind but too late for that.

The wind was fierce.  I was in danger of losing my hat.

A huge storm broke out. People ran for cover. A transport van to the town center was just leaving. The dricer was fun, beating a tune on the horn. He asked for permission to circulate the parking lot abd rescue people huddled under awnings.

Back in town, there was a long line of people waiting for convis as all the srreet merchants had packed up in a hurry to go home. 3 convis later, I was heading back to Real del Monte, staring through the steamed up windows, afraid of missing my stop, which I did. But only by a little. The sriver obligingly stopped when I called out.

Warm pastes from a roadside restaurant and the end to a great day..