Wendy In Mexico: Weekend in Tapalpa

Last weekend was exceptional. For the first time in Mexico, I got to be a moderately greasy hippy for a few days, and spend basically my entire weekend outdoors. I loved every minute of it! The Castillos invited me on their family weekend trip to Tapalpa, thinking (correctly) that I would enjoy the crisp mountain air, remote log cabins and everything else! We stayed in a quaint cabin about 20 minutes outside of a pueblo magico called Tapalpa, which is located in the 'mountains' of the state of Jalisco. It was about 3 hours from Tepic, and an hour and a bit further after Guadalajara. Upon arriving I was blown away by how much it looked and even smelt like my family's usual campsite in Sandpoint, Idaho. There were ponderosa pines towering over everything, and the air was fresh, a bit nippy, and filled with that delicious pine smell. I was beyond excited! (I am definitely not a city girl, give me clean air, open space and forests/mountains to wander around and I'm a happy kid.) As we arrived late Friday night, we basically just unloaded our things, sorted out who would sleep where (7 people in a cabin with three beds makes for a creative sleeping situation), and then made a fire in the fireplace to warm up the place! It was actually quite cold, more cold than I've felt my entire time here in Mexico. It almost felt as though I was back in Canada, what with the log cabins, pines and cold. Almost.

Cozy cuddling time for the three brothers!

A fire expertly started by Wendy

The next morning we got up decently early, and headed into Tapalpa to eat. As it is a pueblo magico, it is not allowed to have any sign of modern things on the outside of buildings, so all the signs are made of wood or fabric, the lighting is antique, and everything is exceptionally clean and cared for. This makes for a very rustic, charming atmosphere that I definitely enjoyed! We ate at a food bar filled with about 20 vendors selling tamales, tacos, fruit smoothies, authentic Tapalpan alcohol, and more! I went for two tacos and a freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, which was a pretty fantastic way to start the day!

Inside the cathedral of Tapalpa- completely brick!

Food stalls lining the main street

The process of tacos

Yummy breakfast

Even Elektra, (a Mexican bank) has a sign made out of wood. Pretty sweet!

These tamales were delicious. Like chewing on pure bliss

(Although the picture doesn't even begin to do them justice)

Following breakfast we drove off into the countryside in search for one of the recommended spots around Tapalpa- a gorgeous hundred-foot waterfall located at the bottom of a canyon. The roads got a wee bit too iffy for the van with seven people weighing it down, so we walked down to the starting point of the trail where a vendor was selling raspados, mangoes, and refreshments. Very bright idea, considering the heat of the day and basic lack of shade for the entire hike! Forget the chill of the night before, the temperature was right back in the 30s and without a cloud in the sky. We descended for about 40 minutes and then walked along a trail in the forest before coming to a mountain lake with the waterfall cascading down. We took about 500 photos with different combinations- Johannes and I, solos, the kids, the whole family.... Finally we fulfilled the photo quota, and I was still very hot and sweaty so I announced I was going for a swim. I don't think they believed I was serious, right up until I started taking off my tights! Huzzah for synthetic underwear and sports bra, who needs a bathing suit? I convinced Johannes to join me, and finally Hiram was pressured into taking a dip as well. I have to admit, it was pretty cold. Not the give-you-agonizing-brain-freeze cold as in Canadian mountain lakes, but definitely body-numbing. Poor Hiram went in all the way and started shrieking when he resurfaced, the first dip is always the most uncomfortable! Anyways, that incited another photo session while the three of us stood shivering (or numb) in the water. Hiram got out after that, but Johannes and I swam as close as we could to the waterfall, before climbing out and drying off on the rocks. Thankfully, though the sun was slowly going down, the rocks were still burning hot. I laid there and actually managed to basically completely dry off, and almost fall asleep, before Hector let us know that it was time to go. I had forgotten that we actually had to hike back and wasn't feeling terribly motivated to get all sweaty again on the upward trek to the car. However, it actually went very quickly, and before we knew it, we were back at the trailhead and eating raspados (or artfully carved mangos, in my case).

Descending

Brrrr.... As our lower bodies slowly go numb

Drying off like a lizard

Way too happy about my mango on a stick

But it is carved up very prettily, you must admit

We walked the final leg of the trip to the car, and then made our way back into Talpa to try out the local food specialties for a well-deserved dinner! We filled up on borrego (roasted lamb), salad, and delicious guacamole and salsas, before testing the specialty homemade ice cream. Tired but very satisfied, the family went back to the cabin to shower. While everyone made the shower rounds, Hector started up a card game called Crazy 6's. After a while we started betting, and I actually won almost 100 pesos. It's not actually that much money, but for a broke exchange student every penny counts! It was a fantastic day, and I actually felt like I merited the yummy dinner after the nippy swimming and hiking that we'd been doing all day.

Yumm borrego

The next day we went back to Tapalpa for breakfast, then to a second tourist site on the way back to Guadalajara called Las Piedrotas de Tapalpa. It was basically like a bouldering paradise for climbers- a giant field filled with gigantic rocks perfect for climbing all over. I was once more in heaven, scrambling recklessly across giant rocks is my idea of fun! At one point Johannes and I spotted a giant rock that we determined we had to get up. We resolved to get up there once we saw a few campers chilling out on top with some beer and Bob Marley, and especially after we saw a Beagle poke his head over the side! (We still don't know how the dog got up, as it did involve some straight up climbing, but who knows.) Anyways, after some mildly risky scrambling maneuver, we mad it to the top and took many victory photos, while Hector took some from the ground. After a few hours of this we got back in the car to head back to Guadalajara. We ate in the food court in a mall in the city, and ended up spending a few hours chatting to a few of Sandy's relatives who had come to visit the family. After a weekend with very few people and a very rustic atmosphere, it was a bit of a shock to end up in the modern mall filled with people. But after a yummy salad and Starbucks latte, we acclimatized. As usual, we arrived back in Tepic very late at night. Tired, sunburnt (on my part at least), and stoked about the fantastic weekend! It was wonderful for the Castillo's to invite me on their weekend retreat, and it was nice to have a nature-filled weekend as I've really missed the whole nature/hippy/outdoorsy atmosphere here in Mexico. A beautiful place, and extremely different from the beach climate you normally associate Mexico with! I'm very glad I got to know it.