CUERVANACA & TAXCO

19&20 September 2006

After spending 5 days in Mexico City, we were ready to leave the chaos which comes with any metropolis. We headed an hour and a half south to Cuervanaca, a mid-sized town, big enough that it has a MacDonalds, Buger King and Dominoes. We bought our bottled water from OXXO as usual – a Mexican version of 7-11, trusted to be open day and night. The highlight had to be La Comuna, a cozy little art café/bar/restaurant with brightly colored walls, live guitar and harmonica music, owned by an elderly – but very learned couple. We made fast friends with Jose the owner and Jem finally faced his fear and tried a shot of tequila. I had ¼ of his shot and felt a burning sensation in my stomach. Deadly stuff. We had such a great night that we returned the next morning for some huevos and gave Jose a Singapore magnet. Jose Martinez Crus reciprocated by giving me a book he co-wrote on the Socialist movement in Morelos entitled La izquierda: y los movimientos socials en Morelos. Will sure need a whole lotta Spanish lessons to get through it!

Taxco: a town we almost skipped but made the best decision of our trip so far not to give it a miss. It’s one of the most authentic, charming, rustic and gorgeous towns I’ve ever been to. It’s such a pity that the pictures we took do not do it justice. We fell in love with Taxco immediately, although I did have a rough beginning. You see, Taxco is a town built in the mountains, where the cobblestone streets wind through the hilly terrain on steep gradients. With my 50lb backpack strapped to by shoulders, I was in pain and almost in tears as we ascended the scenic narrow lanes searching for our hotel. Jem trooped through like a champ though while I finally gave up and rested by a little fountain amidst stalls selling pure silver charms and bracelets.

Everything ended up fine and having dumped our backpacks in our tiny room at Casa Grande. How ironic. Lunch was awesome – we had freshly grilled chicken while being thoroughly entertained by the owner’s son who was meticulously polishing every inch of his black VW Beetle. He used a different product for each part – right down to the tires! About 90% of the vehicles here are old VWs. The “combis” are VW vans, the taxis are white beetles and the commercial cars run from golfs to beetles from the 1960s through 80s. I kept a lookout for my old ‘87 GTI, feeling that it might’ve been shipped out here to live a third life, after I gave it a second.

Among the places of interests we visited, from Ex-Convento de San Bernadino de Siena to the Church of Guadalupe, to the main Cathedral de Santa Prisca at the Zocola, the highlight had to be the exhilarating yet most physically extreme hike to the summit of the mountain to reach the Cristo Monumental del Cerro del Atache. It is almost identical to the statue overlooking Rio de Janeiro. On our ambitious journey to the top, we were amazed at the friendliness of the locals. An old lady hanging clothes on the balcony smiled and offered directions without even us asking, and children were only too eager to join us for part of the hike up – taking us through back alleys and staircases, running up dirt trails while we tried our best to keep up. After having hiked through trails, alleys and charming roads, we finally decided to cut our losses and turn back. The actual streets had come to an end and what lay before us was jungle. An old man called out to us as we were turning back and convinced us to persevere. Apparently, according to him, a short cut up the jungle would take us to Cristo in three minutes! Hesitant but figuring that it was just too good a chance to pass up, we walked gingerly up the little trail and tried not to slip, fall, or anger the passive wild dog licking himself under a tree. We passed through cut barbed wire with a sign that warned against trespassers. After the last stretch of 60 degree inclination, we jumped over a wall and we were finally at Cristo. Imagine our astonishment when we saw an old couple – the man on crutches – admiring the view! How the hell did he get up here?? We later found out that for 50 pesos, a taxi takes you right there… by the main road up the mountain. We consoled ourselves by reassuring each other that it is the journey, not the destination that puts a cherry on the experience. And yes, we walked all the way down. Not because we were being cheap bastards (we kinda were as well…) but just to prove our point.