Sunday...hardly a day of rest

Let´s start with Saturday night.

After attempting to make a few portraits in El Llano park, we (Amelia, Steve and I) walked back to the apartment. Amelia and I and the rest of the SDSU gang had a little gathering to say goodbye to Steve. He had to leave on Sunday morning. Even still, we were up past 1am talking and drinking. A good time was had by all. I am sure he is back at photo-eye already, packing boxes. Steve we miss you.

On Sunday morning, we got up at 7am to get ready for a day of travel and sightseeing with the SDSU gang. We rented two late model VW Beetles (not the new style) so that we could go to a site or two as well as Tlocalula and Hierve el Agua. By 9am the Beetles were packed with gear and humans and we were on our way.

The first stop was the ruin of Lambityeco. A tiny little ruin about 100 yards square. We were given a first class tour by Dr. Stacey (?) who had a ton of info and kept us "moving, we´re moving". The ruins themselves were quite impressive and I was able to adequately document them with my xpan. Tripod not needed nor welcomed.

Then back into the Beetles and off to Tlocalula. This being my second trip, I got to see a bit more that I missed the first time. I packed a whole lot lighter and only took the xpan. I got to see the church and courtyard (again) where Edward Weston was kicked out of. So I took a photo in his honor. The market seemed bigger this time and the gang of 9 shopped like crazy. Food, clothing, pottery...everything. After 2 hours, we were hot and ready to go. Next stop Yagul...

Okay, we axed the idea of Yagul because of the heat and decided at a stop light that we should just head straight for the hot springs. Good idea. The heat here has been recorded setting.

To get to Hierve el Agua (boiled water) we had to drive through Mitla and then up a very twisty road to the top of the mountain. The ride at times was unnerving because I was not driving but Dr. Mayes did just fine. Then the road turned to dirt. This was fun.
Driving along the mountain side with not much room for error and trying to keep up with Dr. Stacey was a feat. The road twisted through two small villages where the residents waved and laughed at the passing gringos who were jammed into tiny cars. The scenery nothing short of spectacular. After paying the toll, we continued on to the resort that is Hierve de Agua (go here to see a few photos).

This is a tiny "resort" of sorts with little huts along the parking lot. The huts are run by locals and are the places to eat and to buy souvenirs. But we quickly found the trail that lead down to the main pools where most of the adults were. The scene is breathtaking. One hundred and eighty degrees of the most beautiful mountain scenery I have seen in a very long time. One of the pools is basically built so the one side is on top of the ledge. Your ass literally hangs off the side of the mountain. Amazing. I have yet to find the elevation but I would have to guess around 8000 feet.
The water itself is heavy in minerals and feels a bit thick on the hair and skin. As for temperature, I don´t think it was much above 75 degrees fahrenheit, if at all. There are a few, little bubbling holes where the water comes out of the earth.
We were a sight for the mostly Mexican crowd. Imagine 9 very apparent gringos walking into this area. Very funny. I am sure the mostly male crowd enjoyed the 7 bathing beauties in our party. Actually, it was very hard for them to stop watching us. We were giddy with laughter from the scenery and water.

After and hour or so, we headed back up to the cars and decided we should have a bite to eat. I had a small quesadilla that was quite tasty. And of course I had a Coke (the great black defender of my insides). Then the rain, thunder and lightning started. Not much happened except my imagination kicked into overdrive. I am in a rear wheel drive VW, overloaded with people, trying to drive up and down a curvy, muddy mountainous road. Luckily we avoided most of the rain and got out just fine. Thanks Pepe!!

The ride home was just fine until 2 moons appeared on the horizon. It must have been a strange sight for the white VW next to us. :)

Then after a quick shower, a few of us went out for PIZZA. Not too bad. Then bed time.

All in all, it was a great day.