Mexico Dia Treinta
30 (thirty) is the natural number following 29 and preceding 31.
!Uruapan Dia Dos¡
Rested and energized we were ready to see the city. We first got breakfast at a restaurant buffet. I had orange juice, some beans, tostadas, and tortillas, but the food wasn´t that good. After breakfast we headed for las cascadas (the waterfalls). It was a short walk to the national park and on the way I bought some lychees from a person selling fruit on the street. Mmmm...I haven´t had fresh lychees in a long time. It was 30 pesos ($3) to get into the national park. While waiting to buy tickets, I also bought some macadamia nuts (in the shell). The park was gorgeous. There were many waterfalls, lush forests, and fountains. Walking through the park we saw a guy jump from a cliff into the water, while his friend collected tips from onlookers. We also got a young mexican boy to tell us the story of the river, which is called "La Rodilla del Diablo (The river of the devil)." We couldn´t really understood what he said but it was interesting. Despues, nosotros luchamos contra el diablo y ganamos. After walking through the park, we went to look at the markets along the street. I bought a couple of postcards to send to people. It was then time to go to the volcano/basilica. We crammed 6 people into a taxi and headed off.
Getting close to the volcano, men with horses started following the taxi. Finally, the taxi driver said he couldn´t drive any further and we got out. We then hired horses to go to the basilica. It was 80 ($8) for the horses including return trip. Riding the horses was allot of fun. We got to the basilica in no time and started exploring. The basilica is in the middle of a volcanic rock field and is beautiful. We found out that the volcano was an 5 hour trip, so we ended up just exploring around the basilica. The horseride back was just as fun. We then got popsicles from a store in town...which were amazing (fresh mango covered in chocolate). It was then time to wait for the combi to get back to central Uruapan.
While waiting we talked to these two french travelers who we had seen earlier in the day (when we were eating). They had been studying in Mexico city but had finished their studies a few weeks earlier and were now travelling for a little while. The combi came and we borded. The ride was boring so I thought I would try and crack a macadamia nut. Nothing was really working until a guy in the back of the bus (seeing us trying to crack the nuts) gave us his pocket knife. But, that also didn´t work. I gave him back his knife and offered him some macadamia nuts in thanks. About five minutes later he had managed to crack the nuts with his knife by locating the weak point on the nut. He gave a few of the nuts he cracked and we thanked him.
The combi took us straight back to the bus station where we bought tickets for Morelia. It turned out that both the french students and the macadamia nut cracker were also going to Morelia. On the bus trip back to Morelia we talked with the French students allot. Getting back to Morelia we got their number and they said we should call when we go to Mexico city. We then took a combi to get some tacos. After eating I went back home and went to bed.
Horseback riding
La basilica/volcan