The women above are not wearing costumes; this is the clothing they can be seen in any day
We camped in a "Tourist Center" on the edge of town, and woke the following morning to hike up to Paricutín Volcano. This particular volcano did not appear until 1943 and grew up out of a P'urhépecha farmer's field and erupted for nine years. People who hike to the volcano are advised to hire a guide, and we were fortunate to be introduced to a P'urhépecha man named Gabriel. 
The size of agaves along the walk were impressive
Here is where I will note the difference between Josh's sporty backpack and Gabriel's mesh plastic bag with an improvised rope strap. When we returned back to camp we gave him one of our extra backpacks that he will be able to put to much better use than us.
Our first glimpse of the mighty volcano
We hiked over this rocky, rocky terrain for a good distance. The whole while we were so impressed by Gabriel's stamina and speed
Getting closer. Another impressive fact about Gabriel is that he brought along another mesh bag purely for picking up all of the garbage left by hikers before us.
Getting steeper and steeper
If you look closely you can see the steam coming up from beneath these rocks. Their colors were incredible.
Looking down from the top. I was so curious about what it would be like throughout the hike, and this was not a letdown. We ate lunch with this as our view.
Josh walking the rim
And the fun descent... it was like we were skiing down on black sand. Gabriel was yards ahead of us!
The popular option for many who visit the volcano is via horse. These men were having a bit of an uncomfortable ride however. 
The way it was, our hike was about 7 hours long, but it would have been even longer had we not hitched a ride with Gabriel's friend to the other end of the lava flow. We enjoyed a quick meal made by another friend of Gabriel. The quesadilla below was made from a fresh tortilla with flor de calabaza (flowers from squash plants), cheese, potatoes and chorizo.
The 16th century Church of San Juan Parangaricurtiru, which was largely buried in lava flow
The entrance to the church is at the bottom of this photo
It was a day we will not forget, and I am hopeful that Gabriel has many years and many more hikes to the top of that volcano ahead of him***
The following morning we were off for a warmer destination at a much lower elevation... the coast of Michoacan. The scenery the entire way was incredible.
What we did not realize about Michoacán until our second day there is that there is major unrest with a drug cartel leader based in the state. 12 off-duty federal police officers were killed in response to the government arrest of 10 mayors and 17 government and police officials, who were accused of protecting drug cartels. Thus, the vehicle like the one above was a common sight, as 4,000 soldiers and officers were sent as a counter-offensive. Many of the men were wearing masks in order to protect their identity.
We headed down to the Pacific on a windy, hilly road that hugs the coast and ended up at the same beach I visited with my college friends in April called Maruata. Both the road and the coast were eerily empty.
Yet we had our dog friends on the beach
The indigenous family who owns the palapas we stayed under also cooked a shrimp dinner for us, and breakfast the following morning. This is their youngest pictured above.
Table with a view
Though it was mightily warm (these dogs barely moved) it was a beautiful evening, and nice and peaceful despite the unrest elsewhere in the state
2 comments:
Ah, my beach dogs. Glad to see they're still relaxing.
Ah ha, Kate's dogs live on Maruata beach. It all makes sense now. They were tired of dancing for ice-cream.
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