Our aging RAV 4 wears its life in Mexico on its hood and tail, underneath and on the surface. It is worn, even battered, but so far steadfast, still churning out miles on bache-filled and rocky roads. Like two hip replacements, it has two artificial shock absorbers created by the mechanic in Coatepec, to keep us going if not smoothly at least fairly safely. After the second shock absorber replacement, we decided to venture past our local confines once again and drove towards Ixhuacan de los Reyes, on none-main roads which eventually lead to Cofre de Perote.
Still surprising, these trips: still and even more so. Still enveloping, the gorgeous hills and mountains. Still soothing for a troubled soul. We headed through Teocelo in the direction of Ixhuacan de los Reyes.
Just before Ixhuacan, a waterfall spills across the road.
Passengers in a taxi stop to see it. Jim and two dogs are on the left.
A little further up the road, we follow a path with the dogs. Jim has been here before with his brother John. He crossed this bridge when it was crossable. If you look, you can see the slats dangling.
A clump of plants growing out of a stone face.
We turned back a bit to follow the road to Patlanalan (¿?) so we could come back through the little town on the floor of the valley. Here is a miscellany of things we saw.
The road down to the valley.
The town in the valley.
Brilliant wildflowers. It was hard to get a good picture
So I picked a branch.
A pretty purple house
A stark blue house.
A tiny church still in use.
A slightly bigger church.
A small poinsettia tree.
There are white cliffs which from a distance look as if they might be a Tibetan monastery built into the mountain.
Up close these cliffs can be impressive.
A one-armed bridge
A view across a cornfield.
Horses ploughing.
The whole trip was roughly sixty miles.