Tapalpa

Saturday, fairly spontaneously, Jenny, Jillaine, and I decided to go to Tapalpa, a puebla outside of Guadalajara. The plan was actually for a group of us to all go, but when rental car plans fell through, many decided not to go.
The three of us still wanted to go (we have Monday off and I didn't relish the idea of three days with no plans...) so we headed for the bus station around noon. The ride to Tapalpa would take about an hour and a half in a car, but in a bus it's about 3-3 and a half hours.
Tapalpa isn't full of a lot to see or do, but that is what made this trip wonderful. There were no busses, cabs, busy streets, or smog. We got off the bus and walked up the road toward the centro to find a hotel. The first that we tried was cheap, but had no vacancies. The second was a success (we each paid about $12 for the night). Saturday evening we walked the streets of the little puebla. We sampled some street food, found a really cheap and delicious Mexican dinner, and listened to mariachis play while sitting on the steps of the cathedral.
On Sunday we woke up early and headed out to find breakfast at one of the 15 or so street vendors that were lined up outside of the cathedral area. We ended up each getting a large cup of fruit (guess what-I finally like papaya!), and two tamales. Tapalpa is apparently famous for this certain type of tamale (the name eludes me at the moment), but it is wrapped on the outside in a spinach-like leafy green, with cheese and rajas on the inside. It was delish.
Then, after storing our backpacks in the hotel lobby, we hiked to the piedras... large rocks that are one of the (only) sights to see here. It was about a 5 km walk and since we left before the heat of the day, it was glorious! We were in the mountains, passing farms and ranch homes, flowers, mountains, hills, tons of trees. It was such a mix of environments... in one view you could see a pine tree forest, a palm tree, and cacti all at once.
The rocks were cool, but not really awe-inspiring. However, the combination of the walk, relaxing on the rocks, and being in the fresh air made everything perfect.
After the rocks we hung around the town a bit more to sample more goodies, and then we caught the 3:00 bus back to Guadalajara (this time we knew better and got off before the bus headed downtown... saving ourselves about 2 hours of travel time!)
I am sunburned and tired. But it was such a perfect little getaway--I loved it!
The Centro.

Breakfast in Tapalpa

On the way to the rocks.










Jillaine's adorable ice cream dessert.