Parícutin

Two weeks ago we did a weekend trip to Parícutin [map] volcano in Michoacán. To get there we took the night bus to Uruapan and from there on at 6 AM the next bus to Angahuan, the village at the foot of the volcano. On the first Bus, a guy behind us decided to tune his mp3 Player to full volume and play some Banda (you can find an example in John's Blog) for everyone. :| Well, after a while we he stopped it and we could catch a bit of sleep.

When we arrived in Angahuan, there was already a guide waiting for tourists and we got the deal of 200 Pesos per person plus 200 for the guide for a horse trip to visit the volcano and the church, that was burried by the lava flow.
So we were taken to the house of the family, where we got the offer to leave our backpacks. We did not accept because we thought our backpacks were lightweight and we wanted to take our food and clothing. This is something we regretted afterwards...

Following a woman to the house


In the garden


A local car

Well, after a short stop at a local food shop, where we bought some more breakfast and lunch, we headed off towards the volcano. First slowly walking, then, when we had left the town, increasingly faster. After a while everybody was clearly feeling the human-horse interface, so we had a short stop and then continued more slowly for a while.

Riding towards the volcano


The last slope

Well, a good while and a few sprints later we arrived at the foot of the volcano. From here on we walked the last few hundert meters and arrived at the rim of the crater. Here we had a look around, felt the still hot floor (just move a few little pebbles aside and things get pretty hot) and were amazed by the rainclouds that would soak us a bit later.

The last bit was a short hike


Andrew in front of the crater


Those clouds definitely fulfilled their promise


Running down an ash slope :)

Then we went back down to the horses and rode to the church. We arrived at the horse park next to the church completely soaked and feeling pretty cold, although we were wearing standard hiking gear and waterproofs. So we stopped for a Café de Olla [spanish Wikipedia] (olla=kitchen pot), the standard Mexican coffee, that is kept warm on a stove. Not really related to an Italian espresso.

When the rain had faded to normal Hamburg background level we went on to see the church. Since it now is part of a block lava flow, there is a little bit of climbing on relatively sharp rocks involved in getting there. Flip flops and shorts did not only seem slightly out of place to us, the bearer also swore never [to] wear flip flops and shorts again (well, probably at least when visiting lava flows on highlands).

Although this looks good, there is more appropriate clothing


Even with hiking clothing not convinced of the situation

After having a look at the church we went back to the horses, rode back to the town and - after a short stop - took a bus back to Uruapan. Here we stayed at the Hotel del Parque. Nobody had any trouble sleeping during the night and our bodies were clearly telling us that anything but lying flat was considered way too much work. :) Back and legs were vetoing any kind of movement and sitting did not seem appropriate either.

Anyway, on Sunday we took a bus to Pátzcuaro, a little town about 1:20 away from Uruapan. Here we spent the day walking around, visiting Churches and the market and fetching some nice illness that would hit most of during the following week.

Note on the door of a church
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Do you know who is your best friend? JESUS is your best friend! Nobody loves you like him! "And he is waiting for you" ...

Meat at the market

One of the more beautiful churches

When we wanted to get the tickets for the bus back to Uruapan in the evening (every half hour until eight, which was just what we needed, since the only bus back to Colima would leave Uruapan at 9:45) at 7:15 we got the answer that the women selling the tickets would know yet if there was a bus before eight and that she would give us more information in about 15 minutes. After this we got about 20 minutes of ahorita (ahora=now, ahorita=small now) more information and finally got a bus at 8:15 or so. Well, early enough. We arrived at Uruapan at 9:40, got the last 6 tickets for the 9:45 bus back to Colima and arrived back in Colima at about 4 AM. Time for sleep. The trip in the bus had not been too relaxing...