Mexico #9

So it seems like my time here has fallen into a pattern of work during the week, and adventures on the weekend, which I guess is good. This past weekend brought me to La Malinche, a mountain to the east. I went with 2 other Americans, a Brit, and a German who spoke english, and it was one of my favorite trips so far. One of the American guys had a connection in Huamantla (the town next to the mountain) and so he set us up with amazing accommodations for the night in an old Mexican hacienda. Apparently this place had been abandoned and then converted into a hotel (although they kept it very minimalistic). The place was perfectly secluded which gave me some of the first moments of true silence since I've arrived here, and was complete with expansive courtyards, towers with parapets, and an old church.

Me and two of the guys decided it would be worth it to get up early to watch the sunrise from the roof of the church, and it was incredible. I think that was the first actual sunrise I've seen in way too long, and I had forgotten how beautiful it was. To make it better, it was the night of a full moon (one of the brightest I've ever seen) and it was still hanging in the sky when the sun came up. It was like watching a painting come to life as color slowly spilled across the landscape, onto the rooftop, and up the neighboring mountain. I can't really describe it, but here's some pictures of what I saw (which don't do it justice):






That mountain in the bottom picture is Malinche, all 4445 meters of it (which puts it just a little bit taller then Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the 48 states). After breakfast, the 5 of us piled in a cab, rode 30 minutes to the trail head (~2000 meters) and proceeded to climb it. It was amazing getting out into nature again, and even better to have a physical challenge ahead of me. Long story short, we made it to the top in 4 hours exactly and it was an uphill climb the entire way. After we passed the tree line the dirt became loose, the air became thin, and every step became a struggle, but it was definitely worth it. From the top is a gorgeous 360 degree view complete with 3 volcanoes on the horizon. It was there that I also enjoyed the best mango of my entire life. Pictures of course were taken:





The hike down was also pretty fun, as I couldn't pass up a chance to do some shale sliding. I ran/slide/skated down the slippery section and it was actually kind of similar to skiing, but with more dust and danger. Much easier then climbing up as well, and I made it back to the treeline in about 20 minutes. Needless to say, I thought I was pretty cool. Now its the work week, which has its bonuses as one of my patients brought me tamales and coffee today! Best feedback I've gotten so far :). I had to reschedule some other patients so I don't have tomorrow off like I did last week, but I might still go visit the center of the city in the afternoon (it would be weird if I went my whole stay without seeing it at least once). Okay, I'm hungry, I think I'll end this post here (and apparently I have a love affair with parentheses today).