Hiking Iztaccihuatl: The "Sleeping Woman" Volcano

.....Guess who's back? Seeing as it's been more than 4 months(!) since my last post, I thought it was high time to arrange another adventure in Mexico. The trouble is, most of the places I want to go to in Mexico now are much easier or better to go to with a group, and getting a group together requires more effort than I've been willing to put forth lately. Except for yesterday.

If you remember back to my last post, waaaay back in early January, I told you that I was going to hike the volcanoes sometime this year. And friends, that was no lie. (Except for the fact that I said 'volcanoes,' meaning both of them. At the time, I didn't realize it's been prohibited to hike Popocatepetl for the last 20 years). Getting to Iztaccihuatl, the dormant volcano that can be seen to the south of Mexico City, was tricky. I was lucky enough to go with 3 friends, who all speak fluent Spanish, and we were able to figure out how to make our way around volcano-town.

Our day started around 7 am, when we began meeting up with each other in the subway and the TAPO bus station in the eastern part of the city. We caught a bus to Amecameca at a little after 8 in the morning, and arrived there around 9:45. With food being the first thing on our minds, we stopped in the little market for a quesadilla breakfast.

The market in Amecameca. Our breakfast place was the one on
the right side, with the metal-shack roofing and the orange signs.

After our bellies were full of quesadillas, coffee, and tamarind-water, we negotiated with a taxi driver to take us up to the trailhead at La Joya. The drive took a little over an hour on winding mountain roads with hairpin turns, and the last 7 kilometers turned into an unmaintained dirt road where cars average less than 10 miles per hour.

It was okay, though, because our taxi driver had Captain America on the dashboard, watching over us.

Just before the road turned into dirt, we stopped to buy our permits
to go up the mountain at the Izta-Popo National Park Headquarters.

The view of Popocatepetl from the Park Headquarters

The view of Iztaccihuatl from the Park Headquarters

Our hiking group

Izta, from where we started.

Looking back down the trail towards the valley of Mexico.

Myself, and Popocatepetl in the background

Our hiking group, after getting our asses kicked by all the uphill work. The views were worth it.

The view of Popocatepetl after hiking about 60 - 90 minutes up Iztaccihuatl.

There's snow in Mexico? There's SNOW in Mexico?!? (Thankfully, only on the volcanoes.)

Continuing past the treeline, the mountain became mainly rock and dirt.

The higher we climbed, the steeper and colder it got (obviously). Notice how the gloves and thicker jacket came out?

After hiking about 3 and a half hours up the volcano, we were in the clouds. It
was certainly below freezing, but again, worth it. I only wish I'd brought a hat.

 After 3.5 hours, it was time to head back down. We were all suffering from being underdressed for the cold, and our taxi was supposed to meet us at 6:30.

On the way back down Izta, we ran into a group with 6 dogs, including THE softest and sweetest
husky puppy that I've ever seen. I had to steal their dog just for a minute, for cuddles and a picture.

We were glad we descended when we did. The clouds took over and the rain started around 5 pm.

At the base of the mountain, we tried to start a fire. It worked, for about 5 minutes, but rain kind of ruined it.

 Our taxi was supposed to be back around 6:30. In Mexico, though, these things are never certain, and since there was only one road, we decided to hitch a ride (OMG so sorry mom and dad!) in the back of a truck until we either saw our taxi coming up the road or made it to the Park Headquarters.

3 of us hanging on for dear life as the truck scrambled down the bumpy mountain road.

Since riding in the back of a truck in the rain at high altitudes may or may not make someone lose all feeling in their hands, arms, face, ears, and legs, I had to re-teach myself how to move after getting (falling) out of the truck when we stopped at the Park Headquarters. I never knew how much I could appreciate the hot mud-coffee they served there.

Side note: Just as I was writing here, a strong earthquake struck in DF. Obviously, everything seems to be okay, otherwise I wouldn't be blogging right now. Still, everyone here knows I'm a giant baby about earthquakes. Thank you Ana, the nicest roommate ever, who called and texted to check on me right after it happened, even though you're on vacaton! 

Aaaaanyways.....The taxi did come to pick us up at the Park Headquarters, and we found out that they weren't letting anybody up the dirt road, so it was actually lucky that we hitched a ride down! The nice, warm taxi took us all the way back down to our bus station in Amecameca. We grabbed dinner at the Chinese buffet adjacent to the station before getting our tickets to go home. Luckily, buses come every 15 minutes, so we were headed back to DF shortly after 8 pm. I was home, muddy and exhausted, by 10:30. Who knew you could get a beautiful, challenging, Rocky-Mountain-esque hike making only a day trip from DF?

New Year's, Chalco, and Amecameca

Happy 2014! I brought in my New Year spending time with my roommate and her family in a small town called Chalco. New Year's in Mexico is pretty strictly a family day, which, while certainly calmer and quieter than the traditional NYE parties in the states, turned out to be a pretty nice time. Anabel's (my roommate's) family were very friendly people, and I got to practice my Spanish. We had a dinner, we lit off sky lanterns, and I learned a new tradition -- at midnight on TV, they ring 12 bells, and for each bell you eat a grape. For each grape, you get a wish. As a side note, they need to ring that bell slower. I almost choked on grapes.

Also, I blew up 100 balloons. I could have stayed in my balloon fortress forever.

Because I was at a New Year's Eve - Eve party the night before, I fell asleep pretty early. And slept intermittently until 3 pm the next day. And woke up starving. So, Anabel, her mom, and I set out in the car to go find lunch. We got side-tracked, though...

We drove to a town called Amecameca, which is kind of between the volcanoes
Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. This is Amecameca's church, built in 1680.

The inside of the church has peeling paint and crumbling walls, but also has that old-world beauty.

A nativity near the front of the church.

Pigeons are cruel.

After leaving the church, we walked through the market and picked up some sweet sesame-bar snack to appease the roaring dinosaur in my stomach. Then went to find lunch.

On our way to the restaurant, we took a scenic route so that we could have
a nice view of the volcanoes. The one you see here is called Popocatepetl.

This one is called Iztaccihuatl, also known as the sleeping woman, a dormant volcano.

There is a beautiful legend of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, and if you're interested in that story, click here.

We had a delicious lunch, complete with tlacoyos and chalupas, in a small restaurant in the
middle of nowhere. Behind the restaurant, there was an area where you could swing, play
volleyball, jump on trampolines, rest in a hammock, and enjoy a great view of the volcanoes.

On the left side is Iztaccihuatl, on the right is Popocatepetl, and of course, I'm there in the middle.

And so the New Year begins! New Year's Resolution #1: Hike those volcanoes. Upcoming volcano climbing post, maybe?

The Basilica of Guadalupe

Another day, another adventure here in DF! To take advantage of this sunny Monday morning, I jumped on the Metrobus and took off to the famous La Villa, a site that contains several churches and religious buildings. The Basilica of Guadalupe, the most famous site in La Villa, is one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Roman Catholic religion. Every year, millions of people make a pilgrimage to the Basilica to pay homage to the Virgin Mary on December 12th. It is believed that Mary appeared there (about 500 years ago) to Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, and she asked him to build a temple for her.

"I wish that a temple be erected here quickly, so I may therein exhibit and give all my love, compassion, help, and protection. Because I am your merciful mother, to you, and to all the inhabitants on this land and all the rest who love me, invoke and confide in me; to listen there to their lamentations, and remedy all their miseries, afflictions and sorrows. And to accomplish what my clemency pretends, go to the palace of the bishop of Mexico, and you will say to him that I manifest my great desire, that here on this plain a temple be built to me."  (From http://www.sancta.org/basilica.html)

People now walk for days to visit this site, coming from states all over Mexico, and many walk the last few miles on their knees. Today during my visit, I saw a few people walking on their knees in the square in front of the Basilica. Maybe they're starting early this year?

The new Basilica, where people make a pilgrimage each December. See the man in the red shirt walking on his knees?

The old Basilica, where construction began in 1531. 

The front facade of the old Basilica.

The front of the new Basilica

Inside the old Basilica, a beautiful building with marble shrines and large paintings on the walls.

One of the paintings in the old Basilica.

Another section of the old Basilica, with a small golden chapel inside, connecting the two larger buildings.

The small golden chapel between the two larger parts of the old Basilica.

In the picture of the full outside of the Basilica, this is
the inside of the building on the right side of the church.

The inside of the new Basilica. I didn't want to take too many pictures during mass, but I had to
 snap at least one to show you! Besides, they have mass every hour on the hour from 6 in the morning
until 8 at night, so there's really no time that could I get a picture without people worshiping in it...

Behind the old Basilica, and up several flights of stairs, is the Capilla
de Cerrito. From there, you can get a great view of all Mexico City.

In front of the Capilla de Cerrito, there are four statues of the angels Gabriel, Uriel, Michael, and Raphael.
But, ever since I've started watching Dr. Who, I'm terrified of angel statues. And I never blink.

The view from the Capilla del Cerrito. You can't see in the picture,
but in real life, you can see the mountains surrounding the city.

The shrine to the Virgin Mary, where Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin
 is said to have seen an apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

The Capilla del Pocito, the last stop of my day in La Villa. 

From there, it was only a 15-minute walk to the Metrobus station, where I was able to take a direct bus for about 45 minutes back to my apartment. But, not before grabbing a delicious horchata-water to quench my thirst from walking all over La Villa! (For those who don't know what horchata-water is, it's a sweet and yummy milky water made from rice, almonds, and cinnamon. It tastes like the nectar of fairy kisses, unicorn tears, and essence of rainbow. It's that good.) After shooting a half-liter of horchata directly into my veins, I jumped on the Metrobus and witnessed two ladies get into a hair-pulling and face-slapping fight over a box. Jerry Springer should have been there. The police even escorted them off the bus! Oh yes, it's the little things that keep Mexico City an everyday adventure.

DF's Historic Center (Part 2)

Happy December 1st! Even though I've been in Mexico for the past 13 months, it still amazes me that I can walk around in a t-shirt and jeans, and still feel warm in December! Today I went walking in DF's historic center yet again, even though Sunday is the worst day to go, crowd-wise. Unfortunately, three of the places I wanted to visit were closed! Two were churches (churches closed on Sunday...wait, what?), and another was a government building that is filled with Diego Rivera murals. Sigh. Maybe another day. But, today was not a loss! Here's what I did get to see today.

I started off by walking past the Hemiciclo a Juarez, a monument to one of Mexico's favorite presidents.

More of Hemiciclo a Juarez

I worked up the courage to get near the giant spider/nope/nope
combination statue. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME, DF?

Christmas decorations up in the Zocalo!

Another picture of the Metropolitan Cathedral... 

The giant Christmas tree is up in the Zocalo!

On the plus side of visiting the historic center on a weekend, you can always find a performance.

The Santa Catarina church. Old, crumbling, and has stuff growing out of it...and not open to visitors today.

Last stop: the Capilla de la Conchita 10. Why 10? Not a clue. I'm aware of two Conchitas located here in DF.

Aaaaand, that was all that I saw today! I'm hoping to make it back to the historic center next week to see the Diego Rivera murals, and maybe a few of the many museums there. So, maybe in the near future, there will be a "DF's Historic Center, Part 3"...maybe. I've got a few more places on my list that I'm hoping to get to before I visit Iowa for Christmas, so there could be another post or two up sometime in the next 10 days!

DF's Historic Center

...Guess who has a camera again? (Thanks, papa!)

With the rainy season ending, and a more open schedule, I'm able to spend much more time outdoors these days. Earlier this week, I walked to the Historic Center of DF to take some pictures of the famous buildings and visit some of the 16th, 17th, and 18th century churches.

Parroquia de San Fernando, a nearly 300-year-old church nestled at the end of a quiet side-street.

Iglesia de San Juan de Dios. This church's construction began over 400 years ago.

Built in the early 1700's, the Parroquia de la Santa Veracruz is in a state of disrepair, and
the building itself is actually crooked due to the church being built on soft ground and years
of earthquakes shifting  the land. The inside of the church is simple in comparison to some
of the other churches, but still has the archways and ceilings adorned in golden decorations.

El Palacio de Correos de Mexico, or the Postal "Palace." It was built not too long
ago, in the early 1900's, and is a fully-functioning (and incredibly fancy) post office.

In the Postal Palace. I've never wanted to work in a post office so bad before. (Yep, those are marble floors).

El Templo y Ex-Convento de Santo Domingo, a church built in 1773 (still older than the USA).

Inside the Santo Domingo church. It's so eerily quiet here, I felt like each footstep would echo throughout the church.

Iglesia de la Profesa--yet another 300-year-old church, off of the pedestrian street Francisco I Madero.

Inside the Iglesia de la Profesa. There are no half-assed churches in DF, not even the smaller ones.

The first Franciscan Temple in Mexico City, the Iglesia de San Francisco, is nearly 500-years-old.

The inside of the Iglesia de San Francisco, complete with the golden apse and huge religious paintings on the walls.

Bellas Artes on a beautiful November day. On the bottom right of the building, see that thing
that looks like a giant spider/nope/nope combination? That's not usually there. Thank God. 

Easily the most iconic Cathedral in Mexico City, the Metropolitan Cathedral is huge! (Probably because
they started building it in 1573 and then spent the next 240 years adding sections on to it). Fun fact: stones
from the ruins of the Templo Mayor, which is directly beside/behind the cathedral, were used to make the
original cathedral way back in 1573. Cortes even made the Aztecs build his cathedral with the ruins of their city.

A section of the inside of the Metropolitan Cathedral. I got in trouble for taking a picture with worshiping people in it...

Another section inside the Metropolitan Cathedral. Wowza!

This walk around the Historic Center ate up several hours of my morning, and then I had to run off to work, but there is much more to this area. I'm sure I'll be heading back there soon enough, as it's one of my favorite areas to go for a walk!