Big fat greeting from Mexico. I can’t believe it that I am here already. Mixed feelings for sure! Finally my fourth country in the last 2 years. Time flies, plans changed, and of course no regrets! I am loviiiiing it. Moving to Mexico is one of a huge challenge, but I can do a lot of my outdoor hobbies, from diving to hiking!
This time, I am excited to share with you guys for my journey last week with my neighbour, Shane. Last minute decision, but still it was the best decision to make that day. We depart around 10.10 in the morning from La Cruz de Huanacaxtle, Nayarit. Sun was out, so ready to absorb the light, but don’t forget to use your UV protection guys!
Half way to go!
We drove up north following the Google Maps to Alta Vista for around an hour and fifteen minutes. The location that Google brought us wasn’t that persistent. We followed the route down south and thought we were lost in the middle of nowhere. We passed by a very long bath of pebble roads in the middle of forests. Here’s what we found!
What I mean by pebble road
Aguas Termales
To be honest, we didn’t expect anything from being lost. But we found this amazing place which for sure, only locals knew about it. Swim suit ready, and let’s dip in the hot thermal water! The most amazing part must be going out the hot pool and move to the fresh pool. We just need it after those long drive. We saw some locals there, they even cook with charcoal, I guess? The smell wasn’t great:(
They look so happy!!!
After a long talk about life, we just double our swimwear with our hiking attire. We decided to ask more locals regarding the place we really want to visit. Beforehand, I read this article online but it was not really helpful because there are no step-by-step guide how to get there. But now that I had the full experience, I can share it with you guys.
While driving up back north to Alta Vista which took around 45 minutes back, we decided to stop for a cold beer. And suddenly it was actually the place where we found the local guide. We saw so many people guys chilling around there. After we bought the beer, we just asked the seller about the place without an actual name. He then introduced us to Christopher, a young locals. There’s a guy who helped us in translating everything to English, but it wasn’t necessary because we both do speak Spanish. We finally reached a decision to pay him MXN$400 for the guiding service.
This is the place where you can find the guides!
Christopher then went to the Jeep that we were driving with, showing the roads to get to the place named, Las Ruinas. After a 5 minute drive, we reach this spot
https://www.google.com/maps/place/21°05’28.6%22N+105°10’17.1%22W/@21.0728523,-105.2361938,12z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x842129206128d78b:0xe3bc2c096a0db626!7e2!8m2!3d21.0912671!4d-105.1714325 (it’s a horse ranch).
Just in front of it, there’s a sealed gate with spikes and wood. From there, we start a little drive!
This is the entrance with spikes and wood
We drove little to the east where there are no exact route to be honest. Just forest with tall grass, tree, and bushes. We will never ever found this route without a guide, very worth it! We were able to pass through all of those paths with the Jeep, a sedan can’t even bare to pass this kind of route. Christopher also mention that we can actually start hiking before the forest path, but it will take us around 2 hours to get to Las Ruinas. Also, there is an alternative road (which is longer) which will take 2-hour drive on road.
Driving to the spot where we start the hike was not long at all, maybe around 15 minutes? Under the clouds, we started the hike gracefully until the part where we enter the real forest where low hiking skill is needed. As we walk a little bit, we finally reach the entrance of the ruins, finally!!! Starting here, we can find wooden banners full of information that we have to know about the history about this place.
I can still imagine the smell of the scrubs, it was fresh! After a little walk, Christopher let us try a coconut oil fruit, look! It was delicious as a snack. Afterwards, we finally saw the first stone carving which looks like eyes. The hike was not long at all, maybe just a half an hour to see everything and pictures!
Here are more pictures for you to see what we have seen! From arrows, spirals, sun, and other interesting shapes carved deeply into the stones. We can also see some stones with “givings” on top of it, he said it’s for ceremonies.
After another little hike, we found a small waterfall.
“This is the bath of the kings and queens about 3000 years ago!”. Christopher said.
And of course I tried to pose like one in the pictures below! The water aren’t that clear. That’s why we decided to continue walking and finish all the track.
The small waterfall
The seat for the queens back in the old days
That was the last check point from the whole hike. We decided to come back from that 25 minute hike and look what we found! Fresh soursop just from the tree. Taste sooooo great. By the time we wanna drive back, Christopher offered us another place to explore. It’s a very old place where they suppose to make coffee. The name is Amigo Producto de Cafe, it was about 5-10 minute drive.
Some locals helped us to unlock the door of this place, they said it was a coffee factory until an earthquake came to destroy the whole building. So many coffee machines are made in New York–interesting.
And that’s a wrap!! See you on the next one:)
Tips on what to bring: sunglasses, towel, swimsuit, snacks, water, sun block (UV protection), bug spray, an extra change for clothes.
chromatic voyage 