Exhausted!

Tuesday was a relax day... we just did some chores around Igor and I got the taxes pretty much completed.

We needed a break after our hike on Monday... plus, we were about to have another busy day on Wednesday!

Tuesday evening, our hosts made a special dish for dinner and invited us all to enjoy. Can't say enough good things about these people. There's a reason we're still here! Afterwards, we sat around chatting with the others, and Ruth showed some photos of our previous travels...

Viviana, Norma, Leilani, Christian, Kayly, Ruth, Katerina, Eva, Simon.

Yummy! Its a pork dish called cochinita pibil.

Showing off some of our photos from past travels.

Simon, Eva, and Katerina took off yesterday morning...

Group ussie as they said goodbye!

Wednesday morning, they drove Ruth and I in to the city of Cordoba. It's only about 8 kms (5 miles) away, but separated by a canyon and river.

Just to give you an idea, we are located where the red pin is. We have already visited Orizaba to the west, but yesterday we went to Cordoba and Fortin de las Flores to the east.

Cordoba is a larger city, and not as nice as Orizaba.

Still, it has a nice central plaza.

The municipal building.

There is a large mural surrounding the staircase in the municipal building.

It starts by depicting the ancient times.

The arrival of the Spanish.

And more modern times.

The Cordoba Cathedral.

Interior.

The Gran Hotel opposite the plaza.

Cordoba doesn't get many western tourists... we didn't see another gringo the entire time. Several people came up to us asking where we were from. Everybody was very friendly though.

We walked up to the Ex Hacienda Toxpan where they used to process sugar cane. There is a museum there, but unfortunately the whole property was closed for renovations.

Photo taken through the locked gate.

I took this photo outside a primary school because of the funny minions.

The chickens use the sidewalk. 

No, we didn't see them cross the road!

Murals of some famous figures who originated from Cordoba.

We walked back to the center of town, and hopped on a bus for 10 pesos (80 cents CAD, 58 cents USD) each to take the bus to Fortin de las Flores. Simply called "Fortin" by the locals. About a twenty minute bus ride.

The municipal building in Fortin.

I think they need a better sign.

Big tree in the plaza.

It was going to be about a 4.5 km walk back to Igor. We had already done a lot of walking, but we decided to go for it. After all, we need the exercise! Only problem was that our host Christian had warmed us about one area that's known to be not very safe. We kind of forgot about that until we were half way there, but decided to keep going.

Pretty flowers.

Big bamboo forest beside the road.

We had to go down a big ravine by the river, and then back up the other side. We got to a balneario (swimming pool) and there was a sign at the beginning of the many steps up. It said in Spanish "Warning. Do not go any further without checking to see if there is security".

I probably would have continued, but Ruth is the wiser one of the two of us. We asked a local lady and she said it's not recommended. So we turned around and headed all the way back up the hill to Fortin!

Back in town, we unsuccessfully tried to figure out the bus system. Resorting to a taxi, something strange occurred. I asked the driver how much it would cost. I even showed him the map of where we needed to go, only 4.5 kms away. He said it was 200 pesos. I would have guessed that it was maximum 80 pesos. So we said no, and carried on.

We ended up walking to the main highway to catch the bus there. After waiting a while, and almost getting on the wrong bus, it was starting to rain.

We decided to try a taxi again. This time, we were only 3 kms away. The price was once again quoted at 200 pesos!

We went back to the bus stop and managed to get on the right bus.

Back at Igor, we asked Christian about the taxi situation. He said it should have cost 50 pesos! So we have no idea why we were being quoted so much. Maybe the taxi driver communicated to the other taxis that there were a couple of gringos in town? Who knows. But as the old saying goes... I was born at night, but it wasn't last night!

We were exhausted. No idea how far we walked yesterday, but both of our phones told us we had done around 25,000 steps!

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