Mexican Fireworks! And our furniture arrived!

But before we get to the fireworks, we have some good news...

Almost all of our furniture arrived yesterday! They said they would deliver it around 10:00am. It was almost 10:45am when they showed up... but they only had one piece with them!

We took your advice!

I can't remember now who suggested it, but we took your advice to decorate our walls with photos of Mexico that we took ourselves.

I found a Mexican online company called Canvas Lab that prints your own digital photos onto canvas so that you can hang them on the wall.

The view up there is spectacular!

Our friends Fernando and Yessi (she is also our Spanish teacher) invited us to go for a hike in the state park that overlooks Valle de Bravo. Yessi's sister Blanka and her 10 year old son joined us.

And so we combined our hiking trip with our Spanish lesson!

Too bad about Trusted Housesitters

Long time readers will know that we have done a fair bit of house sitting over the years. 

One of the more popular platforms that we have used is called Trusted Housesitters. We were actually among the original members of Trusted Housesitters when they began operations back in 2010.

A house is just a place to keep your stuff.

We have a few Canadian visitors who are camping here. 

When we rented this place, we hadn't thought of the benefit of meeting the other travelers who come through here, and we enjoy doing that. We like telling people about the things to see and do in the area, as well as helping them plan their journey through other parts of Mexico.

A good time was had by all

We were invited to a Mexican birthday fiesta that took place yesterday. Our long time readers know that we have spent quite a lot of time here in Valle de Bravo, and this is where we originally met our friends Paco and Oti.

Yesterday was Paco's 70th birthday and they had a big celebration that took place in the nearby city of Toluca where they live.

Such is life in Mexico...

Our furniture is supposed to be delivered this weekend, and we need enough cash to pay them. The total bill is 31,500 pesos ($2,395 CAD, $1,733 USD), but we've already given them a 10,000 peso deposit. 

So we still need to give them 21,500 pesos in cash. The problem is that I'm only able to take out 6,000 pesos at a time with the limits on my ATM card. So it's meant a few trips into town this week to go to the bank.

Our home Wifi in Mexico

We hopped on the ATV and did a trip into town yesterday. Had some running around to do... go to the bank, do some shopping, etc.

And, we signed up for home internet WiFi.

Our furniture is almost ready!

We rented this place partially furnished. There was one good bed, some decent outdoor tables and chairs, a good fridge and stove. and a usable sofa. But that's about it. Very little in the way of kitchen accessories. No television(s). No closets.

And we knew that. In fact the price we're paying in rent is more reflective of a totally empty place that you would have to furnish yourself anyhow.

What's on the agenda for December?

On Sunday, we went for a long walk in the forest. We followed an old trail in the state park near Jiltotepec that wasn't showing on any of the maps, so we didn't know where it ended up or how far it went.

We ended up doing 13 kms (8 miles)!

November Expenses... pretty reasonable!

Our budget was $2.125 CAD ($1,522 USD) for the month of November, and we ended up spending $2,258 CAD ($1,618 USD).

And that includes the rent on our house!

Busy place! The parking lot is full!

We only made it out for a short hike yesterday, but it was a relaxing day overall.

Oh, I never told you about the problems with our gasoline furnace. A bit of a pain, but the fix is in progress.

There is a Mexican camper club arriving today

We got a decently early start yesterday morning, on the road at about 9:30am. Not the nicest weather though... it was raining pretty steadily when we left.

We had to drive 164 kms (102 miles), but most of it was on secondary roads and it's probably a 4 hour drive. Lots of topes (speed bumps) and built up areas. The choice was to partially take the toll highway (one section of which we had no choice but to do), but it really wouldn't have saved that much time, and it would cost more.

The Hacienda Santa Maria Regla

Looking down over the ridge from the park where Igor has spent the last two nights, we could see a large and interesting looking estate. Further research showed that it is an old silver mining hacienda built between 1760 and 1780 that has been turned into a hotel and event center.

They charge 100 pesos ($7.65 CAD, $5.45 USD) to access the grounds, and we thought it was well worth it!

Fantastic spot in Mexico rarely visited by foreign tourists

Of course most foreign tourists come to Mexico for the warmth and the beaches. But we found out early in our Mexico exploration that most of Mexico's best attractions are actually inland.

You would think that we have seen everything there is to see in Mexico, but not yet! In this instance, Ruth has had the Prismas Basalticos on her list for quite some time and we finally made it here. And, it is definitely worth a visit!

Interesting stuff... the English cemetery at Mineral del Monte, Mexico

I've mentioned in previous posts that mining specialists arrived from Cornwall, England to Veracruz, Mexico in the early 1800's. They had an arduous journey to get from Veracruz to the Pachuca area in Hidalgo dragging their steam engines along the way. Some died of yellow fever along the way.

There were about 130 men originally, followed by many more in the 1840's and 1850's. Eventually, about 350 men, some of whom had brought their families, had emigrated to this area of Mexico to work in the silver mines that had been bought by a British company.

No garbage cans... and yet no garbage!

Monday morning we drove up the hill from Mineral del Chico to Mineral del Monte. 

Mineral del Monte is a larger town, and at a higher elevation. Population about 14,000.

Back to Igor

We didn't have to be out of our room until noon, so we went for breakfast around 9:30am and then did some more wandering around in Pachuca. We had seen all the highlights, so weren't really looking for anything in particular.

Into the city of Pachuca for an overnight stay

We ended up having to move Igor. Not a big deal, but it certainly would have been more convenient not to have to. 

And then when we got to the new location a few minutes away, it wasn't the same guy and the price had gone up from 250 pesos to 280 pesos. Whatever. At least he's secure.

We'll be eating huaraches for the next few days!

Well, it turns out that we stayed in our spot for another night, which is convenient. They are cutting down some large dead trees in the area, and they started on the other side and likely won't even make it to our side until Monday. We might even be able to stay where we are for the weekend, but we'll find out this morning.

Oh, we never did show you a photo of where we are parked...