Valle de Bravo (day 5)

We relaxed for the morning, and then after lunch we took the collectivo taxi into the town of Valle de Bravo. We're actually about 7 kms  (4.5 miles) from the center of town, but the taxis run regularly and are very inexpensive.

It costs just 10 pesos (80 cents) each for us to hop in a collectivo taxi to town. These are actual taxis, small Nissan Sentra type cars that run a specific route all day long. Sometimes, several cars will go by that have no room in them, and then one will come by empty, or with one or two people already in them and you simply hop in and get out whenever you want. The cost is different depending on where you get in and out. So it's essentially a shared taxi. Why don't they have this sort of public transportation in Canada or the U.S.?

There are very few gringos in Valle de Bravo. We find this very strange when you consider the number of gringos who retire in San Miguel de Allende and Ajijic (Lake Chapala area). We think it's the herd mentality. As an expat population grows, it simply attracts more expats. San Miguel de Allende would be a great place, except that 10% of the population are gringos. And we simply don't understand the attraction to Ajijic. They say it's the weather, but Valle de Bravo has similar weather and a MUCH better lake. And it's not any more expensive here, so where are the gringo's? As I say, it's very strange.

The lake was calm yesterday morning, and all the weekenders have gone home. If you notice the rock cliff on the hill to the left, that is where we climbed up to.

We walked to an area where there are many expensive Mexican homes.

Many of the homes are behind high walls and you can't really see what they look like.

And the cobbled road is fairly steep in places.

Most of the homes in this area are built with a beautiful view in mind.

We found a path that goes to the top above the expensive homes. Here's Ruth, enjoying the view!

Looking towards central Valle de Bravo.

Looking down on the expensive part of town!

A popular spot for hang gliding, in fact the world championships were held here in 2009.

Then, we walked to the center of town. We stopped at the bus terminal and found out the info for our bus ride to Mexico City. It's going to cost 130 pesos ($10.40) each for a one way ride. It takes two hours and 15 minutes to get there, and a bus leaves every hour on the hour in the morning.

We bought a fresh whole pineapple, a cantaloupe, and four grapefruits for a total of 32 pesos ($2.56)!

We were here in December of 2010, and so we knew that Valle de Bravo has a beautiful central plaza. We bought an ice cream and we sat and watched the people for a while. Then we took the collectivo taxi back to Sherman. What a great afternoon.