Blowhole at the waterfront of Xcaret Park near Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Playa del Carmen, Mexico.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Toluca on December 24th!

Monday, December 1, 2014

Busy Sunday in Valle de Bravo

We relaxed for the morning, then after lunch we took the collectivo taxi into Valle de Bravo. A "collectivo taxi" is a taxi that runs a regular route, but it's shared with other people who it stops to pick up along the way. It's just a cheaper version of a taxi. From where we are, it costs 10 pesos ($0.87) each to take the collectivo taxi, whereas if we flagged down a private taxi it would cost 50 pesos ($4.35) in total.

Made it into town, and traffic was bad...so we got out and walked!

Besides, it was a beautiful day! We walked up through the market, and then over to the central plaza where we just sat and had a paleta (ice cream popsicle) and people watched.

"El Centro" in Valle de Bravo.

It's Christmas in less than 4 weeks!

This little cutie was next to us in the plaza. 

The guy with the baseball hat was selling toys. He sure did attract a lot of attention from any children wandering by!

The caricature guy was doing some business too.

From there, we walked over to the waterfront. We've never seen Valle de Bravo so busy! Lots of people come from Toluca and Mexico City to enjoy everything the area has to offer. 

It's such a pretty spot.

The harbour.

Huh??

The area is popular with paragliders.

This one is coming in for a lunar landing!

Lago Avandaro.

As we said the other day, the water level is the highest we have ever seen it.

I guess this guy isn't going anywhere!

From there, we wandered back to el centro. Stopped in at a church that is sort of famous because the Jesus on the cross is a black guy.

Black Jesus. 

Typical Valle de Bravo street.

Ruth, with her new friend!

We had a fun afternoon wandering around. We took the collectivo back to where we're staying and it was about 4:30pm when we arrived. The guy who owns the embarkadero (marina) is our friend Chago. He and his wife Carmen were sitting out with a couple of employees and their son and we went over and joined them.

Sitting out having some tacos.

Ruth, saying hello to Bruno. He's a big boy!

Ruth, trying to hook the ball on the stick. None of us were very good at it!

Carmen and Chago.

Another day done!

Today, we head back to Toluca. Tomorrow, we fly to Puerto Vallarta and the motorhome! Yay!

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20 comments:

  1. Looks like a great place! LOVE the lunar landing shot!

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    Replies
    1. It's beautiful here and is one of our three most favourite places in Mexico.

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  2. Love the picture of Bruno, he looks like Chester's brother.
    Good to see the nativity on full display, not having to be politically correct.
    Beautiful area.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now that you mention it, I definitely can see a resemblence. I don't believe Mexico has any problems with the "politically correct" thing here. Besides the majority of the population is Catholic.

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  3. Sounds like another fun day, but now back to Sherman, yay is right.

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  4. Sherman may not recognize you guys, since you've been gone so long. Bruno is a cutie.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope not! I am pretty sure he will be as excited to see us as we are to see him.

      Bruno is a sweetheart, he is a bit of a dope but super friendly!

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  5. Nice that you had a chance to revisit the area. Ruth's new friend seems to be the type that could grow on you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We love coming here, it's a little of the beaten path to get here but to us it is worth the effort.

      Delete
  6. Hope you had a lovely birthday Ruth.
    Does that make you a follow Sagittarius?
    You know what they say about us-Suitcase always half packed.

    Sft x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had a wonderful birthday, thank you! Yes, that makes me another Sagittarius. I have never heard that saying before but it sounds pretty accurate. :-)

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  7. Interesting story about how the Black Christ arrived to Valle de Bravo. It's in Spanish so you cna translate it.
    http://www.padulcofrade.com/monograficos/leyendas_y_tradiciones/cristo_negro.htm

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    Replies
    1. Yes it is an interesting story. I found a condensed version that I found on the internt.

      "The figure was given to the natives by an unnamed stranger. In a climate of conflict between the indigenous communities, there was a particularly ferocious battle that resulted in a fire in the hut where the figure was kept. The figure impressively withstood the fire that only changed the color of the figure's skin. It became an icon of the city."

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  8. Valle de Bravo looks like we would love it. Sigh.......

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    Replies
    1. Valle de Bravo is one of our three favourite places in Mexico! We really love it here.

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  9. Hi again,

    What are your other two (besides Valle) favorite places in Mexico?

    Mark and Terri

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    Replies
    1. One is Barra de Colotepec just a tiny bit south of Puerto Escondido because of a Mexican family that we have met and who pretty much adopted us. ;-) The other is Valle de Juarez which is about 10km away from Mazamitla, Jalisco because of the rural location, the people and the scenery.

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