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!

Saturday, March 14, 2020

Yet another adventure for the group!

First off, let me address the craziness going on in the world. We do not talk about politics, our health, or the news unless it affects our travels. So far, what is happening in the world has not affected our travels. In fact, if it weren't for the internet we wouldn't even know about it.

And so that's all I have to say about it for now. If that changes, I will be the first to let you know! But for now, it is business as usual here at Travel with Kevin and Ruth.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Friday morning, we left the most beautiful campsite in Mexico. This is definitely an area we will return to.

Heading out on a rough dirt road.

Scenery along the way.

Looking down on the city of Pachuca.

Scenery along the way.




We are headed into thermal water park areas. 
Lots and lots of inflatable toys and water shoes for sale!

But you can also buy a copper pot if you like.

And other assorted trinkets.

Pigs and chickens off to market.


More scenery along the way.

We were headed for the Tolantongo Canyon Thermal Water area. It's located in the middle of nowhere in a deep canyon. Yet, it is a hugely popular spot and we were curious to see why.

There is a massive parking lot at the top of the canyon. This is for the many tour buses that arrive. Then, they have shuttle buses to bring the hordes of people down into the canyon.

The road down is steep with about a dozen tight switchbacks. The tour buses can't make it down. But motorhomes under 30' can make it down!

I went on a scouting trip with Sue and Roy in their class B. 

The road was steep... it drops almost 1,400' in 5 kms (3 miles). But there are probably 8 pulloffs along the way where a vehicle going down could stop to let their brakes cool if necessary... or if you are going up to let their engine cool if necessary.

I made a judgement call to bring the group down there! Once again, the end result is worth it.

Scenery from the upper bus parking area.


Yep, we are headed down there!

The first switchback.

Another one.

Scenery along the way.

Looking down at where we are headed.

You can see the river from here.

Everybody made it down just fine. Sherman's brakes were getting hot though, and I'm sure everybody else's were too. Now, we just have to make it back out!

We got ourselves parked up in an area where we actually have some shade. It's pretty warm... temperature about 28C (84F) during the day, and about 18C (66F) overnight.

Then we went out exploring. It's a huge facility.Really hard to believe how they developed it so much down here in the canyon.

There is a thermal river coming out of a waterfall and cave system. They have damned up about 40 sections of the river and made them into swimming pools...

People relaxing in the thermal river.

Hey, I think I recognize the people in the upper section!

They have a few normal swimming pools as well.

Quite a few people around, but it will be far busier Saturday and Sunday.

Mona, Roger, Owenita, and Aron enjoying the water!



This is a long weekend in Mexico... Monday is a federal holiday. So the people and cars are filling the place up quickly.., it's going to be busy!

We will stay here a few days... lots to enjoy!

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10 comments:

  1. That is definitely an area worth visiting and it looked like everybody's enjoying themselves.
    Be Safe!

    It's about time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was definitely an area worth visiting. We have never seen anything like this in all of our travels throughout the world. Yes, I think everyone enjoyed themselves, even though it was a very busy weekend.

      Delete
  2. OMG Coronavirus!! Just kidding. Wow love the thermal water baths. What's the temperature of water? I've bathe in some pretty hot water in Nevada but the result is unbelievable relaxation. Enjoy your trip because we are enjoying it too from afar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The temperature of the river is about 36-38C (97-100F), it was just like being in a bathtub. We loved the temperature and the colour of the water, definitely an amazing sight.

      Delete
  3. I checked out more pictures on the web, it looks just fantastic...I could live there if I could get a cheeseburger-fries-and a chocolate malt.
    I can't believe you took Sherm down that road; and there is still the ride up..
    I am envious...It snowed here yesterday and I had just put my snowblower away for the year...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And the pictures on the internet show it like it is, definitely an amazing place to visit. Not sure that you could get a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate malt but trust us there was a lot of other delicious smelling food cooking away there, you would never starve that is for sure.

      Sherman, never missed a beat going down or up but he did need a rest after doing it.

      I am sure that snow won't last long!

      Delete
  4. I'm a dog walker at a humane society and this morning they had a room set aside for any DOGS that might come in with coronavirus symptoms - yup, crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a beautiful river! The water looks so clean. Hope you can all make it back up that steep road -- wow. At least it looked nice and smooth, with no potholes. I'd be interested in the water temp as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We all made it back with no problems, including Sherman! :-)

      Part of the road was a concrete road which was relatively smooth but the bottom part of it was just had packed gravel/dirt, luckily that part wasn't the steepest part of the road. The river had an average temperature of 36-38C (97-100F).

      Delete

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