A hike and a new gas station!

There are new Pemex gas stations being built all over Mexico. And they're building one right next door to Hacienda Contreras! We went for a hike yesterday morning to get a bird's eye view of the situation...

Market day!

We love Saturdays here at Hacienda Contreras. That's because it's market day in the nearby town of Valle de Juarez, so we try and do a weeks worth of grocery shopping all at once. That means stopping at a few different places, including our favorite fruit and veggie guy Martin!

These boots are made for walking.

And that's just what they'll do. Well, our boots have done quite a bit of walking and I need some new ones!

Quetzaltrekkers

Our regular readers will remember the excitement, exhaustion, spectacular scenery and great photographs that we experienced during the two Quetzaltrekkers  hiking trips that we did in Guatemala in February. We wanted to tell you a little about the organization itself and the worthwhile cause that they support.

I knew I shoulda took that left turn at Albuquerque!

We arrived back at Hacienda Contreras RV Park on Sunday, and here it is Thursday morning and we haven't left the gates of the park! I guess we really needed the break. Usually we're antsy to get out and explore and do some hiking. But we have been keeping busy, and with some important stuff!

Landing Dream House Sitting Jobs

Last month, we presented part one of a two part series on house sitting...

http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2013/02/want-to-housesit-top-tips-to-get-started.html

Here is part two...

Time flies when you're having fun!

Yesterday, we got the little blue car unpacked and Sherman sorted out for our three week stay here. I rinsed the roof off and cleaned the solar panels. We went to a one hour Spanish lesson that Barb gives to any of the campers who want to attend. Ruth made a nice roast chicken dinner. And the day just disappeared.

Happy to be back at Hacienda Contreras RV Park!

We were up early yesterday morning with intentions on leaving Puebla at 7:30am. But it was 8:30am when we eventually hit the road and headed out of town for our long drive. We figured that traffic would be light on a Sunday morning, and we were right.

Exploring the City of Puebla

Seems to us that Puebla isn't on the radar of many people who visit Mexico, or many expats who make Mexico their home. After this short visit, we can't figure out why not. It has near perfect weather, it's a very clean and modern city, and from what we saw it doesn't even have any traffic problems. I even drove downtown!

Oaxaca City to Puebla

We were up early yesterday morning to try and get out of Oaxaca City before there was too much traffic, but we still didn't actually hit the road until about 8:10am. It was no problem though and we were soon on a beautiful four lane toll highway heading towards Puebla.

Petrified waterfalls!

What a totally fantastic day we had yesterday! First, we went and visited the widest tree in the world. You can read about that in last night's post here...

http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2013/03/the-widest-tree-in-world.html

But then, our day got even better as we visited Hierve el Agua (The Water Boils). This amazing attraction is where spring water with an extremely high mineral content has taken thousands of years to make natural rock formations that look like waterfalls!

The widest tree in the world!

Not the tallest...not the oldest...but the widest tree in the world is the Tule Tree in the town of Santa Maria del Tule, only 10 kms east of Oaxaca City.

What a tree!

Walking tour of Oaxaca, and more protests!

Ruth planned out a nice walking tour for us yesterday and we ended up doing almost 8 kms (5 miles). The route took us on the north side of town which is a little newer and seems a little more well to do than the central area or the south side of Oaxaca.

Monte Alban Ruins and Oaxaca Protests

Yesterday we took the little blue car for a drive. The Monte Alban ruins are only about 10 kms (6 miles) from the center of Oaxaca City, but they're not that easy to get to using alternate transportation. There are city buses that go in the direction of the ruins, but it still leaves you with an hour walk to get there, or you can pay 100 pesos ($8.30) each for a shuttle bus ride, or you can pay even more to go with one of the many tour companies catering to the tourists. It was easier and cheaper to take the little blue car!

Overlooking Oaxaca City and surrounded by gold!

It's been a few days since we've had a decent hike, although we were due for a bit of a rest after our Guatemala trip. However, our host Susana here at the apartment offered to go with us up the Cerro del Fortin mountain that sits in the center of Oaxaca City, so we eagerly accepted her offer.