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June 2
About 2 and a half miles from the hotel is the city’s largest park, Parque Tangamanga. The park has a pretty large lake so we decided to walk on down and check it out. Here in the city it’s pretty flat so it’s not a bad walk and we get to just mindlessly look around. I really wish we would of looked at the park/lake using satellite view on Google Maps. If so, we would have noticed an extensive amount of concrete surrounding the entire lake and the introduction of your basic sewage coming in from the lake’s North West corner. So let’s just say it was a rather stinky lake.
The lake was surrounded by quirky “low rider” benches, meaning the seat portions were only 6 inches off the ground. Were they designed for exercise or were the plans just misprinted? Want to have a seat and enjoy the view of the lake? Don’t sit. The concrete wall will block the view. However, you will be below the smell line.
Ok, ok, putting the lake aside, it was quite a nice park. I doubt it would ever feel crowded and there were plenty of activities available, including a boxing ring. I guess for a small fee you can get beat up in a controlled environment.
June 3
When traveling Mexico between cities by car you typically have two choices, Cuota o Libre (Toll or Free). Cuota is direct and usually has pretty good highway (but not guaranteed). If you’re in a hurry or paranoid about bandidos, choose the Cuota. Libre? That’s our preferred route. We get to go though all the little villages, dodge a cow or two and get to know Mexican speed bumps up close and personal. It’s also where all the spectacular views and “smells” are. We set out early for Rioverde, armed with fresh pan dulce and coffee and made a curvy “Bee” line for the free road.
We entered Rioverde and headed to the local hotel Sharon found. It was south of town down a dusty rutted street. One cool thing about Mexico is you should never judge a place by the street its on.
This is our hotel for a few nights; El Molino. It’s an old sugar cane field and mill swallowed up by the city.
June 4
The main reason we came to Rioverde is it is a good starting point to experience “Huasteca Potosina”. Sorry kids. I don’t know how to translate that so lets just call it the Huasteca region and move on. It’s full of beautiful waterfalls and wet, drippy countryside. The other reason is it’s minutes away from Media Luna, a constant temperature, spring fed crater with finger rivers that push you around in a gigantic circle. That’s where we spent today and it was sublime. I was able to practice a ton of Spanish since, well, Sharon and I kind of stick out in a Mexican crowd. But it was wonderful. Numerous locals thanked us for coming to Mexico, though I think a few of them just wanted to talk to Sharon. For more info and someone else’s pictures of this place, click HERE.
June 5
First waterfall of the day… take the free road to Tamasopo. That’s East about 50 miles, 30 miles by Toll. These falls have been bridled for local income but still are a sight to see. Right click on any of these and “Open in a New Tab” for a better look.
Not too far from these falls was Puente de Dios (Gods Bridge). There’s a lot of walkin’ involved to get to God’s Bridge. Just sayin’.
Thanks for sharing you are brave souls indeed!