It was then time to cross the mountains again and head for the Pacific Coast, this time staying in the small town of Barra de Navidad.
We spent a couple of days there then hit the coast road again heading south east, our ultimate destination was Ixtapa / Zihuatenejo. It was too long a drive for one day so we stopped in the village of San Juan de Alima. Its still low season here and we had the beach (and the hotel) almost to ourselves. Mark enjoyed bobbing around in the surf.
As we continued on our way along the winding coast road, the views were stunning. Miles upon miles of golden sandy beaches and azure sea interspersed with rocky headlands stretched out before us. Unfortunately too many trees along the roadside meant I couldn't take any decent photos.
We stayed in Ixtapa, another resort town full of expats and snowbirds. It was just around the headland from Zihuatenejo which is mentioned in the film The Shawshank Redemption. A few miles south of the main area was a lovely, almost deserted beach so we had a long walk along it to the rocks
Time to say goodbye to the Pacific for now and head back inland.
Uruapan is at the western edge of the Purepechan Highlands and at 1,620m above sea level, it's the centre of Mexico's avacado growing region. There's a national park in the centre of town, Barranca del Cupatitzio, which was amazing, with waterfalls everywhere. It's centred around the headwaters of the Cupatitzio River which emerges from an underground spring. This then carves a small ravine and the streams and springs form small waterfalls. It had the feel of a tropical rainforest similar to northern Queensland and we spent a lovely afternoon strolling through the park.
There was also a trout farm in the middle so that evening we decided to have fresh trout for dinner :-)
From Uruapan we visited our first ruins and pyramid at Tingambato. Its a small ancient Tarascan site including a pyramid, sacraficial altars and a ball court and is dated from about AD450 to 900
Next we visited the lovely town of Patzcuaro, with beautiful buildings and a really nice town square. The town was founded around the 1320's and is one of the 100 Historic World Treasure Cities by the United Nations. It's also at 2,140m above sea level, so higher than Uruapan.
The Stirrup Volcano is on the outskirts of town and Mark went for a hike up to the lookout then had an additional 455 large steps to get to the top. The view was fantastic.
Patzcuaro is on the southern edge of the lake of the same name. Janitzio is the largest island in the lake and has a 40 metre statue of the Mexican hero Jose Maria Morelos y Pavin that is at the top of the hill.
Next, on to Leon and the centre of Mexico's leather industry. Still at altitude, this time 1,800m but we're getting used to it. More old buildings and churches and so much history, too much to go into here .
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