Tepotzlan

On Sunday my Servas family from Cuernavaca (Alfredo, Liliana, Lilli, and Alfredo Jr.) and I went on a day trip to the small, but beautiful, town of Tepozlan. It started off as a rainy day, but cleared up later in the afternoon and turned into a beautiful day. The highlight of Tepozlan is the hike up a nearby mountain to the prehispanic pyramid that looks over Tepotzlan and the surrounding landscape. The family had hiked the mountain before and it was raining when we arrived so we spent the first part of the day walking around town and having lunch.

Sunday is a big market day in Tepotzlan and there was a lot to see. I don't have much space to carry market goods, and I probably won't be back home very soon to drop them off, so I wasn't looking for anything, but they looked good and made for an interesting sight. Another highlight of Tepotzlan is the beautiful old convent. While dodging the intermittent rain we took cover in the convent which had great courtyard as well as a view towards the mountain that I would later climb.






















Outside the convent a tent was set up that gave cover to a beautiful mosaic being assembled to temporarily decorate the entrance of the Convent and adjoining church. The mosaic was made with over 70 types of different seeds and beans glued together to create a number of impressively colorful and artistic designs, and none of them were dyed.



















After a great lunch the rain cleared up and I went to climb the mountain and hang out on the pyramid overlooking the town. The trail was slick and steep but the sun was out and it had turned into a beautiful day. It was a workout making it up the steep, wooded mountain but the view was worth every bit of sweat. The pyramid was a small, but a cool sight and a great place to look out over the world. On the way back down the mountain I met Irene, a woman from Spain who is working for a month in Mexico. We would see each other the next day in Cuernavaca.





















Colored seed and bean mosaic