Taxco

I had planned to visit the Aztec ruins at Malinalco, but after inquiring at the bus station in Cuernavaca as to the bus route and finding that I would have to take a bus to a nearby city and then a taxi to the city itself and then another taxi to a different city in order to catch a bus to Taxco, I decided, somewhat unadventurously, that I would skip Malinalco and instead head straight to Taxco where I knew I would find a clean room and a welcoming, familiar city.

So after another night in my room, devoid of visible roaches, thanks to my strategically placed bedspread and liberal use of mosquito repellent on and around any potential hiding places, I caught the bus for the hour ride to Taxco where I found the city just as beautiful and captivating it had been on my previous visit.

I left the bus station and caught a combi to the zocolo where I asked my way down the windy streets, through the maze of market stalls to my hostel. After I had been shown to the dormitory, I met Anya and Grace, two other girls travelling on their own from Switzerland and Australia, respectively, who invited me to breakfast. After a delicious breakfast burrito, we headed to the silver shops.

Besides being an unbelievably picturesque city of steep winding cobblestone streets flanked by gleaming white buildings topped with red Spanish tile roofs, Taxco is the silver mining capital of Mexico, if not the world, and is laden with countless shops filled with a multitude of pieces of silver from jewellery, to tableware to ornaments, most, for the diligent shopper, at extremely low prices. Happy to have two other girls, equally as eager to shop, with whom to share my day, we set off in search of the bargains.

A good six or seven hours later, tired, hungry and a bit sore from trudging up and down Taco’s winding streets, but satified with our day, we sat down for dinner on a balcony overlooking one of the city’s many local squares and talked about our lives, our travels, our respective countries and our similarly as yet undefined plans for the future.

This morning, we took a cable car ride out for a bird’s eye view of the city before parting ways, Anya to Oaxaca, Grace to Guanajato and me to another relaxing afternoon of sightseeing in Taxco before heading to Acapulco in the morning.