Las Pozas! Just incredible! I've loved the story of Edward James since I first heard about him. Talking to the guys from Xilitla that work there, they have lots of stories from their fathers who worked for him. He apparently had quite a dirt phobia, washing his hands constantly, washing his money, throwing away clothes after he wore them. He also was very giving, many of the kids in the area went to school because of him and he contributed a lot to various local improvements. He would draw his ideas on paper and the workers would figure out a way to build molds and make it out of concrete.

We only had an hour but we walked in and around the outer walls to see the ponds and waterfalls. There are flying buttresses that don't look like they are holding much, niches with concrete flowers, stairs to infinity, cliffs covered with ferns and orchids...

Going the other direction, the path is lined with stone snakes and a moon gate. Towers that look like egyptian lotus and are filled with orchids.

Large hands tucked next to a wall.

We were just enthralled and we are determined to return for more than one day so we can camp there and inhale the whole place day and night.

But, it was dusk and we had to leave. We got turned around and headed back down the mountain to highway 85. We stopped in the town of Matalpa which has a wide parking area along the road just past the small centro. We parked and I went across the street to talk to the neighbors who had a small store selling shoes in the front of their house. They were very welcoming, told me it was safe and that the land next to us was federal grazing land.

It was good to be out of the mountains and on level ground again. Mimi did an outstanding job (as usual) of getting us in and out of Xilitla - which hangs on the edge of a canyon - and down from the mountain in the gloom.

Matalpa has a couple block long lively center with lots of small places to eat. We walked along and spotted a storefront taco place with the meat cooking 'al pastor' in front, my favorite. Marinated meat is layered with pineapple on a spike that rotates in front of a gas grill, it is sliced off thinly as needed so you always get the crisp part that was closest to the fire. It was delicious and I ate 2 orders, 8 small tacos.

Back to the rig to read, a very quiet night.