Sunday, October 25, 2009

San Felipe del Aqua

Ralph and I left our house on foot to walk down our hill and then up the other hill to San Felipe. We see more when we walk, so 5 hours later, we returned home dehydrated, sweaty and tired, but we certainly felt we got a good feel for San Felipe, a small village in the north end of Oaxaca city,
Our walk took us along the old aqueduct, which the city fathers built in the 16th centruy to tap the mountain springs in order to supply water to the city. We live about halfway along the aqueduct, and last week we walked south along it into the city. This week we walked north, to the source. The water is now fed through steel pipes under the road, but the old stone structure still stands.


 We were told that this is where the rich people lived. As we headed up the hill, we passed by several small Quintas, small farms, that looked abandoned or close to abandoned. Obvious changes: no dogs lying on the road, the wood doors gleamed and the barbed wire was fresh and new atop many homes. We stopped by Hotel Los Laureles for lunch, a posh hotel owned by a German couple. The grounds were lovely, the food was very good, and we enjoyed the break. Farther uphill we arrive at a dead end, with a lovely view of the valley. We had been looking for the national park entrance, so we asked and were told it was down the hill and on another road. We decided to save that for another day. We stopped by the square for Ralph to have a cigar, and I chilled and we chatted. A band started to play some decent jazz/latin in the garden restaurant opposite the church. The market stall owners began to close their stalls, their husbands bringing the pick up trucks over to haul away what was not sold. Time to head home. There is one main road that goes through San Felipe. Busses, donkeys, SUV's, silly tourists who thought walking was a good idea, it's up or down the street at any given time. We were not in love with San Felipe, but we had enjoyed our day.



2 comments:

winniedozois said...

Hi i real enjoy your blog, the pictures are beautiful. That was quite the walk. Well it is fianally warm today but windy. What is the temperture like there, I play the punch buggie game with Steve, Audrey, i get them all the time. Love Mom. xxxxxxxxxooooooooooo

Ralph said...

The temperature during the day is 25 to 30 C and mid to high teens over night. No challenge in playing punch-buggy here because there is always a VW in sight.