Hot springs in the rain

To mark Janet’s birthday (won’t say which one), the two of us planned a fun-filled weekend in the state of Hidalgo. Unfortunately in our planning, freezing cold, rainy, foggy weather was not initially included, but kinda overtook the weekend. After arriving in Pachuca on Friday night to rain, cold, and fog, we remained optimistic that it would pass by Saturday, or that our Saturday destination, Tolantongo, would be free of the Pachuca weather. However, even after traveling an hour and a half north-west to the town of Ixmiquilpan, we were still not out of the damp weather, but at least while waiting for the combi to Tolantongo, we got to see pick-up trucks full of the traditional day of the dead flower (yellow carnations basically).
Once a group had collected, we packed into the combi and set out for the ejido-owned Tolantongo. According to literature on the internet and word-of-mouth, Tolantongo is supposed to be a gorgeous place with thermal springs, waterfalls, and strikingly blue water. Before we could get there though, we had to endure one of the top five scariest transportation adventures I have had in Mexico so far. Picture 10 kilometers of a descent with 15+ hairpin turns, combined with a continuous downpour, fog, mud, and bald tires on the combi. After several tense moments of fish-tailing, the driver slowed down a little and drove with a little bit more caution, but we were all sharing questioning looks as an alarm started sounding and the smell of smoke became increasingly apparent.

But we finally arrived, and found the crystal clear blue waters running a chocolate milk colored brown, the valley wrapped in thick fog, and the rain coming down even harder. So swimming in the thermal river was a no-go with the currents and the mud (and who knows what else from up-stream waters), but there was a “thermal” swimming pool. So we hopped into our suits and headed to the pool to warm up, but only got about ankle deep before realizing that our definition of “thermal” or “hot” water was markedly different from those in the water. So we headed back to the changing rooms and our rain coats and into the restaurant.

Feeling slightly discouraged by the lack of hot springs, we decided to make the hike to the waterfall, and that is where the day was salvaged. The waterfalls were some of the most beautiful I have seen so far in Mexico. The wild noche buenas (or poinsettias) were blooming all around and everything was wrapped in fog and steam from the hot springs. There was also a tunnel behind the falls that Janet went into, braving the long, wet, cold ride home (wrapped only in a very small sarong) on a 1950´s bus with an amazing gold and maroon interior.


Sunday we bummed around Pachuca (a town with strong British ties since it was founded by British miners) and went to the photography museum and dodged more rain and cold. The offices for one of the state universities of Hidalgo has an impressive display of topiaries in their front lawn, complete with dinos, bulls, unicorns, giraffes, and just about anything else you can imagine.