Pachuca and Mineral del Chico

The Bell Tower on Pachuca's Zócalo

Last Saturday, H. told me that she would only work until 3pm (normally she works until 6), so we decided spontaneously to use the extra time and travel to nearby Pachuca still the very same day.

Pachuca is the capital of the state of Hidalgo, less than 2 hours away from Mexico City. We arrived at night, checked in our hotel and immediately left to discover a bit more of the unknown city.

At first, it seemed extremely quite (H. perceived it as almost "dead"), but than we spotted some funky lightning at the end of a street. Attracted by this "sign of life" we headed straight to the source and blundered directly into a local fiesta.

It was pretty funny: While for me it was just the "standard fare", H. was totally excited about each and every single stall (Special breads! Hot punch! Deep-fried syrup sweets! Incense materials! Traditional music performances!). I realized that such kind of markets was probably typical for "towns" like my home base Cholula, but in metropolitan Mexico City it was not so usual.

It was also here that I finally found a handily sized mortar. Normally, Mexican molcajetes have the size of a child's head and they are very heavy due to the basalt which they are made out of. Too big and too heavy for my needs. But here on the market I suddenly spotted "miniature editions" of the traditional tool. While a true Mexican mamá would probably pooh-pooh them, they were just perfect for me. After 5 minutes of careful selection (no mortar resembling a pig - the only alternative were turtles, though; enough depth) and some ridiculously cheap 25 pesos (1.8 USD) poorer, I turned into the happy owner of my own molcajete.

We sat down at a nearby street stall to have a late dinner and when I put my mortar on the table, I noticed the lucky combination of my new kitchen utensil and the table cloth - ¡Viva México!

My new  mortar

Although Pachuca seems to be a nice city, it especially serves as a convenient starting point to the beautiful national park "El Chico". The cover of the chapbook H. had taken with her was the perfect attunement for what would await us the next day.

After a quick brekky at the local market (it's pineapple season - so sweet!), we headed to the shared taxis in order to drive to Mineral del Chico, a pueblo mágico (magical village) located inside the national park.

On the way I found some interesting culinary morsels like live maggots. Hey, you have to admit, the color is somewhat appealing!

Living maggots on sale in Pachuca

Yet, I was more attracted by the locally harvested mushrooms the region is famous for. Due to the current rainy season they were abundant. Later I had some in a local dish and guess what - they turned out to be edible (at least I'm still alive).

After a one-hour drive we arrived in Mineral del Chico. It was soooo nice and tranquil. No other people, no noise, fresh air. Just the bleats of some sheep and the crow of a cock.

Mineral del Chico

The whole area around Pachuca looks back on a long history of mining, introduced by the Brits. Not surprising that the housing style somehow resembles what I know from Europe. Even the flora was pretty much like in my German hometown - which I wouldn't say so for the fauna, though...

Hello alien!

As I said: Tranquil and idyllic. Small streams, weathered wooden bridges, joking Korean girls...

"Sure I will cross it, don't believe me?!"

Exploring a mining town of course includes a trip into a local "mina". Due to the heavy rain of previous days (during our visit the clerk of the weather was luckily on our side), the first mine was closed, but the we didn't have to go far to reach the next one.

Although we didn't find any silver, we had a lot of fun.

I'm pretty sure that in Germany it wouldn't be allowed to make a mine without any lightning accessible to tourists. Well, at least we had strong flashlights. And compared to some caves I explored in the north of Thailand, this one was actually as safe as it could get.

Soaked and dirty, but very happy we left the mine. Our next destination was a viewpoint, which according to a street sign was some "5 minutes away". Ok, Mexican five minutes. And by car. But still, we walked and walked... no viewpoint. Well, at least none which I would recognize as such. The outlook was always magnificent anway.

Mineral del Chico - remembered me a bit of the Schönbuch, the wood next to where I grew up.

At some point it began to rain lightly, but this didn't have any negative effect on our good mood. Having escaped the maelstrom of big city life, directly into such a natural paradise was rewarding enough.

The local church dates back to the 16th century.

As soon as H. had found out that the local specialty were not only the pastes brought by the Brits as a copy of their Cornish Pasty, but that it was moreover river trout, she didn't get tired of reminding me that we definitely had to try that dish. Well, fresh fish from time to time can do no harm, even to a vegetarian. Indeed, it was really good, especially together with the local mushrooms. Funnily enough, it was not us but the chef himself who asked us to take a photo with him. How couldn't we?!

After a delish meal with the great chef.

What more can I say? A great and relaxed weekend!

Oh and by the way: In one of the blogs I cited in a previous post I came across a great song by R.E.M. and it really got stuck in my head even until now, several weeks after. Check it out - it's sooo good!