July 2007 - Mexico File News

June/July 2007
VOLUME XII, NUMBER 7
Pyramids Along
the Puuc Route
by Jeanine Lee Kitchel ©
Jeanine Lee Kitchel is an expat living in Puerto
Morelos, Quintana Roo. Her travel memoir,
Where the Sky is Born: Living in the Land
of the Maya, is available at amazon.com.
Contact her at [email protected]
Although the sign is missing at the site,
the pyramids at Labna are not to be missed
along the Puuc Route.
The 41 kilometer road that follows this
Mayan trail is so dotted with pyramids,
one almost tires of seeing the breathtaking
structures hidden behind these simple,
sometimes unmarked, entrances. Of course
Uxmal is the jewel in the Puuc crown,
but Uxmal receives far humbler billing
than mighty Chichen Itza, its neighbor to
the north. Do not be deceived, however.
Uxmal well rivals Chichen Itza, and like
Labna and the others here in the Yucatan,
it is something to behold. As a Mayaphile,
I wondered why I’d waited so long to take
this journey along “La Ruta Puuc.”
Stairway to
Heaven
by “Mexico” Mike Nelson
“Mexico” Mike’s been writing about Mexico
for 20+ years and still learning. His web site
www.mexicomike.com is an encyclopedic
collection of interesting places, people and
facts. He specializes in driving and hot
springs, as well as advice for those who want
to live in Mexico. His book, Live Better
South of the Border, is in its 4th printing and
guides readers to living in all parts of Mexico,
but also tells their drawbacks. He’s available
for trip-planning and living in Mexico
consultations.
“My house has wings. And sometimes
in the dead of night, she sings,” – Sir
Edward James, creator of Las Pozas
Las Posas (the pools) or El Castillo,
2 kilometers east of Xilitla, San Luis
Potosí (an hour south of Cd. Valles on
the old Pan Am Highway MEX-85, then
west on MEX-120 16 kilometers), is a
surrealistic monument to creativity, to
living authentically, to living life on your
own terms. I’m not often humbled, but in
the presence of this greatness of vision,
even I am aware of my limitations as a
The mountains surrounding Xilitla
creator. At the same time, I am inspired
to live up to my vision and create more.
Perhaps you will be too.
Las Pozas, is the life-vision in stone
of Sir Edward James, whom Picasso
described to Sigmund Freud as: “Edward
is really crazy. He is insane although he
pretends not to be. He is the real thing.
He’s crazier than all the surrealists put
together. They pretend, but he is the real
thing. ”
Labna
At Labna, the ticket office sits humbly
under a palapa, which doubles as the
roof of the site caretaker’s home. This is
funded by INAH, the government agency
which hosts the archeological site along
with Uxmal, Kabah, Sayil, Edzna, and a
handful of others in the Puuc region.
Describing Las Posas is like the
proverbial blind men describing an
elephant. Nowhere else in Mexico are
you more likely to get three different
descriptions from three different people
who’ve been there. It took 40 workmen
After paying the caretaker for my ticket at
the makeshift counter top which doubles
INSIDE
Continued on page 2
M á s o M e n o s
2
C o m i n g t o M e x i c o
Continued on page 5
4
L e a r n S p a n i s h
A b o u t M e x i c o
6
8
I
f you are renting a car, try to avoid
the irresistible urge to go for the
brand new red Jeep Wrangler.
First, they are expensive, but primarily
because they attract thieves and cops.
This is not huge problem in Mexico,
but it does exist. Soft-top Wranglers
are hard to secure (I drive one in the
states), making it hard to stop while
on the road for a run into a store or
restaurant without hauling all of your
gear (camera, day-pack, etc) inside with
you. As for the cops, I have heard that
they had a little shakedown program
going just north of Puerto Vallarta
recently, primarily just north of the state
line in Nayarit and on the road to Punta
Mita. A good friend was pulled over,
driving a red Jeep, with an imaginary
traffic violation. His second mistake (the
first was the red Jeep) was to declare
that all he had was a $100 bill on him,
which was, of course, the amount of the
fine – paid on the spot to the officer. He
had the option of going to the nearby
cop station to pay the fine, which scares
the hell out of most people, so he paid
the mordida and was on his way. The
next day I talked to a couple who have
lived in PV for five years. They were
pulled over at the same spot and it cost
them $200! These people were not naive
rookies.
I intentionally drove the same road the
next day in a rented VW bug (always
the best deal) semi-hoping that I’d
get pulled over so that I could test
the police station option, but I wasn’t
apprehended. The bug I had rented also
had a soft top, but I carry a padlock to
secure the compartment under the hood
for stashing my stuff. Similar police
stings have been a practice in different
areas of Mexico for years. They usually
last a while, then get shut down due to
bad publicity – or because the guy at
the top of the food chain wasn’t getting
his share. The difference with this latest
PV situation is the cost of the bribe. In
the past a $20 bill, or 200 pesos, would
settle most matters. That was a mild
inconvenience, but cheap enough for
most people. And you knew that the cops
aren’t paid much and the cash would
probably buy his kids some shoes. That
was my rationalization, anyway. When I
hear of this going on these days I contact
the tourist officials in the area and tell
them that if the word gets out (I’m also a
travel writer and know many others) that
it will be very bad for business.
Let me stress, this shakedown is rare
enough that it will probably never
happen to you. But be aware that it
exists, and cover yourself by just having
a $20 bill in your wallet/purse. Stash the
rest of your money elsewhere – a money
belt, a pocket in a piece of clothing
you’re not wearing, a notebook, etc.
  
Stairway Continued
25 years to build this unfinished
monument to surrealism, costing more
than five million dollars.
Trekking through these 36 concrete
structures on eighty acres of Huasteca
forest is like being inside a surrealistic
painting set in an orchid jungle. They
are whimsically named, though there are
no signs. Get a map at the entrance to
appreciate James’s wit. Some are called,
“The house with three stories that might
be five” and “The house with a roof like
a whale,” “Homage to Max Ernst.”
You enter Las Posas by walking down
a stone path, enveloped by dense and
colorful foliage. Your first treat is two
man-sized hands (cast from James’s
secretary Plutarco Gastelum, the
practical guiding hand to the construction
of James’s fantasy) perhaps warning you
to halt and drop your sense of reality at
the gate. The path is guarded by a six
stone mosaic snakes (La Vereda de los
The bamboo room at Las Posas
Buttresses at Las Posas
Serpientes) towering over your head.
Ahead is a round entryway, El Anillo de
la Reina (shaped like a huge wedding
ring) guarded by faded iron orange
double doors that, like everything else in
this sculpture-painting, dwarf the mere
humans who enter.
Time is distorted, like a Dali melting
clock. The deeper you get into Las
Pozas (it takes a minimum of an hour
or “real” time to see, if you don’t stop
to contemplate the meaning of life,
the smallness of your own existence
or confront some demon from your
subconscious), the more you leave the
outside world and enter a world where
everything is a symbol for something
else.
Hands carved from stone
There are rooms without walls, fleurde-lis in abundance. Greek columns
wind to the sky supporting nothing,
topped with rebar to emphasize their
incompleteness. James said that if he
lived to be a hundred, he would never
finish Las Pozas. Stone orchids bloom
forever. Some sculptures are supported
on the backs of stone elephants. There
are prison-like “rooms” without ceilings
other than the forest canopy, which
reminded me of the line from an Eagles
song, “So often times it happens that
we live our lives in chains and we never
even know we have the key.” Great art
should remind us of other art, that it is
only a representation of a thing, not the
thing itself. Las Posas is, and does, that.
Continued on page 3
2
Stairway Continued
Climbing through the jungle at Las Posas
Stairway to heaven (to borrow from
the bard, Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin)?
Yep, there is one here, Las Escaleras
Fantásticas. It leads to nowhere, or to
the elusive freedom filtering through
the canopy of tropical plants and trees.
Riotously-colored tropical butterflies and
birds express that freedom.
Speaking of stairs, or steps, there are
hundreds of them, many steep, some
covered with lichens. Las Pozas is
no place for anyone who has trouble
walking or breathing. The air is heavy,
humid and still because everything is
enclosed by the forest around. Plan to
sweat a lot.
The less athletic can experience Las
Posas, if only the first few structures.
While hiking boots are overkill,
dancing shoes would be killers. Good
tennis shoes (am I showing my age? I
mean athletic shoes.) are a necessity.
Leave your backpack in the car, since
your sense of balance (literally, and
figuratively) will be challenged.
Your journey will end (or your inner
journey will begin) at the posas where
a small waterfall cascades into a pool.
This is the most difficult part of the trek,
since the path down to the pools is very
slick and not all that obvious. After that,
it’s flat walking back to the entrance.
There is a small hut where you can buy
postcards, maps, books and the DVD,
Edward James, Fabricante de Suenos.
At $20, it’s a bargain. Professionally
produced, it tells the story of Las
Posas through interviews with James,
several of his friends (many of whom
are Hollywood actors) and interpretive
dance by the Japanese dance troupe,
Byakko-Sha, which performed at Las
Posas.
I’ve lived in the Amazon jungle and to
me, this isn’t a jungle, but if you accept
the definition of a jungle as, “land densely
overgrown with tropical vegetation,” it
qualifies. This is part of the Huasteca
tropical forest, or cloud forest, with wild
parrots, oversized ferns, trees like mango,
Elaphrim simaruba, Ceiba pentadura,
Ficus lapathifolia, bamboo, multi-colored
tropical plants and an occasional banana
plant. Xilitla and Las Posas are 2,025 feet
in elevation and the mountains around
them reach for the sky to 4,000 feet
James was fabulously wealthy, born
to the English aristocracy. He was a
poet and patron of surrealistic artists.
He collaborated (and drank a lot of
champagne with) John Betjeman,
England’s poet laureate. Some have
called him the “Father of Surrealism”
because he was a patron and collector
of many surrealistic artists when
they were relatively unknown, like:
Dali, Picasso, Max Ernst, Pavel
Tchelitchew, Paul Delvaux, Rene
Magritte, Leonora Carrington among
others. Magrite painted portraits of
James. James said of himself: “If I
am a surrealist it is not because I got
linked with the movement, but because
I was born one.” Towards the end,
James had to sell his collection, which
Christies billed as the largest collection
of surrealistic art, to finance his
extravagant lifestyle and the continued
construction of Las Pozas.
The entrance to Las Posas
Xilitla is known for its coffee, mild and
slightly fruity. Another attraction is the
Cueva de Saltire or Mineral Salt Cave,
where flocks of wild parakeets darken the
entrance at dusk. Xilitla is reminiscent
of Taxco, built up and down a mountain
with winding streets, though they aren’t as
narrow as Taxco.
Edward James, Creator
The story of Las Posas is intertwined with
the story of Sir Edward James (b. 1907,
d. 1984). He was the godson of King
Edward VII of England. Some say he was
the king’s illegitimate son. In Edward
James, Fabricante de Suenos, produced
by old friends of mine, Avery and Lenore
Danzinger, James tells a different tale.
“The King knew that my mother was his
[illegitimate] daughter.” In the sense he
was a mystery wrapped in an enigma,
James reminds me of the most enigmatic
author of Mexican life, B. Traven.
The room without walls
An orchid carved from stone and painted
There are many stories about James,
some unflattering, some contradictory.
While he loved animals, some say
he nearly starved some deer he kept
because he fed them tortillas. I believe
that the truth is that he probably tried
that until someone set him straight.
He would not be intentionally cruel
to animals. I know a lady who sold
him some pheasants, but James didn’t
know what to feed them, so they had a
rough time until someone told him.
One story that is true is that he took
some boa constrictors to the Hotel
Frances in Mexico City. He didn’t
know what they ate, but someone told
him they ate rats and mice. He got
some “nice lab rats,” but the snakes
ignored them. He got an adjoining
suite for the snakes, thinking maybe
they wanted some privacy. The mice
Continued on page 4
3
conversion of Cuauhnahuac’s followers
to Catholicism.
August 6: Wine Festivals – Ensenada,
Baja California. Two weeks of
wine seminars, vineyard tours and
gastronomic feasts for the avid wine
lover and collector.
August 20: Mani Festival – Mani,
Yucatan. Mani is known in Mexico as
the site of the infamous “Auto de Fe,”
where bishop Fray Diego de Landa
burned valuable Mayan codices and
manuscripts in 1562. Mani is one of the
most representative Mayan towns alive.
This festival features local dancers,
bands, traditional cuisine, live concerts,
mechanical attractions, art exhibitions
and more. The festival takes place at
the center plaza and offers visitors
from all over the world a unique cultural
experience. For more information, please
visit: www.yucatan.gob.mx .
August 27: XXV International Mexico
City Marathon – Mexico City. Mexico
City’s altitude makes this popular 26-mile
marathon one of the most challenging
in the world. More than 15,000 runners
of all ages and from all walks of life
compete in five categories. For more
information, please visit: www.maraton.
df.gob.mx
August 30 to September 2: Morisma
Festival – Zacatecas. The Morisma
Festival is a three-day reenactment
of the battles between the Moors
and Christians which took place in
Spain centuries ago, as well as the
commemoration of the battle of Lepanto
against the Turkish empire in Greece in
1571. The festivities include mock battles
with elaborate costumes and heavy
weaponry with bands representing each
side. For more information, please visit:
www.turismozacatecas.gob.mx .
To Be Decided: 14th International
Mariachi and Charro Festival Guadalajara. Annual celebration of
mariachi music in the mariachi capital
of the world, gathering musicians from
Mexico and around the world.
September 7: National Fair of
Zacatecas – Zacatecas.
September 8: Reto del Tepozteco
- Tepoztlan, Morelos. This annual
dance performance is one of the region’s
oldest celebrations, representing the
4
September 15 and 16: Mexican
Independence Day – Nationwide.
Mexico celebrates its declaration of
independence from Spain in 1810. The
night of September 15, marks “El Grito,”
a dramatic reenactment of revolutionary
Father Hidalgo’s calls for his fellow
Mexicans to join the uprisings, which take
place at city halls across the country. On
September 16, military parades are held
in almost every Mexican city.
September 22: Running of the Bulls at
San Miguel – San Miguel de Allende.
Also known as the Pamplonada because
it is Mexico’s imitation of Spain’s “running
of the bulls,” the Sanmiguelada is an
annual festival usually taking place the
third Saturday of September in honor of
Saint Michael the Archangel. The event
involves dances, concerts, fireworks
and bulls funning through town. Daring
participants meet at high noon. For
more information, please visit: www.
guanajuato-travel.com
September 21: Fall Equinox at
Kulkulcan – Chichen Itza, Yucatan.
Thousands of people from around
the world gather at this Mayan ruin
on the Yucatan Peninsula to witness
the afternoon shadow of the snakegod Kukulcan slowly “crawl down” the
country’s largest Mayan pyramid, El
Castillo.
  
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Stairway Continued
At the top of Las Posas
escaped. A Texan lady saw them in the
hall and complained to the maid about
the hotel’s mice. The maid said, “Oh no
senora, those are not the hotel’s mice.
They belong to the boa constrictors in
the room next to yours.”
James was a Freudian poster boy,
with an overbearing, controlling
mother, an unconsummated marriage,
manifestations of OCD behavior
like excessive hand-washing, fear of
contamination and a need to wrap
everything in tissue paper, but perhaps
Las Posas was his way of transcending
these eccentricities. While I’ve been
privy to some private gossip about him,
I don’t feel the need to perpetuate it. Let
the man rest in peace.
Whatever his shortcomings, he is an
inspiration to those of us who would like
to throw off the shackles of society, live
by our own vision, and leave the world
with something tangible and inspiring
to those who follow. Would that I could
leave such a legacy. Would that we
could all.
The first annual Surrealism Festival
is planned in September. There is an
annual Festival de San Agustin the 27th
and 28th of August, with traditional
Continued on page 7
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 Labná
Pyramids Continued
East view of the pyramid at Labna
photographed El Arco, the
magnificent arch. The corbeled
structure is much smaller than
one would imagine, built around
750 AD, in classic Puuc style.
So alone are we at the site that
pheasants huddled in the bush
nearby are startled as we walk
under the arch and fly hastily
away as we invade their territory.
as her kitchen table, we walk through
the trees along an old sacbe, or road,
made from sascab, a lime gravel mixture
mined by Mayans for a millennium.
The sacbe here is slightly elevated and
situated among a haphazard grove of
trees, some old, some newly planted.
I notice the new growth is mostly
mahoganies, so indeed, some reforestation is occurring with hardwoods,
even if it is in small counterpart to the
hoards of trees presently being removed
from places like Chiapas where,
according to former president Vicente
Fox, two-thirds of Chiapas’ rainforest
has been logged in the past eight years.
Maya Mystery
Exactly why these pyramids fit no other
Mayan style has yet to be discovered.
This further adds to the Maya mystery,
adding a touch of glamour to the entire
region. According to archeologists, the
Maya reign here was from the mid-500s
to around 900 AD, and the region was
abandoned centuries before the arrival
of the Spanish conquistadors for reasons
mostly unknown. What is known is that
this region receives even less rainfall
than sites like Chichen Itza, so perhaps
Chaac, the notorious Rain God, paid scant
attention to the Puuc
On reaching a large grassy meadow the
road veers left and I spot The Palace,
El Palacio, at one time a 67-room
edifice. Archeologists say it housed
a plaza, eating places, and upstairs
rooms for aristocracy. It is a long–now
low–building, fairly awesome, and
the slightly mottled sky brings on fine
amber hues, accentuating its lines.
Maya and these elegant sites literally
died on the vine and eventually were
abandoned. Recent research by scientist
Larry C. Peterson claims the Yucatan is a
seasonal desert and without summer rains,
the landscape becomes barren. Ironically,
the driest time in the past 7,000 years
fell during the height of the Puuc Maya’s
reign, between 700 and 1000 AD and may
have expedited their collapse.
Supposedly the longest pyramid in
the Yucatan, its features are unique
to the Puuc region, and according to
archeologists, different from other
Mayan pyramids. Before visiting these
sites, I didn’t know what to expect, but
there is a difference in this style – more
decorative, more sophisticated in art
form.
I continue to walk along a grass path
on the elevated sacbe to the famously
Perhaps the drought caused the Maya to
develop a special water reservoir system,
chultunes, which they lined with lime
mortar to catch and hold water for the
dry season because unlike other areas of
Yucatan, no cenotes (sink holes) existed in
the Puuc region.
Images of Chaac, Rain God, are
everywhere and more prominent than at
Chichen Itza or Tulum.
Main pyramid with sacbe (Maya
road) leading to arch at Labna
Orange groves abound on the
deeply green wooded road that
winds and connects these pyramid
sites. We pass no other cars.
Occasionally a three-wheeled
bicycle ambles by, but in general
the road is simply void of anyone
or anything as we continue on the trail
to Uxmal. Is it always this secluded, I
wonder.
Uxmal
Uxmal was the most important of the
Puuc city-sites during the Late Classic
period (60 - 900 AD), and it supported
a sizeable population of 25,000. It was
first settled around 600 AD, influenced
by highland Mexico in its architecture,
most likely because of trade influences.
Mayan trade routes spanned thousands
and thousands of miles, as evidenced
by items recovered in digs.
Home to the famous Magician or
Dwarf’s House, Casa del Advinco,
wonderful myths accompany Uxmal.
Legend has it that this pyramid was
built in one night by a dwarf with
magic powers. West of the Dwarf’s
House lies the Cuadrangulo de las
Monjas, or Nunnery Quadrangle,
comprised of four low buildings.
The Pyramid of the Magician, El
Adivino, at Uxmal
And beyond that is the Palacio del
Gobernador, known to be one of the
loveliest buildings erected in the
Americas according to several leading
archeologists. Also agreed is that
Uxmal had the richest decorations of
all the Puuc pyramids as well as an
enormous agricultural potential, but it
lacked a permanent water source which
may have cut short its reign.
Hundreds of swallows clear a near
cloudless sky as we wander about
the site skirting in and out of the
pyramids to avoid direct contact with
the merciless sun, surprised by the
mere handful of tourists who’ve come
to view these out of the way elegant
structures.
Continued on page 6
5
Learn Spanish Well
and Cheap
Pyramids Continued
by Karen Kressin
Karen Kressin, who lives in Kansas, is a
frequent Mexico traveler and contributor
to Mexico File. Her email address is
[email protected], and she likes to
hear from readers.
At Uxmal, The House of the Turtles
Kabah and Sayil
Further down the Puuc route are Kabah,
a small site known for its 250 masks
in Palacio de los Mascarones, or Codz
Poop, and Sayil with its three-story
palace, called one of the most majestic
buildings in the region. The wall on the
second story displays a number of Chaac
masks, no doubt constructed in a plea to
an unresponsive god for much needed
rain. The building shares the long low
look of Uxmal and Labna architecture
and is erected on a platform. Recent
research claims Sayil was the garden
spot of the Puuc region and many trees
still grace the area.
We stop briefly at each of these lesser
sites, taking note of the continuing sacbe,
or road, that apparently interconnects
them all. These buildings share the long,
low look of both Uxmal and Labna and
are erected on platforms. Again, we have
these sites to ourselves, with barely a
sighting of other tourists.
As I gaze out the car window once back
on the narrow roadway after a full day
of traipsing around ruins, I watch young
Mayan girls dressed in traditional cotton
huipiles balancing buckets of maize atop
their heads, no doubt heading home.
Some traditions never vary, I tell myself,
as I watch this feat in wonder.
  
The Palace of the Governor
at dawn, Uxmal
Want to learn Spanish? Here’s an idea
for retirees, ex-pats, and other gringos
with time to spend in Mexico – study
Spanish at a Mexican university
program.
The program I know best is Universidad
Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG), but
there are others (see below). Autónoma
roughly means private.
UAG offers a four-week program every
four weeks, starting on Mondays, year
round. Placement tests are given on the
previous Friday, and pre-registration is
encouraged.. If you’re late, however, it’s
generally OK to test and register on the
first day of class. If you want to study
for only two weeks, they’ll even let
you take just the first half of the course
(for half price). UAG accepts Visa and
MasterCard, for a fee of about $10.
If you want, the university will arrange
a home stay with a Mexican family in
a shared room and including all meals.
The homes are close to the university in
the upscale suburb of Zapopan.
UAG’s Spanish course is four credit
hours of grammar and conversation, 8
a.m. to 12:30 p.m., five days a week.
Some sessions include a culture option.
An excursion to a nearby locale such as
Tequila or Sayula, a cooking class, and
a salsa class, for example, are offered as
low-cost extras.
Non-traditional students are welcome
to take the course, but most of your
classmates will be college kids from
universities in the U.S. and Canada
– perfect for maintaining your youthful
outlook!
And the best part: UAG’s low cost. (All
USD)
6
4 weeks tuition: $350 plus $25 admin fee
(4 semester credits)
(Optional culture class: add $200)
4 weeks optional home stay $375 + $20
admin fee
Textbook: about $12
Full immersion cultural experience:
Priceless
Compare this with a Spanish course at
my local state university, part-time instate tuition. (Your state’s may cost even
more):
Tuition and fees: $741 (3 semester
credits)
Textbook: $121
Full immersion cultural experience: Not
available
Of course, there are Spanish language
institutes in Guadalajara and all over
Mexico that don’t grant university
credit, but my research indicates that
the institutes generally cost more than
the universities. Also don’t sign up for a
program through an American college or
university: Most add on a sizeable profit,
usually about 100%, and some 4- to 6week programs cost as much as $4000.
Ouch!
There are lots of universities. So check
the Web or, if you are lucky enough to
be in Mexico already, mosey on over to
your local public or autónoma university
and ask about a Spanish program!
Internet Sites for some Spanish
programs at Mexican universities
UAG: www.uag.mx/12/cii.html
UDG (Universidad de Guadalajara):
www.cepe.udg.mx
Universidad de Guanajuato: http://
www.ugto.mx/idiomas
UNAM (Mexico City)
http://www.
cepe.unam.mx/indexing.php
Puerto Vallarta (UDG): www.cepe.
udg.mx
Morelia, Michoacan: http://www.unla.
edu.mx/idiomas/quees_ing.htm
Merida: http://www.educacion.uady.
mx/codi.php?id=espa
Oaxaca: http://www.fioaxaca.com.mx/
espanol.html
Vera Cruz (Xalapa): http://www.
uv.mx/eee/index.asp
Continued on page 8
sugarcane fields). After July is not bad.
Staying in Tamazunchale (higher in the
mountains) might be a better option if
Las Pozas is your main reason for going
in July or August. The rest of the year, it
is pleasantly warm.
Stairway Continued
A jungle waterfall
folk dancing and musical and cultural
programs in Xilitla. There are two
budget hotels. The Guzman, Corregidora
#28, PH: 489-365-0338 is the better
at $40 double. El Castillo, is pricey at
$150-$200 a night but they have too
much business, and didn’t want me to
publicize their contact info.
Ciudad Valles
Most people stay in Cd.Valles. Valles
has lots of attractions for nature lovers
and extreme sports freaks. It is only fair
to warn you that summers are beastly. A
local joke is that a man from Valles who
went to Hell asked for a blanket. I was
told by residents that the temperature
rivals the Sahara. I’ve been there in
summer and it was pretty darned hot, but
not the 120+ residents claim. Combined
with the humidity, lets just say Valles is a
tad warm. The worst months, according
to locals, are April to June before the
rains and during the Zafra (burning of
MF
THE MEXICO FILE
The Newsletter for Mexicophiles
The Hotel Valles, on the highway, as
you enter town on the east side of road,
is excellent, with ample rooms, lots of
atmosphere, high-speed Internet above
lobby and a good restaurant. Their pool
is huge and sparkling. Don’t let their
Internet rate of $200 double, scare you.
It’s for a master suite. A 1st-class room
is $90 and an “economy” room is $70.
Negotiate. This is where my family
stayed on my first trip to Mexico in 1957,
but they let me come back anyway. All
rooms are quiet, at least from highway
noise, even the ones closest to the road.
On weekends, avoid the ones near the
outdoor restaurant/banquet area, as there
are often weddings and parties. (Email:
[email protected] Web site:
www.hotelvalles.com PH: 481-382-0022,
Toll-free in Mexico – 01-800-830-5307,
USA 866-388-5539). They will accept
pets, though they claim not to. Ask for
the sales manager, or if your pet is quiet,
just take him in. Fluffy stayed there and
liked it. He didn’t sign the register. The
manager, Tomas Ozuna, says that you
can get a 15% discount by mentioning
Houses of Xilitla
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my name. Usually, when you mention
“Mexico” Mike, managers throw you
out.
The Hotel San Fernando is about
$10 less expensive. (Email:
[email protected] Web
site: http://www.prodigyweb.net.mx/
hotelsanfernando which was down when
I tried it) is a mile into town on the
same street on the right. I’ve stayed here
several times and it has quiet rooms in
the back. PH: (481)-382-2280.
The Hotel Misión, just down the main
drag from the San Fernando is part
of the middle-priced chain in several
of Mexico’s interesting cities. I have
always liked them. Double is about $90.
www.hotelesmision.com.mx PH: 481382-0066, MEX 01-800-900-3800.
There are a couple of “budget” hotels,
the Adventura Huasteca, 481-382-0128,
a few doors before the Misión on the
same side of the main drag. $50 double.
The Rex, Av. Hidalgo #418, 481-3820011 is about $35-40.
On the south end of town is a new
Country Inn & Suites, Blvd. Don
Antonio 151 (about two miles south
of downtown, on the west side of
highway). Double: $86.
The Hotel/Spa Taninul, eight miles east
of town on MEX-70 (toward Tampico)
is a rambling old hotel and sulfur hot
spring – one of the few in a natural
setting. The pool has a mud bottom
and is surrounded by vegetation, with a
spooky cave (the “parrot” cave) which
houses thousands of birds who come
screeching out at sundown. Food is
mediocre. PH: 481-382-0000, or 481381-4616. They are adamant about not
accepting pets and I couldn’t figure
out how to sneak Fluffy in, but they
are okay for humans. They now have
a day “spa” with massages, facials and
a temazcal (sweat lodge). Rate: $90
double. http://www.taninulhotel.com/
main.html
Cd. Valles has a new and very
interesting museum, Tamuantzán,
just SE of town east of the circle,
that’s really worth visiting. It is neatly
organized and everyone who works
there tries to help.
Continued on page 8
7
Learning Spanish Continued
Calderon’s Growth Plans
President Felipe Calderon has outlined
a plan to increase tax collection and
increase security that he claims could
boost the economy at a five percent
yearly rate by 2012, the year his 6-year
term will end. The plan’s goal will raise
tax collection by 3 percent of gross
domestic product. He also calls for
an increase in spending to finance his
campaign against the drug cartels, which
he claims to be essential to achieve
what is called Calderon’s National
Development Plan. If Mexico can
achieve a 5 percent growth, they would
become one of the 30 most productive
countries in the world.
Tourism Shows Increase
Mexico’s tourism revenues for the first
quarter of 2007 totaled $3.758 billion
US, an increase of 14.6 percent form one
year ago. Their tourism trade balance
showed a 31.5 increase with the U.S.
totals. Cruise ship passenger totals
increased by 78,000 compared to 2006,
allaying fears that the hurricane Wilma
damage in 2005 would have a long-term
affect on tourism, as well as the new
passport requirements. In all, 15 percent
more Americans visited Mexico in the
first quarter than in the same period last
year.
Courts Deny Major Broadcasters
A portion of Mexico’s communication
laws passed last year have been found
to be unconstitutional by the Supreme
Court, a major setback for the nation’s
largest broadcasters, Group Televisa SA
and TV Azteca SA. The court struck
down the provisions that allowed the
rights to sell digital services without
bidding for them as well as disallowing
automatic television license renewals.
Many in Mexico view the major
broadcasters to have a monopoly in
the country, with little opportunity for
competition and more divergent views.
The big broadcasters have traditionally
been favorable to government policies.
  
8
Zacatecas: http://idiomas1.reduaz.
mx/spanish/default.htm
Queretaro: http://www.auq.mx/ingles/
cursos.html#Span-Cour
Colima: http://www.ucol.mx/acerca/
coordinaciones/cgd/dgiab/principal/
eape.php
Toluca: http://www.uaemex.mx/cilc/
Puebla: http://www.udlap.mx/
internacional/english/students/cursos/
espanol.aspx
Monterrey (Univ. de Nuevo Leon):
http://www.filosofia.uanl.mx/idiomas/
docs/espanolparaextranjeros.htm
Monterrey (Tec de Monterrey/
ITESM):
http://pi.mty.itesm.mx/csepi/Ingles/
undergraduate_students/exclusive_
courses.htm
Caveat: Mexican websites vary widely.
For detailed and up to date information,
you might have to contact the school at
an email address you find on the site.
Also remember, “languages” in Spanish
is idiomas, and extranjero means
“foreigner.”
  
Stairway Continued
If you are into extreme sports or just
nature, there are a lot of attractions
around Cd. Valles, thirty minutes to
two hours from town. To the north and
west are some good and some excellent
waterfalls and caves. Among them are:.
Micos, Tamul, el Meco, El Salto, Minas
Viejas, Sótano de las Golondrinas,
Pichihumo, Media Luna (cave diving),
Tamasopo. For more information and
guides, see http://msxpediciones.com.
mx/ingles/sitio.htm.
The archeological site, Tamtók, is
eighteen miles east on MEX-70,
past Tamuín, then a few miles south.
(You’ll pass the previously excavated
El Consuelo ruins). The route is wellsigned. The last stretch is down a dirt
road, but easily passable by a car. The
400 acre ruins are “new.” They were
discovered in the 1800’s, excavation
began in 1960, but they have only been
open to the public and extensively
excavated in the past few years.
A steep street in Xilitla
According to the experts, they date from
about 1,000 BC, predating the more wellknown Veracruz ruins of El Tajin.
Getting There
Like most of the truly interesting places
in Mexico, you have to drive or take a
bus to get to Cd. Valles/Xilitla. It’s an
easy drive on free roads from Reynosa,
though it will take about 7-8 hours to
drive the 350 miles. There’s a map at
http://www.mexicomike.com/mexico_
maps/maps_of_mexico_nuevo_leon_
tamaulipas2.htm and a route calculator
for most of Mexico at http://www.
mexicomike.com/driving_mexico/mx_
trips3rpt.php
Take MEX-97 to MEX-101 and go
south. Most of the road is what I call “3lane”, which is two lanes with marked
shoulders half a car width to facilitate
passing. There is a great 4 lane bypass of
Cd. Victoria at 196 miles that connects
to MEX-85. From there head south
on a two lane highway for 154 miles.
From Nuevo Laredo, it’s a hike at 487
miles, taking MEX-85 all the way. N.
Laredo to Monterrey is a toll road and
you can legally drive 75, but it will cost
286 pesos for a car, 431 for 3 axles and
576 for 4 axles (car+trailer). It’s only
about an hour and a half longer, though,
but you have to go through Monterrey.
There is not a real North-South bypass of
Monterrey. If I was driving an RV pulling
a car or a car pulling a trailer, you’d have
to put a gun to my head to get me to drive
through Monterrey. I would drive from
Laredo to McAllen, TX, then cross at
Reynosa.
From the McAllen bus station, you can
take a bus to Cd. Victoria or Tampico,
then one to Cd. Valles.
  