The car drive was about two hours, and pretty slow going. You had to watch out for cows running loose, lazy grazing donkeys (burros) and whatever else decided to be on the road, which the animals acted like they owned, wondering what a car might be doing on it, bothering them! ....... but, in time we made it to our destination, Grutas de Cacahuamilpa, The small village of cliff dwelling casa's and a brilliant plaza of colors full of vendors, all vying for your attention in hopes of selling you their wares, before you descend to see the cave.
We stopped and parked the car, and immediatly three very old Indian women approached us before we even had our feet out of the car....... We were rather tired, and needed to collect ourselves before being met with such persistant and learned sales women. (Chuy was very disgruntled with what he percieved to be blatant disrespect.) I actually felt sorry for them!
They must have been 90 or 100 years old. NO teeth, wrinkled old brown hands and faces, long greying braids down to their waist, and tied together to make one braid at the end. They are not afraid to raise their wares of necklaces and bracelets (or whatever they were carring to sell,) right up to your face, and if you even say ONE word, or give even a slight smile (just to be polite) they take that as a sure sell.
Upon one slight smile from me, (ooops) just to be polite, these women moved in for the kill! With their arms covered in necklaces, and outstretched far enough to reach up to our noses........and pushing their arms ever more and more into our faces, with a very sad and pitiful look, they pitifully mumbled something in Spanish and raised their eyebrows to look really, really sad! They began their persistent and never ending attempt to get you to buy something. They would say things like, ..."4 necklaces for 20 pesos.... They snag you in with a really cheap price, and get you to handle the pretty stuff, and then when you pick out the 4 necklaces that catch your eye, and reiterate the 20 pesos sale price, suddenly it all changes...and the women point out that you picked out "bigger ones" than originally offered for 20 pesoso! So,now, according to the Indian women, the price has doubled!! Very clever sales tatic.... I think that is called "Bait and Switch" in the advertising world....!!! Or something like shifty like that.....
Chuy started out politely trying to defuse the women with words like; "Mas Tarde"...or "No Gracious".... But, these women deliberately ignored him, and just kept a death stare at me and Julie. I felt really awkward!! Here my husband had just politely said "NO"....but, they didn't care, and kept up the pushy sell tactics. Finally, Chuy half shouted a; "NO! Mas TARDE."NO, I SAID NO!...MAS TARDE!!!! .." Well, they hesitantly gave me and Julie one more look, and slowly turned around to leave, grumbling and giving Chuy a pretty disdainful side glance. Chuy told them we needed a moment to relax after that long drive, and he had been polite enough, but, these local people need to make a few pesos's in any way they can..... I dont blame them for their persistence, for they knew that as soon as we locked up the car, and walked over to the main little plaza to purchase our tickets for the cave tour, we would see all the little shops there, and vendors, and probably buy their stuff first. So, all in all, they were just trying to get a jump step on making a sell.
One patient little Old Indian, took Chuy at this word, and retreated to a nearby tree, to hide in the shadow, until we had a moment to get out of the car, and until the other pushy women went away. Chuy noticed that she was the only polite one, and I suppose his heart softened. He beckoned her to come over to us, and he ended up buying 3 walking canes from her for us to use in the Cave. They were painted very pretty, and were made from Bamboo with their roots intact. The upside down bamboo, made the bamboo look like antlers of a deer, and the Indians painted the "root" handle to look like a deer head! Very Cute, and I made sure to bring mine home to hang on the wall for a keepsake! (#3 canes for $1.50) cant beat the price!
So, after that..................... we headed for the plaza to get our tickets, and secure the 4:00 pm walking tour thru the cave.
Our hour long tour cost 150. pesos ($15.00). A very good price for the magnificent things we were about to see........ We had a little time to mull around the plaza before our tour would start.
So, Chuy and Julie opted for a beer and a little snack........soon we were off, descending steps, and walking over a bridge, and coming up to the side of a sheer rock faced mountain...... up more steps, and then, an opening in the mountain. Our tour guide beckoned us to stay together and not stray off the paved walkway. The cave is more than 10 miles long....actually they don't know the actual length, 10 miles is all they have explored. They believe it may connect to other caves miles and miles away!
The cave had what they call dripstones... I felt one, and it felt like a cool damp stone, with water on it..... some of these dripstones are 262 feet wide and 253 feet high!!! The ceiling above must be at least 500+ feet high in places. The entire cave was HUGE and MAGNIFICENT! It was eerie, and I felt like I had found "Hades" from the bible! If you look at some of the dripstone formations, you can use your own imagination and "see things" in the stone.
The Mexican guide would narrate what he thought he saw, and it was very funny to look at a stone that he thought looked like a Pinata, and I perceived as a star! Culture clash! Funny how that works.....
The story goes that one old English man and his dog got lost in the cave back in the early 1900's or so. He couldn't find his way out, even though he was less than a mile in the cave. His dog got out, and ran around barking and barking..... but the villagers ignored the dog, thinking it was just a nuisance. The man eventually died in there, and his dog returned and died with him. They are buried down there still..the cross marks the grave. Other interesting things of note..... TARZAN was partly filmed there, as well as other famous movies. There in an amphitheater about a mile in, with chairs, and a stage. They play music down there too! AWESOME..... I cant imagine the acoustics you would get with instruments playing down there....
Anyway, the photos speak for themselves. Hope you enjoy them, and find a few ghouls hidden in the rock of your own!
Notice the cane!
The winding walkway to the Cave Mouth opening....very pretty. A little bridge crosses a river below...huge boulders, and flowers, and foliage everywhere!
The Opening (Mouth of the Cave)
An Altar to Guadalupe........
Looking out of the Mouth of the Cave....
Starting to descend..... on and on...we walked at least 5 miles.... maybe 2 1/2 in and 21/2 out. Very pretty, and they light up some of the huge monuments of dripstone..... its breathtakingly beautiful! Below photo is the mouth of the cave, looking backward at it, as it gets smaller and smaller......
About now, Julie is simply beyond herself. I don't know if she was a bit frightened, or simply in total awe!
Some of the words that came to mind while walking thru the cave were: Mesmerizing, immensity, Amazement, Bewilderment,apprehension, demons, image morphs, snakes, HELL, labryinths, and constantly we used: WOW, LOOK AT THAT!!! WOW....WOW....WOW.......................................................... WOWWWWWWWW!!To sum up the experience, It was worth the $15.00 we spent, the hour plus tour, and the chance to see such blatant magnificence of nature. Totally WOW! We got done with the tour around 5:30pm, just in time to hit the road and try to get to the next town of TAXCO, where we intended to stay the night. We had to drive a winding, dark, twisting, little country road around the surrounding mountains to get to Taxco, so when the tour was over, we didn't linger long. We just got in the car, and left.....still in quiet amazement of God, nature, and history. It confuses you as to how old the earth really is? These dripstones takes millions of years to form............... back to the blackboard, and onward to TAXCO to put an end to this neverending day!
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