Paquime Ruins

I'm in Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. It is near the city, Old Casas Grandes which predates the railroad and is contingent to the important pre-Colombian ruins of Paquime. By some standards the high point of Paquime development, in about mid-1200 Ad, is fairly recent.
The area around Casas Grandes is ready for you to explore. There are enough adequate hotels in the area and the road and highway system is good, improving, and lightly traveled.
Work of some of the best traditional potters, recently difficult to get to, is now easily visited. There are developed hot springs in easy driving range. The well know "Copper Canyon" is not far by northern Mexico standards.

Posting times are a bit off.

Trip Miscellanious

Guess I spent only about $80 a day on this trip including vehicle expenses!

I suspect that the largest group of Mexican workers are probably earning about P50 a day! Not much. Of course there are many earning much more and of course some making less. I'd guess that 20% of Mexicans between the ages of 17 and 70 make less than $5 a day.

I have character defects which include compulsions related to eating, driving, travel. Other defects are resistance to exercise or appropriate physical activity and a tendency to isolate myself from others. Outside of those defects I am far from perfect.

Have I talked about Jimenez, Chihuahua yet? If not I'll talk about it and other bits of this last driving trip of mine from 29

Cielito Lindo

I'm in Jimenez, Chihuahua in the Hotel Pampas across the street from the statue of Jimenez on a proud horse.

I've been thinking thoughts of change and adapting to my present abilities.

Let´s see if my abilities extend to providing you some details of how I got from Ciudad Hidalgo to to Jimenez. It could easily be a tail of compulsion, neurosis, and slow learning. 'Know thyself.' may be one of the easiest things to say and one of the most difficult to do.

From Hidalgo I passed through the village of Azufres where I once attended a mole contest and on to the beautifully located and comfortable hot water spa of Erendida. There at Erendida, looking passed the tops of the pine trees to the deep blue very clear sky populated by sculpted clouds one feels the urge to sing 'Cielito Lindo.' Erendida is at well over 10,000 feet, but has a clarity and purity of air beyond that. I only stayed there about 30 hours. I had arrived on a Friday and had now reservations for the weekend. They offered me another room and recommended a nearby hotel. I checked and the nearby hotel and found the rooms or rather bungalows to be new and beautiful. One could still smell a bit of the fresh wood and plaster.
The replacement place I was offered at Erendida had no shower, but there were plenty of other places for me to shower. Still, they had spoiled me with a two bedroom sweet with fireplace, fireplace attendant DVD, fridge, microwave. The architecture and decoration was interesting and attractive. The cost was P300. The peso is at about 14 to the dollar. The price at the new hotel, which I later checked out, was P400.
P350 is perhaps been the average I have been paying, but I am paying P460 here.
I am running on to avoid telling you of the 'disaster' which followed.
I'll try to continue later.