Masha from Russia, but living in Puerto Rico, made it to Mexico one week ago. With some friends, it feels like you’ve never been apart. I let Masha catch her breath for one day before we headed out for the volcano hike. We were picked up at 7am and headed to the Nevado National Park where the volcano is located. By the description of the hike, it sounded like a regular hike, maybe just a bit harder because of the altitude. No problema we thought…

Well, after making it about half way, the guide told us the real climb starts now. We were all pretty out of breath, but little did we know what was coming! Helmets on and up we went. The weather changed and it got really chilly and foggy. We where pretty much rock climbing without any kind of safety harnesses. It was a vertical climb at times, and there were patches of snow and ice. We climbed about 15 steps and then bent over breathing and trying to catch our breath. Knowing that if we stepped wrong, lost our grip and fell, we most likely would injure ourself very badly. We climbed to the top in the last pic!

When we made it to the top – WOW. Beautiful views and amazing feeling of accomplishment!

Then walking along the rim…

Marked the top, and look at the path we took down! Basically just loose sand and rocks coming down.

But we made it and it felt pretty good to be back down again! Next time I want to try to walk the whole ridge around the crater of the volcano.

This dog lives up in the mountains and followed us along the whole hike. Probably because we all kept feeding him 🙂 So cute!

Then we tried a Temazcal (sweat lodge). Very nice experience and it’s said to “illuminate a pathway into your inner self and begin a rebirth of love in your soul”. It was hosted in this beautiful ecological kind of garden/property.

After picking flowers and plants that attracted us, we listened to the Shaman and drank tea. Then we all entered the sweat lodge and sat in a circle. Hot coals where brought in and the entrance sealed off with a blanket. The Shaman talked and sang and it was translated to us. It got very hot and it was pitch black. We sat in there for about an hour and you felt very refreshed coming out. Some people had seen animals and the Shaman explained the meanings of different animals. I would do this again!

Squeezed in some more food, massages and Mexico City before Masha left yesterday morning…

Still had time to throw in some work between meals and adventure!

It’s always sad when friends and family leave 🙁 My cure was to book a trip to LA next week and going to see my sister there and hang with wifey for a bit. Just a short trip and might be the last one abroad for this year. I do plan to squeeze in a mini-vacay somewhere in Mexico too before 2021 is done 🙂

And as a reminder, bigger is usually better! Just look at this giant cactus hahahaaaa…

XXX Puma