¡Hierve El Agua y Mucho Mezcal! ¡Ayayay!

The Church of Santo Domingo. The churches here are absolutely gorgeous. Also, within the walls of this church is a museum and a botanical garden. I plan on going to the museum tomorrow.




Hierve El Agua (The Water Boils). These springs literally come bubbling up on the side of a mountain. They are not hot or cold. However, they are heavy in mineral content. Because of the heavy mineral content there are formations of travertine (sp?) all over everything. There are beautiful pools that extend to the edge of the ridge.




Some formations.




A photograph from in the pool (yes I took my camera in the water!)




More formations. The amount of wild looking formations are endless.




The postcard shot.




Another photograph in one of the pools




This is a a little stream of the water coming out of the rock. The heavy mineral content creates many colors.




Another spring in a different part of the mountain.




This area, at least during the rainy season, is green and beautiful with many plants that become ready to bloom during this season.




"Viva Mexico" scratched into the red bark of a tree on the side of the mountain.




¡¡Maguey!! This region is also famous for its Mezcal. The wikipedia article after this link is good and correct about the production of Mezcal. Mezcal is a close relative to Tequila, and some of it is really good.




This young girl was helping with a stage in the process of mezcal production. After they cook the roots of the maguey plant, they smash it with a large stone wheel.




Maguey or blue agave.

P.S. I bought a bunch of this stuff. But they don't really bottle it at the factories. So you have to fill up a plastic bottle you have on hand. I have since found a store that sells glass bottles and tops specifically for this. I have bought one to put my mezcal in. I have a feeling that on of these weekends might get a little borracho.