Tepoztlan, Mexico - Days 116 to 121

Cookie looking very intelligent! (Sorry about the background!)

Another week has passed, leaving only a week to go (though we are going away and coming back for another week). I'm not ready, I think I'm exhausted, I've been working vicariously through Louise, who is not only doing a Masters degree but holding down a full time job as a freelance translator. These both being web based she can do them anywhere, and has been on and off all the time she's been away. This week reached a crescendo with a Masters assignment needing handing in on Friday. Emails from her were coming in later and later, culminating on Thursday night when she went to bed after we did, while living six hours ahead of us! Does this mean she won't suffer from jetlag when she gets back? Hopefully. Does it mean her parents wonder why she came to visit? Maybe. (Hello Louise's dad). But it's in, and she's on a trip to Scotland to visit her sister, and hopefully not sleeping for the whole weekend, she signed off yesterday saying her early flight meant getting up about the time she had been going to bed!

Luna with her green dog and blanket

The week started well with our trip to the vets with Luna, yes take her on the walk but no ball throwing. She looks so well, it's great, we are so pleased, but do you know how hard it is not throwing for her? In theory not too hard as all balls and kongs are in the cupboard, well they are now, though they seemed to keep appearing from the undergrowth for at least four days, but I did leave her green dog out, on the understanding she just killed it and not had it thrown! I swear that dog is selectively bilingual! I've never known a dog who can deposit a toy on your chair so it is upright and looking at you, as appealingly as she is. If ignored she can then pick it up from the chair and put it gently on your lap. So this doesn't work, well I'll throw it myself, and if you take it from me I'll throw a fruit from the garden, or the blanket, or chase little Maty round and round! 

Excited dogs about three seconds after 'walkies' had been called

So we have been very strong willed, but she has still run around a bit! Fortunately it has been cooler than previously (socks and occasional cardigan!) so we've been able to have the door shut to stop the mad dash to the fence to woof at passing dogs, children and horses, also fortunately they day Luna woke up with a start and ran straight into the door it was only the screen door as she'd probably have knocked herself out rather than just sending the screen door tumbling down the stairs! Helen, you saying perhaps we could take this opportunity to break her of her fetch obsession? You would have as much success stopping Monty eating! This IS something this lot have achieved, they have their food, in their bowl, which they can leave and come back to all day, with no one else touching it! As a result the green dog has spent a long time in Luna's bowl on top of her food, because then she knows Cookie won't touch it!

Blundering through the woods on the canyon walk

We haven't done much outside this week, we tried B's canyon walk, well that was a blunder through the woods, there was no path! On the way back though we took the opportunity, as we were dog free, of popping into the dog man to meet the 10 puppies born just before Christmas. We timed it right, he'd got a friend taking them from the basement where it was too cold for them to the roof (where I hope it isn't too hot for them, though he says he's put up a shelter). 

Negotiating a scramble on the canyon walk

10 little puppies

The easiest way of transporting 10 puppies appeared to be to put them in a bucket, so I got the pleasure of taking 10 puppies out of a bucket and reuniting them with mum! They are so very cute, but what will happen to them who knows? We do think that chicken man should be paying maintenance as his boxer dog is probably the father!

And they really do look like dad the boxer who lives over the road

And not really like mum at all!

We went back to the convent this time armed with the camera to put some pictures on here. While looking out of a windows there we realised why there was no canyon path, and that even if there had been it would never have met up with his waterfall walk. Apart from standard food shopping and dog walking, which has been uneventful except yesterday when we walked past the tortilla shop and a small thing on a lead, which was completely ignored until it snorted, when Cookie became completely transfixed. Why there was a piglet on a lead I guess we'll never know. the rest of the week has been taken up with planning, a hideous task, but probably necessary as we have already made a couple of blunders on this trip. 

Beautiful painting in the convent

The whole Torres deal Paine debacle, not being able to book in, so having to hang around and not being able to go to the Lake District at all, then finding we could have done the walk we did in and out in a day and saved ourselves a huge amount of time and money. Then really coming here, we have loved it, and wouldn't have changed it for the world, but should perhaps have realised how far it was from Patagonia to Mexico and how much it was going to cost to get back into South America having worked our way through Central America. Despite geographically obviously being much closer, it appears to be almost as cheap to fly from Europe on a return flight than to fly from Panama to anywhere and then home from wherever we ended up. 

So rather than fly hither and yon through South America we have decided to work slowly through Central America before returning to the UK in May. Why May? Well repositioning cruises have been brought to our attention. We could currently book an all inclusive 15 day cruise from Panama to Portugal for about £500 more than the cost of flights! So why have we not booked it? Well the theory is, the price will go down, so how brave are we feeling? 

Nice views over the mountains from the convent

This returns us to the UK for another summer enabling me to get on an NHS waiting list (should it be required) and him to renew his passport, before returning to South America at some point in the future.

 

Old toilets (no longer used) at the convent. No doors?

 

A view of the pyramid and mountains from the convent. In the centre is what we call alien or UFO rock. I think you can see why

 

The church from the convent courtyard

 

Beautifuly painted walls from 16th century

 

Jackie finds a kitten in town, may not be long for this world as it ambled home, across the busy road, from the shop where it had been snaffling biscuits!

 

Evening drinks in the garden, overseen by Maty

 

The dogs this morning (and most of the night). It was dark and this was with a flash. Not much room for people!

 

Some sort of a New Year parade passing by our window

 

This was quite a big moth on the wall and worth a photo I thought!

 

Maty relaxing on the sofa

 

More relaxing by Cookie. She is a professional at it!

 

Luna wrapped up warm

 

Bookends on the sofa, about three seconds before 'walkies' was called

 

Our two Christmas cards, received through the post. The one on the left is from Helen and Ian, they posted it in the UK on 5th December and it arrived here on 9th January. Thesecond one is from Abi (Sooty's mum), arrived on 9th January. A bit late for Christmas but we really appreciated receiving them, it was a really nice thought, thank you!