Driving north the landscape changes drastically, trees and mountains increasing in size as we gain altitude and head towards the mountain town of Tapalpa. Without knowledge of any spots close to downtown, we choose to camp a short drive away at Parque Aventura La Ceja, which turned out to be the home of a paragliding school, situated on a bluff with nausea inducing drop-offs and breathtaking vistas of the valley. We spend our first afternoon here being thoroughly entertained by people jumping off the ridge, catching the wind in their parachute and gliding into the air.
Waking early we stop at Las Piedtrotas. A verdant, rolling field dotted with mammoth gray stones that seem mystically out of place.
Tapalpa is just what we expected a small Mexican mountain puebla would be, with the occasional horse and rider promenading down its narrow cobblestone streets, white washed buildings sheltered by scarlet shingled roofs, a bucolic town square surrounding its stunning old cathedral; all set in a valley engulfed by towering pine laden mountains.
