Mexico Day 65: Sucked in to a tourist trap

La Gloria, Hidalgo //

The parking lot we’re camped in is surprisingly quiet overnight, employees don’t begin arriving until 8am at which point we’ve gotten a good night’s sleep.  Mark does what he always does which is open up the boxes on the side of the truck and make coffee, even though there’s barely enough room to do so with the car that is parked beside us.  I make us breakfast and go on to eat breakfast outside in my pajamas while watching patrons arrive to the waterpark for the day.  In this moment I realize we’ve become accustomed to camping just about anywhere.

Our plan is to pack up a day bag and spend the afternoon exploring all the pools and water features of not only La Gloria, where we’re parked, but also the larger and more popular waterpark, called Tolantongo, located at the base of the canyon.  From the parking lot we descend over 800 vertical feet via 500 concrete steps and numerous steep paths to reach the river’s edge.  Along the way are dozens of small, turquoise pools and picturesque waterfalls.  These fairytale scenes are offset by unfinished construction projects, exposed rebar and walking paths that end with abrupt drop-offs.  This is Mexico, it’s quite common for beauty and hazard to exist side by side.

At the base of the canyon we reach a suspension bridge that connects La Gloria to Tolantongo.  An attendant is waiting at the Tolantongo side of the bridge to collect our $12 US per person entry fee, double the amount we were expecting.  We debated foregoing our Tolantongo visit but decided to go for it since we’d made the trek all the way down to get here.  Upon entering we immediately notice how much busier this park is from where we came.  A little overwhelmed by the sprawling grounds and numerous water features to be seen, we choose the nearest one, a cave tucked behind a waterfall.  As we begin our way that direction, a no-nonsense security guard, of which we notice there are many here at Tolantongo, tells us no backpacks are allowed.  A little stumped we turn around and find that there are lockers for rent for $5 US.  As the four of us approach the lockers, another humorless security guard tells us only one person is allowed at the lockers.  Heather, Adam, and I wait at the base of the steps, while Mark reluctantly stashes all our stuff in a locker.  Within ten minutes of being at Tolantongo, the place has taken most of the pesos we brought with us for the day.  We all cross our fingers that there won’t be any more unexpected fees to pay.

The sheer number of people headed towards the cave has us wanting to turn back to La Gloria.  However, we’d come this far and given most of our pesos away to be here so we shrug our shoulders and join the herd.  So many bodies were entering the cave with so few exiting that I assume it either got much bigger inside or was a tunnel that came out the other side.  After being bathed by the waterfall that blocked the entrance to the cave, we slowly shuffled our way inside the black hole amidst dozens of other people.  We made our way in and out of waist-deep pools before reaching the end of the 120’ long cave.  It never got bigger, nor did it take us anywhere but to a dead end clogged with people.  We immediately turned around and carefully made our way back out while trying to not step on anyone.  Once we made our way back to the light of day we couldn’t help but laugh for what an experience that was.  Passing up the second cave was an easy choice when we saw that it looked just as busy.

Next, we made our way to the river and successfully found a small section to have to ourselves.  At this point we’d confirmed that yes, Tolantongo is in fact far more touristy than La Gloria, where we’d come from.  Here the visitors were of the city-dwelling variety.  The entire place had a very tourist attraction kind of vibe.  Across the river at La Gloria, the visitors all felt like locals from the nearby towns, the grounds weren’t as developed, and the water features more natural.  While Heather, Adam, and myself soaked in the river, Mark employed his speed walking skills to cover some ground and see if there was any more of Tolantongo worth seeing.  He returned a half hour later, having only seen about half of the place, with the verdict that La Gloria is the place to be.  The four of us quickly and happily returned to the other side of the river.

After a few more hours of soaking in warm hot spring-fed pools and exploring the impressive natural beauty of La Gloria’s nooks and crannies, I was ready to be on dry ground and out of my wet bathing suit.  While the four of us ate at the restaurant located twenty steps from where our trucks were parked, we watched while enough vehicles left the parking lot to unblock our trucks.  We’d been blocked in most of the day, prompting our desire to relocate.  After dinner Adam and Mark moved both trucks to the upper parking lot that was located one hairpin turn up the dirt road from the main parking area we’d been.  With no one else around, we were all delighted by our choice to move.  Especially since we paid for three nights to be here.      

Having spent the majority of our day covering thousands of steps and soaking in various pools, we were equally relaxed and wiped out.  While the four of us sat in our chairs beneath a star-filled sky, I silently admired us.  After our first month traveling mainland Mexico, I think it’s safe to say we’re getting the hang of parking lot and backyard camping.  While it may be nothing like Baja’s majestic beaches, we’re still getting to see extraordinary places and are making memories I won’t soon forget.

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Thanks to Heather for providing a few of the photos in this post.

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