The town of Patzcuaro does not seem to show up on the radar of super touristy places. It is not one of those towns that when talking to people back home they would know where you are such as they would with Mazatlan or Puerto Vallarta. It does however, have quite the reputation with other travelers and a visit to the town was recommended by many people we met on the road. We really enjoyed the town which is great for walking. There are two main plazas, both with lots of activity going on all day. The main plaza was torn up for renovation during our visit, but the multitude of shops and outdoor cafes around the plaza were perfect for sitting and enjoying a tasty beverage while people watching. Patzcuaro seems to be a popular destination for Mexico City folk (Chilangos) on the weekends, so there was no end to the amount of time we could sit and watch people from all different walk of life go by. We were particularly entertained by two very energetic local children, who serenaded the patrons of the cafe in exchange for whatever donations people would give. They gave quite the performance, and we couldn’t resist some photos.

One of the best things about Patzcuaro and its surroundings is all of the unique crafts that you find at the local stores. You can spend a whole day walking around town checking out all of the stores and galleries, and if you are not careful you might end up with a full bag or vehicle to take home.

The history behind these crafts is fascinating, I will not bore you with details, but here is a rundown: the Spanish Bishop Vasco de Quiroga a firm believer in More’s Utopia, was living in the area in the 1500 and he decided to teach different crafts to indigenous communities.  So the majority of the items you find in Patzcuaro are made in communities that were educated hundreds of years ago by Quiroga. Each town specializes in a particular item or material, and if you feel like bargaining or finding the good deals you can go directly to the artisans for a reduced price. The town of Capula, northeast of Paztcuaro is known for its pottery work, particularly the beautiful Catrina dolls they make.

La Catrina dolls are based on this 1913 zinc etching by Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada (image from Wikipedia)

The Catrina doll is a skeleton dressed in elegant clothing and is most often associated with the day of the dead celebrations. You find the dolls dressed in all variety of elegant dress, all though the styles tend to the classic upper class dress. We fell in love with the Catrina dolls and tried for a long time to figure out how to store one in the Landcruiser without breaking it to no avail. The fingers on the dolls are so tiny, the doll wouldn’t last a day with us. Another town to check out is Santa Clara del Cobre which specializes in copper metal work. You can find plates, beautiful pots, and even sinks made out of hammered copper.

We stayed at a great campground just outside of the downtown in Patzcuaro where we met Al and Marilyn. We really enjoyed hanging out and talking with them, and even had the privilege of helping to celebrate Al’s birthday. We won’t say how old he turned, but he doesn’t look a day over 50!

Danza de los Viejitos (T’ARCHE UARAKUA, The Dance of the Old Men) from Lost World Expedition on Vimeo.

We ran into this street performing troupe in Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico. This is a typical dance of the Tarascan or P’urhépecha natives of the region. The video is short and of relatively poor quality (point and shoot camera), but these guys danced for hours non stop it was quite amazing and enjoyable to see.

One day while driving around the lake we found an interesting place called Centro de Ecotecnias. They are a small non profit that builds and sells alternative low technology items for rural households. Their biggest seller is a version of the Patsari stove which is a cook stove designed to improve indoor air quality of homes by funneling all of the smoke out of the house. Many households, especially rural houses, still use wood fired ovens for cooking. Most of the smoke from these ovens goes directly into the house causing health problems for many. These stoves are specially designed to burn wood thoroughly and carry any byproduct of the burn (smoke) out of the house.  The thourough burn of the wood provides another benefit of this stove: less wood consumption . They are also in the process of developing a biodigester to harvest methane fuel from animal waste which can then be used for cooking in the kitchen. Another one of their projects is to help preserve the traditional non-genetically modified strains of maize (corn) in the face of increasingly industrialized farming in Mexico.

From Patzcuaro we headed to Morelia for a night then on to Los Azufres. Los Azufres is a national park in the mountains that has sulfur springs everywhere. The area is very beautiful, surrounded by a towering pine forest at an elevation of over 9,000 feet. There are lots of thermal springs in the area and large thermal power plants all over the place. We stayed at a place called Rancho Viejo which had been recommended to us. It had been overcast and rainy for the last few days and when we got out of the truck we knew we were in for a cold night. Rancho Viejo has a campground and most importantly several pools fed by the thermal hot springs, with the temperature of the water in the pools decreasing as you get further from the source. The place is very picturesque, with green hills covered in pine trees and lots of pools filled with steaming hot water. They even have an enclosed room built around the hottest pool in order to create a natural steam room of sorts. We high tailed it to the pools as soon as we got there for a nice long soak to thaw out. While we were sitting in the comforting hot water the wind picked up, then it started to rain, then hail. We knew we were in for an interesting night in the tent when thunder and lightning started going off all around us.

We weathered the night even though the crazy rain and wind kept going all night and we woke up numerous times to the sound of trees falling all around us (well at least Luis did…Lacey did wake once, but managed to sleep through most of it). Hearing trees fall around you while sleeping in a tent is not a comforting thought, believe me. When we woke up at sunrise, we saw 4 downed trees laying around us. The weather had decided to give us a break for a bit, so we quickly packed up while we could. After the long night of rain and cold we briefly considered heading for the beach for some warm weather. However, we really wanted to see the interior and historical Mexico so we sucked it up. While we were finishing packing up, another tree cracked and fell in slow motion not 100 yards from us. We looked at each other and said let’s get the hell out of here! But not before we got one last soak in the nice hot water…we needed to thaw out a bit before hitting the road