Mexico City Day 3 – Grutas Tolantongo
On my third day in Mexico, I left the city for a tour to “Las Grutas Tolantonga,” a hot springs resort located two hours away in the state of Hidalgo. I first saw images of “Las Grutas” on the AirBnB experience page and the turquoise color of the water seemed unreal. Still, I was not psyched to wake up at 5:30 AM, as I am not a morning person and still on California time, making it essentially 3:30 AM for me. But the spirits of travel experience beckoned me, and amazingly I arrived to the meeting place on time.
We drove for an hour, stopped for a breakfast buffet where I got to know the ten other people on the tour and our guide Francisco (not his real name). Francisco was great, but very chill and free-spirited in a way that I can only describe as “very Mexico.” I love Mexico with all my heart but it’s not big on things like “rules” or “laws,” or maybe even “safety.” Let’s just say that a traffic light stops in Mexico City are merely a suggestion.
After lunch, the van drove us up a super scary mountain full of switchbacks with a direct drop down a canyon, before we arrived at the resort, which consists of dozens of man made pools on the side of a mountains. Francisco told us that the Grutas Tolantongo are owned by local families in the San Cristobal area as “ejidos” or communal properties and the profits are reinvested into the resort. As a result, they don’t have to immigrate to the US for work.
Once we arrived, Francisco pointed us in the direction of the pools and then hit the bar with the friend he brought along. The rest of us got into the pools and hardcore photoshoot mode for our “grams.” Everyone was generous with the energy put into taking the best shot, angles, and styles. Nothing like three hundred of the exact same shots to keep you busy. I’m all for a carefully positioned picture of me in a bathing suit, but in retrospect I wish I had just enjoyed the moment more.
The resort area included a tunnel with flowing water and a bridge that we crossed only to find out that it was still undergoing maintenance (very Mexico).
An hour later Francisco and his friend appeared with what looked like their third Michelada. We then took a scary taxi down the mountain to the river where we ate lunch on the foldable tables and chairs from the van. While Francisco was possibly inebriated for much of the trip, I have to say the day was very well planned. We all had received little backpacks with water, cell phone protectors, and towels. After lunch, some of us went into the river. We had on water shoes that we purchased on the way up, which was good because it was impossible to see the bottom through the milky bright blue color. The strong current carried one guy down a small waterfall. “Don’t do that,” he said when he came back up.
A few Mexican families hung out by the bank with their faces covered in what looked like a gray spa mask. A woman told us that the white sediment from the rocks, filled with minerals, and the clay from the bottom of the river made her skin “like a baby.” Hey, I’m all for a free facial, so we began searching for white rocks until her husband generously handed me a huge one that almost drowned me. We then covered our faces with the sediment along with the clay that we found at the bottom of the river and sat there for over an hour, just absorbing minerals, taking in the gorgeous view and talking about how dating sucks (the universal language of straight women). The Mexican families around us all seemed to sit there for hours, as well. Honestly, I didn’t want to leave. No doubt my body was desperate to absorb the minerals to counteract the stress of living in the US.
Speaking of the US, I did not see any White people. At the resort, we saw a bunch tents that families had used overnight. Not only is Las Grutas the most beautiful place I have ever visited, it’s also very affordable to poorer people. If this were the US, it would be saturated in high rise hotels and cost a fortune…in some ways, I’m glad that Americans are afraid of Mexico.
While we got our natural spa treatments, Francisco and the others drank Michelob Lights. After a while, we packed up and the van took us up the hill where we could see the river go through the valley like a blue snake. We walked to an area called La Gloria where we saw even more spectacular waterfall. Every leg of this journey just got more and more incredible.
The waterfall covered a cave that went deep into the mountain and out of which flowed the natural volcanically heated mineral water. I’m not sure where the volcano is in all of this, but the water was indeed hotter the deeper you went. Stalactites lined the walls and the ceiling of the cave and looked straight out of a movie set. Per Francisco’s direction, we followed a rope into another cave, to the right, that went deeper. I had to hang onto the rope because the current pushed me out. Once deep inside we could stand and look at the high ceiling. Francisco showed us how to shine the light on the bats which made them fly around. A girl in our group from Boston told me that a dead bat floated by her.
Up until this moment, I felt relatively safe. But once the current carried us out of the smaller cave, Francisco swam up to me.
“There is another cave but you have to swim underneath the rock to get to it…but just for like 30 seconds.”
I have seen enough cave diving thriller and horror movies to know better than to swim under a rock/stalactite to get to a cave. But when I looked around I saw that everyone else was doing it…I thought, dang, what kind of wimp am I? (Turns out, I am a very sane one.) But in that moment I felt lame and had to prove to myself that I can indeed risk my life by swimming under a rock with an inebriated tour guide. So I held my breath and swam under the rock to end up in a tiny crawl space that was a thousand degrees with ten other people. Panic ensued.
“I have to leave,” I told Franciscol. I could just see dead bodies floating by like the bat.
“Ok, go that way,” he said pointing across. “It takes a little longer, though.”
Longer?! I told him that I’d go back the way I came and dove back under the water. However, because I felt panicked, I came up for air before I reached the open air and I hit my head on the point of a stalactite. I was fine, but note to self: be a wimp and don’t swim underrocks.
Afterwards, Francisco told us that he was amazed there weren’t more injuries. “Yesterday we had three!”
But Francisco wouldn’t stop there. He then had us go outside and up the mountain to another deep tunnel from which poured very hot water. At this point, people were tired and some refused. The temperature in the tunnel was also very high and it felt like the scene in Alien when they go into the remains of the now extinct planet. Again we used a rope to pull ourselves up the hill and against the current till we got to the end. I made it without having another panic attack, but at that point I was about done.
We all took showers and got into the van to go back to Mexico City. Francisco provided snacks and I ate some expired Cheetos and M&Ms.
Once we were on the way, Francisco and his friend pulled out a tequila bottle. A girl from Boston decided to join the party, and soon they began singing 80s hits like “Come On Eileen.” I was exhausted and felt that I had been taken to the edge. Literally, the edge of the stalactite that hit my head. But I also felt like my soul had taken a shower, and my body was filled with minerals. Travel is tiring, but it’s the best kind of tired.
It was supposed to take two hours to drive back, but because of an accident, we sat on the highway for an extra two hours, until we were directed to a detour that took us into an abandoned dirt road. According to Francisco, “this was the true Mexican experience.” Again, I love Mexico, but, yes, it was. Spectacular, fun, unforgettable and a little scary.
Up next: Palacio de Bellas Artes.
