Momostenengo

We travelled to Momostenengo after leaving Todos Santos. The last 12 miles to Momo were the most interesting travel. We were dropped off at the edge of town along the Pan American highway. At first, we thought the bus to Momo would pick us up there. We soon learned we had to walk to the center of town. No problem, we see a hill and the town center is at the top. Well, the town's name was San Francisco el Alto. Alto means tall. But tall does not come close to describing the walk we encountered, ever upwards! Surprisingly, we walked past about one mile (yes that's right, one mile) worth of vendors set up in the middle of the closed off road upon which we walked, every one of them selling new clothes of typically American style. This is not to mention the permanent tiendas which lined the road also selling these same clothes. We have no idea how there would be enough market to support this many clothes sales.

We did finally reach the top and the town center to await a bus. Two came, but they were so full, we weren't even going to try to get in. A pickup truck came by so I asked if they were headed to Momo. Indeed they were, and we could travel there for 75 cents each. In we jumped with a bunch of other people. What a glorious ride. For all but the last couple miles of those 12 miles we seemed to be driving through a National Park. A narrow road, winding through some of the tallest standing pines we have seen on this trip. Once in a while you break out of the pine forest with a breath taking panoramic view of the area. In the far distance, one could see mountain peaks across several valleys and ridges of smaller mountains in between. I won't soon forget those views. Checking the map, those distant mountains were the eastern edge of the same range where we left Todos Santos, and actually was where Nebaj lay nestled. Sorry for the lack of a picture, but we didn't even try as the majesty of the scene would not be captured by our camera!

Momo is a town that Linda visited on a day trip in 2001 with Melissa and Connie, noted for the their weaving beautiful and practical heavy wool blankets. We spent two low key days there as not all of us were feeling 100%. There were a few places we would have liked to visit had circumstances been better, notably a hot springs/swimming area. One of the things we did do was visit Los Riscos, the oddly eroded area shown in the top picture. The next two pictures are of the municipal building, and a restaurant.

We also (twice in one day) visited a shop that Linda has talked about ever since her first visit, Tonica Lopez, a personable, elderly artesian who makes painted paper mache masks and all sorts of wooden figurines, scenes, etc. We found Tonica and his shop exactly as Linda described. You would look at something with a price tag which might say 5, and his first response is, "no, no, 4." He has a sense of humor too, he said if Ti's and Willa's parents wanted a mask, the price would be 15, but for the kids, 8. He loves kids. Finally, when you have made your purchases, he then pulls one or two more items off his shelves and puts them in the bag just for good measure!

After two nights and almost two days in Momo, we headed off, travelling together as far as our paths coincided. Linda and the kids headed to Nebaj, while I continued to Antigua to meet Julie, arriving that same day.