Our Pilgrimage to Chalma!

Yes, believe it or not, we did go on a long, walking pilgrimage to a holy site in Mexico on Ash Wednesday. Our friends had talked about it for a while and we thought it was a good opportunity to support them and to have a new experience. And a new experience it certainly was! We weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into, but we knew it was going to be a long day...

It's a big deal throughout the whole area. Thousands of people throughout Mexico partake in this pilgrimage and we had heard quite a bit of talk about it in anticipation of our journey.

The Sanctuary of Chalma is one of the most-visited pilgrimage sites in Mexico. Apparently, more than two million people a year visit Chalma. Pilgrimages to this Christian sanctuary follow many of the patterns of the prehispanic rituals, including walking the narrow paths to the town itself, bathing in the waters of a special fresh-water spring, and dancing at the sanctuary.

The waters where people have traditionally bathed.

A view of the sanctuary, our destination!

Beforehand I saw trucks that were headed for Chalma and people that were already on pilgrimage by foot, passing through Tepoztlán.

And here I am by a truck headed to Chalma.

In preparation, I packed up food including the makings for sandwiches and fruit, in addition to lots of water. We woke up at 3:30 to catch a 4am bus with our friends. It was an old, loaded bus and  took people from our barrio. In fact, the bus was so packed that it was standing room only by the time we got on. You could imagine how dark it was, and cold at that time of morning, or should I say night? The bus ride was about an hour long. We had no idea where we were going, but we knew we were in safe hands with our friends. The bus let us off on the side of the road. We walked for about two hours (again in the dark and cold) with lights strapped to our heads. At first we were on a back path with no traffic, other than other foot traffic. There were lots of people who were walking the other direction who were already making their way back from the holy site.

Here's a "restaurant" that we saw along the way as we were walking in the dark.

We stopped at a makeshift "restaurant" on the side of the road after we emerged from the wooded path. It was getting light at about this time, and a warm "arroz con leche" was warmly welcomed. There were people sleeping right behind where the food was being prepared, and of course no bathrooms in sight. When you put two and two together, this can be a disaster in terms of hygiene. Luckily, we had heard about refraining from food and drinks along the way. I took a risk with the arroz con leche!

The first rest we took was at this "restaurant." It had just gotten light out.

And here's Lea with our friends.

After that stop, we continued on our "pilgrimage" along the road with the thousands of other people traveling to the same site. We were 4 kids and 4 adults altogether. There were lots of trucks and other motorized vehicles that were support to all the walkers.

We had good conversation along the way and it was nice to simply be out walking...

Here are a couple of sites along the way...

Here is a cluster of bamboo trees which I thought were remarkable!

And a very creative place for plants and flowers.

We walked for the next three hours or so before we took our next break. There were food stands along the way and we stopped in a makeshift "town" that was set up for people traveling by foot to the holy site. There were lots more "restaurants" and stands set up on the side of the path with food, snacks, drinks, and other trinkets to buy.

And here we are taking a much needed lunch break.

Brian stopped at a small shop on the side of the path to buy some cookies.  Note how beautifully the mangoes are cut.

After this break we continued walking for the next four hours or so. By this point we were approaching the heat of the day, and the kids started complaining, but overall, they were real troopers! As we were getting closer we started seeing lots of people on their return from the holy site with huge crosses on their backs.

And here's a couple who stopped for something to eat.

And here are crosses that we saw on trees along the way:

And here are crosses that we saw for sale:

It was exciting to reach a river where we got wet. Refreshing indeed!

I didn't get a photo here of our friends or my family, but here's a man, again, with  a cross  on his back by the water.

By the time we arrived, it was really hot and crowded, but after walking for about 9 hours, we were elated to have made it to Chalma!

Brian and Lea approaching the town of Chalma.

These guys made it too, and look happy to take a rest!

And here are our friends in Chalma. Good to take the packs off the back, sit for a while, and have some cold water.

We walked through a very busy and crowded marketplace to the site of the church. 

You can see Brian's head in the right hand corner.

A very colorful snack stand.

And fresh fruit.

Some guys playing music.

And the biggest peanut brittle I have ever seen. And I've never seen so much of it! We even saw them making it in the market.

And this short video shows how tired and heat exhausted I must have been! You need to tilt your head to the side and you'll see a religious procession moving through the market... I forgot at the time that to film videos, the camera needs to be upright. Oops!

After weaving our way through the market, we finally arrived at the church.

We were happy to simply have made it to our destination, but obviously, reaching the church had significant meaning for our friends. Our friends waited in line to have crosses drawn on their foreheads.  We then rested on the floor of the church, which was a nice break from the blazing sun. After that rest, we had to make our way back through the marketplace, by this point really drained, a little heat exhausted, and perhaps a bit dehydrated. Brian especially wasn't feeling well. We finally made our way to the bus station for our return to Tepoztlán. (Make note that many people will do the round trip pilgrimage by foot over more than one day). The first bus was standing room only which we knew wasn't going to work for us, considering the bus ride was a few hours long! We had to make our way to another location where another bus was going to Tepoz. This time we traveled by taxi. We were happy to board the bus, but after waiting for a while, we learned that the bus was broken. We had to board another. That almost seemed funny by this point! We were so happy to sleep on the way home. Unfortunately, Brian was left with some horrible stomach stuff. He was in bed and didn't eat for about 4 days after the pilgrimage. We're still stumped as to what did him in...

Overall, our "pilgrimage" to Chalma was an amazing opportunity for us. I could make a bet that we were the only Jewish Gringos out of the thousands of people that we saw throughout that entire day. In fact, I don't remember seeing anyone who didn't look like they were Native Mexicans. It was certainly an experience that we will never forget!

For more information on Pilgrimage to Chalma go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalma,_Malinalco