El Santo Desierto Del Carmen

I ended up in a small village on top of a mountain in Central Mexico.  The only way up was a ride on an old SUV type vehicle from the town one hour below.  They would not leave until it was packed full of people including the roof which also had animals that the passengers had bought at the market.  It was a dirt road so traveling to the top was quite a blast.  Halfway up the road was a waterfall with a small pool at the bottom that drained under the road creating another waterfall on the other side.  This was all so fascinating to me especially being from the islands.  What a completely different world!  Once to the top you enter the village of tiny brick streets.  The town was built by monks who were looking for a retreat to get away from the world.  They began building the church in the 1500's bringing in laborers from other parts of the country who eventually settled there creating the town.  The church was built by cutting blocks out of the cliffs from different parts of the mountain.  The cedar trees that were planted in the 1700's (when the church was completed) along the main road that leads to the church, are still there today.  I was there once when one of the trees fell and the town all went and made use of it by building furniture out of the wood and using it for their houses.  A wall was also built around the entire town to keep out intruders and the "bad people".  Parts of the wall still exist in several parts of the mountain.  I ended up staying with a family living in a one room house with their nine children and 3 beds.  The kitchen was separate from the house and consisted of sticks woven together and the inside was lined with feed sacks held in place with bottle caps.  They did not have a stove and all cooking was done over the fire.  I needed to do laundry the next day and was told to go with the wife.  Mind you I did not speak Spanish at this time and I was young and stupid.  I'm still young and stupid.  I was trying to figure out why the hell would they put the laudromat way out in the middle of woods after following her in silence for an eternity.  Ackward......  That was when I saw....................
Video of El Carmen 2010