oo-roo-AH-pan not how I thought it was pronounced when I first saw it. Live and learn. The drive from Pátzcuaro to Uruapan was relatively short, so I scheduled in a side trip to Santa Clara del Cobre – a town known for their copper mining and copper art.
While in town I also ate the most AMAZING carnitas tacos! I ordered one ($50 pesos) but it came with 3 tortillas and made 3 huge, tasty, filling tacos. YUM!
The city of Uruapan, or what I saw of it, was not nearly as historic or charming as Morelia or Pátzcuaro. It felt more industrial and hard-edged. My hotel, el Salto de Camela, was perfectly fine but not as rich in character as my previous two.
The big reason to go to Uruapan was as a gateway to Paricutín volcano. It is a MODERN volcano, meaning that before 1943 there was no volcano in the area! It actively erupted for 9 years, and is now mostly dormant emitting fumaroles and not much else.
I got a fit of the crazies and rented a horse and guide. We spent nearly 6 HOURS riding through avocado orchards and lava-lunar landscape. When we got to the base of the volcano (at 3400 meters) and the guide said it was an hour scramble, on lava rocks to reach the top, with an elevation gain of 400 meters, I cried “Uncle”. I love horses, but the riding was killing me, and a 400 meter ascent when my heart and lungs were already very taxed wasn’t in my playbook.
I learned a LOT about the area, the local indigenous language (Purépecha), avocado orchards, and that my body “remembers” how to ride but it is A LOT older now. 😂 This was a good adventure, although I’m not sure I’d come back to Uruapan. And I’m sure I would not sign up for a 6 hour ride again!
Love it! Thank you for sharing.