We woke up in Xilitla, in campground at hotel Finca Santa Monica. Dogs were barking the whole night and when they got tired at sunrise birds began their serenades. Surprisingly, in the forested area where we arrived last night had absolutely no insects to bother us. The temperature was around 65°F / 18°C. We started our day early with a visit to Las Pozas, located only 500 m from our camp.

Born is Scotland, Edward James was a wealthy philanthropist with inclination to poetry and fine arts. Over the years, he became fascinated with surrealism. In 1940, he moved to the United States and four years later to Mexico. Here in Xilitla, he created his Garden of Eden. In the mountains, in the subtropical rainforest between natural waterfalls and ponds James poured his creativity into surrealist sculptures. Las Pozas (“the pools”) is the secret garden of art and nature. While walking there we encountered countless stairs, ramps, bridges and narrow, winding walkways. Many sculptures resemble flowers, plants, and trees.

Concrete surrealist architectural structures have surrealist names too. Our favorite is “The Fleur-de-Lys Bridge, or Terrace of the Tiger.” Other names we found interesting are, “Room with Whale shaped Door”, “The Three Story House That Could be Five,” or “Bathtub in the Shape of an Eye.”

At noon, we hit the road towards the Gulf of Mexico. Our progress was extremely slow. We passed hundreds of mountain villages. There were no coutas, or toll highways that could shorten our travel time in this region. It took us almost 9 hours to drive only 230 miles / 370 km.