A night view of Taxco’s Zocalo (city plaza) and its beautiful Templo de Santa Prisca.
Allow me to take you from Southeast Asia to the beautiful country of Mexico. In July of this year I traveled back to Mexico City and explored new cities such as Puebla, Taxco, Cuernavaca and Tepoztlan.
Taxco ("tass-ko") de Alarcón is considered Mexico’s silver Mecca. It is a beautiful Spanish colonial town at the foot of the Sierra Madre Mountains.
Since the town is located on a steep hillside the locals use Volkswagen Beetle (Bug) taxis to navigate the steep streets. They constantly roam the streets in a single file as if they were on an assembly line. You never have to wait more than a couple of seconds to flag down a taxi.
In the afternoon I wandered around the labyrinth of steep streets looking to photograph the town’s zocalo from a high vantage point. I found this very narrow street and returned in the evening for the “blue hour.”
It was a tight squeeze to setup my tripod along the very narrow street without being road kill as Volkswagen bug taxis were speeding behind me. If that was not enough concern, it started to rain and I was getting nauseated from ingesting all the car fumes.
I wanted to pack up my gear and leave, but I was waiting for the floodlights to illuminate the church. I finally asked a local about the lights and he said they only turn them on over the weekend. I took this last frame you see here before it started to really downpour. I packed up my gear, strapped on my photo backpack and headed downhill back to the plaza.
Here is a really important travel tip if you ever visit Taxco: Do not walk in the rain on a wet and slippery cobblestone street that has a steep decline.
As you can imagine, I lost my footing and was going to land on my back, but as any good photographer would do I protected my gear! With cat like reflexes, I quickly turned my upper torso and landed on my chest as if I was going to do a pushup (the locals were probably thinking who is this crazy foreigner doing pushups in the rain).
With a bruised wrist and ego, I quickly gathered myself up and ducked into the nearest bar to grab a beer.
Photography is not only an expensive habit; it can be dangerous to your health.
Happy Travels!
One more photo in the comment section.
All Rights Reserved. Photos and Text ©Sam Antonio Photography 2014
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