1/5/25-Sunday-Day 30 “Parras de la Fuentes”
With a good amount of ground to cover today we are on the road around 9am and we make our way to the toll road headed north east out of Durango. The drive is rather bland, mostly a four lane highway through desert dotted with occasional toll booths, I believe we paid five separate tolls for the day totaling $823mx ($40-45usd) over a stretch of about 300km.
Just after paying our final toll for the day we stop for fuel where our friends are once more surprised at our willingness to try the “cooler burritos” that many locals sell from the back of their motorcycles at fuel stations and rest stops. Knock on wood, but we have yet to be left feeling disappointed or sick from the random tacos and burritos that we’ve purchased, usually for around 20-30 pesos each. Although due to the language barrier we often have no clue what is in said burritos, it is always a pleasant surprise.
After fueling up we continue on for another 100km or so before coming to the town of Parras de la Fuente, our first Pueblo Magico on mainland. Pueblo Magicos are towns or cities that the Mexican government has deemed culturally significant whether it be for local architecture, artistry, cuisine, history etc.. We somehow manage to find a parking spot and along with our friends walk through the town square that is full of vendors set up for the weekend market.
With evening drawing near we decide to look for a restaurant to grab an early dinner which proves to be quite difficult as none of the establishments have outdoor seating due to the narrow town streets and they understandably do not allow dogs indoors. With our bellies still full on cooler burritos and not wanting to leave Duke and Annie sitting in our very hot truck cab Heather and I opt to head out of town to find camp for the night while our friends (at our urging) enjoy a meal at one of the local restaurants.
Just a bit out of town and a couple of kilometers down a dirt road lies “El Encuentro”. After a brief conversation a man opens the gate to his driveway and guides us to his backyard where he has a camping area along with a couple of small cabañas and baños. Not long after we get our camper set up and while unwinding from the days events we spot a couple of trucks coming down the dusty road and our friends rejoin us for the evening.
Adam Olterman
You can read more on our travels here!
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