Today has been another day of contrasts that is modern Mexico. We traveled 60 miles east of Mazatlan into the Sierra Madres to Capala, a Spanish colonial town developed in 1623 to mine silver. Less than 10 miles outside the city this morning we stopped to see a brick maker in action making his 500 or more bricks a day by hand for a salary of 10 dollars a day. He starts by mixing clay, shoveling it by hand ten feet up out of the river bank, laying out molds that dry in the sun, and then firing the bricks in ovens made of the bricks themselves. Today was 90 degrees but he also toils in the hot summer sun of the Mazatlan area.
From there we drove a short distance to see colored floor tiles being made by hand, an artist finger painting his sketches, and furniture being made out of mahogany and cedar also by hand. All this was within miles of the city buildings, highrise condos, and hotels next to McDonalds and Wal-Marts!
In Capala we had lunch in an open air restaurant and visited the town on foot. The small boy on the burro wanted to be paid for his photo as well as offering the women a ride back to the bus for two dollars.
We returned to clean laundry, motohomes washed and waxed for those that ordered the work, and repairs done, in our case a chip repaired in our motorhome windshield.
We had a short happy hour but everyone was ready to call it an early night as tomorrow is a long day beginning with brunch and a city tour followed by Fiesta! tomorrow evening.
Today has been another day of contrasts that is modern Mexico. We traveled 60 miles east of Mazatlan into the Sierra Madres to Capala, a Spanish colonial town developed in 1623 to mine silver. Less than 10 miles outside the city this morning we stopped to see a brick maker in action making his 500 or more bricks a day by hand for a salary of 10 dollars a day. He starts by mixing clay, shoveling it by hand ten feet up out of the river bank, laying out molds that dry in the sun, and then firing the bricks in ovens made of the bricks themselves. Today was 90 degrees but he also toils in the hot summer sun of the Mazatlan area.
From there we drove a short distance to see colored floor tiles being made by hand, an artist finger painting his sketches, and furniture being made out of mahogany and cedar also by hand. All this was within miles of the city buildings, highrise condos, and hotels next to McDonalds and Wal-Marts!
In Capala we had lunch in an open air restaurant and visited the town on foot. The small boy on the burro wanted to be paid for his photo as well as offering the women a ride back to the bus for two dollars.
We returned to clean laundry, motohomes washed and waxed for those that ordered the work, and repairs done, in our case a chip repaired in our motorhome windshield. 
We had a short happy hour but everyone was ready to call it an early night as tomorrow is a long day beginning with brunch and a city tour followed by Fiesta! tomorrow evening.
