Pilgrimage to Talpa, Jal. Day 1

In 2021 we visited friends that we had travelled to Vietnam with in Ajijic, Mexico and to be honest neither of us were crazy about going to Mexico. The high tourist costs did not jump out at us as a place to add to our "must see list", we had also both been before years ago in our 20's to resorts or on cruises.

When we arrived in Ajijic, we quickly figured out we were very wrong to have had that impression of Mexico. We fell in love with Ajijic, the food, culture, people and the area in general. Fast forward to making some new friends, riding horses and a few tequila's later, our friend who owns a ranch just outside of Chapala had captivated Ryan on a lifelong dream of riding horses, camping and cowboying.

Winter 2024 we returned to the Ajijic area and that 3 day camping on horseback was still at the front runner for Ryan to do, me personally I was on the fence. While we were there, we started  riding about 4 - 6 days a week for at least 3 - 5 hours a ride. This was on the thought we MIGHT go on this ride. We had been helping Napo and Triny condition other horses going on this ride, they had about 8 horses going.

One afternoon we went out and visited Napo and Triny, who had both been trying to convince us to do this ride with them. We went to commit to the ride and give our deposit for  the ride. I was so nervous about the entire idea, mountains, horses, narrow dangerous trails etc, however with all three of them reassuring me that we could do this not be a burden, I jumped on board with the idea.

We picked out two horses that we knew were ready for this ride and started working even harder on learning them, on improving our riding and conditioning ourselves for the ride. Then the day came for us to leave, in true Mexican fashion the truck was 2 hours late, so we prepped what we could and tacked up. Paul joined us. He was driving our truck with gear for everyone and Napo had a full SUV and trailer.

We rode our horses into Chapala that afternoon and loaded up with 26 other cowboys and their horses into the transport to the starting point, Ameca. We arrived in Ameca before the transport with our horses. This allowed everyone to set up their tents, get settled and grab dinner. The horses arrived in the dark, a couple of younger stallions were roaring as the truck parked and prepped to be unloaded. One by one each horse was unloaded by their cowboy (or cowgirl), fed, watered and tied off for the night.

Unloading in the dark.

I went to bed around 11pm, we were told a 5:30 am start of feeding, packing and starting the ride. Ryan rolled into bed not long after however, sleep was not going to be easy. We were located by the road, one of the spots left when we arrived with trucks and trailers rolling in all hours and other cowboys riding through. Some of our group stayed up drinking and were trying to convince everyone (that was awake) of an earlier start or to leave right then around about 2 am..

We did end up getting up around 4:30 am because we could hear Napo talking, when we got up he had already fed our horses, was tacking up and packing Photo Credit: V.Gray up all the gear. We raced around packing up our gear, getting dressed and pulling out the snacks we had packed the night before as a "just in case" we didn't get time for breakfast, mounted our horses and were off! 

Into the darkness we went! We started walking through Ameca, all the houses shut up tight for night, a few street lights and stores open for people walking or riding through, otherwise it was dark and cold. Then we got onto the trail heading up the mountain, it was so dark that you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. The only reason I knew where Triny was in front of me was because of the little blue light on her speaker tied to the back of her saddle. We were riding by starlight, this became a ride of faith, sit in your saddle let your horse pick their path/footing and pray.

Sunrise from mountain top.

As we made our way up the mountain, we could hear the rocks under the horse's hooves or feel them slip on the flat rocks of the mountain face  and then regain their footing. As we went up we passed stores on the side of the mountain, with other riders and walkers taking breaks. As the sun started rising we could see how far we had travelled and the breathtaking sunrise that was happening. We reached the view point on the first quick break of the day, we found out the first part of the ride we had done in the dark was "boring" with nothing to see which is why the cowboys all wanted to leave early.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Taking a moment to take in the view.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Tequila for breakfast.

As we all took a break and had a snack, some cowboys decided to open the tequila and started passing it around, this was around 7 am.

We made it to the top!

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Ryan & Triny riding down after sunrise.

We could have eaten breakfast here as there was a restaurant at the top of the mountain, however the group had a different checkpoint in mind for breakfast. So we started our descent down to the village below for breakfast. The ride changes when you can see where you are going, I found myself sometimes fighting the urge to control every step. When you can see every rock, cliff edge or other obstacle seeing the danger in a miss step.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

The view riding down.

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The path was wide for a bit and we found a pond midway to water our horses before continuing down. All along the trail there are crosses commemorating the people who have passed away that people are walking for.

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Passing through the cattle pasture.

As we came down the mountain passing through farm land with cattle running about. It was yelled at by the last person to remember to close the gate as we passed through. We went to a stream where we watered the horses before crossing into the small town for breakfast.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

Taking a minute at the stream before breakfast.

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The group took an hour break for breakfast and then we were back on the horses until mid afternoon when we stopped for snacks, beverages and gave the horses a little break. By this point in the day, some of the cowboys had started talking and riding with us.

Making friends.

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Splashing about in the river.

Then we carried on for a few more hours down the path beside the highway to the river where we took the horses for some water. Beers were handed out and we were onto the last 2 hours out of our first 10 hour day.

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Beers being handed around.

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The last 2 hours were the longest hours of the entire day. We had picked up sheep skin to put down as a saddle as a pad but no one else had put one on so we didn't either. I fully regretted this by the end of the day. As we made camp and Ryan was telling me how soar he was, I bit my tongue and did not admit the amount of pain I was feeling in my legs and butt. No amount of riding that we had done before could have prepared me for that.

First thing we did at camp was give our horses a bath, everyone took turns and then set up their tents. While we set up our tent Ryan said he could barely bend over, I powered through and did not say a word, being one of four women at camp I was not about to complain or say anything about how much ache I was feeling through my entire body.

The end of Day 1 !

With the horses tied off, fed and blanketed up for the night we walked across the road and had dinner at a local roadside restaurant. After the long day of riding everyone was in bed around 8 pm, knowing we were going to be hitting the trail a bit later in the morning (7 am) the next morning.

Cheers!

Photo Credit: V.Gray

**Please note that all opinions and views expressed in this post are my own, from my own experiences. If you would like to see more pictures follow me on Instagram @vikki.gray **