Taxco is a city built into the side of a hill and is known for its silver mines, jewelry production and colonial architecture.  People have been taking silver out of the hills here long before the Spanish arrived, but, today, the main industry is tourism.

We had been advised not to try to drive off of the main road in Taxco.  The side streets are narrow, winding and steep.  Our plan was to find a parking spot along the main road and then walk around the historic centre of town for a few hours.  We drove through town looking for a place big enough to park our truck, with no luck.  We had seen on iOverlander that there was a silver factory on the outskirts of town and only a few blocks off of the main road that had a large parking lot, so we decided to give that a try.

We found the turn off and immediately were back into another “Mexican stand-off”. Motorbikes,  taxis, and regular traffic including delivery vehicles and SUVs pushed into any tiny space available around our vehicle, but slowly, seemingly impossibly, eventually everyone got through and we could drive on to our destination.  I have a great little dash cam video of the process, which we will try to upload… if we get stronger WIFI somewhere… kudos to Derek for his incredible patience.  They have a saying in Mexico, “He who gets angry, loses”, and Derek has apparently taken this to heart.

The Zanfeld silver factory was amazing. All of the jewelry is designed by the factory owners who originated and learned their trade in Argentina but live in Israel. The Jewelry is then manufactured on site by Mexicans applying long cultivated skills . We spent quite a bit of time looking at bracelets, rings, necklaces and earrings, as well as a large collection of sculptures of various designs, some plated, some solid. In the end, and after a generous free sample of artisanal mezcal, we each ended up with a new ring. Merry Belated Christmas to us!

We asked if we could stay in their parking lot for the evening and they had no problem with it as long as we were okay with being locked in from 6pm to 9 am the next morning. We set up, walked down to a little tienda to stock up on some basics and returned to our camping spot for the night.  We had an enjoyable, peaceful evening as we watched, first, the sun set and then, the lights of the town come on.

Our camping spot for the night.

The view at night.

About 2 am in the morning I woke up with a feeling of nausea and sharp pains in my stomach.  I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say, I have no idea what I did to anger Montezuma, but I will be pussy footing around him from here on in…his revenge is brutal.

The next morning, feeling remarkably better, Derek and I were given a tour of the factory to see how the jewelry is produced. They use the lost wax method, and it was fascinating to see all the steps and innovations that go into producing their jewelry. We got to see the workers soldering the delicate tiny pieces together, and if a surgeon I was considering had such fine, steady hands I would be pleased.

The managers at the factory wished us a good trip and gave us their phone numbers, should we ever need help with translation or any other issue while in Mexico. After having a late breakfast/early lunch at a nearby restaurant that they recommended (tentative on my part, but eating turned out to be a good decision), we decided that the streets and parking were just too much for us and that we would spend the rest of the day driving to our next destination, the puebla of Cholula.

View of Taxco from a mirador outside of town.