Archeological site "Las Ranas" plus caves and wine
On January 24, 2009 we took the tour of the archeological site “Las Ranas”, along with a cave and a winery, sponsored by the official Tourist Service (and thus economical). We left the Museo Regional at 9am in a van with 4 other tourists – two Mexican couples, and drove for over two hours with one pit stop in Vizarron, a small town noted for its marble. We arrived at the caves: La Gruta Los Herrera around 11:15 and spent about 45 minutes there with Eric as our guide. Lois liked the formations in the cave.
Then we drove through the town of San Joaquin without stopping, arriving at the archeological site “Las Ranas” by 12:45. We enjoyed seeing several ball courts and pyramids; Las Ranas was in use from about 600CE to 1000CE. Eric skillfully guided us around, managing for us to climb almost to the very top without feeling exhausted despite the elevation of over 8000 feet. The ball courts there do not have rings; Eric said that archeologists think that the players either kicked the ball or used a stick of some sort to propel it.
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Then we drove through the town of San Joaquin without stopping, arriving at the archeological site “Las Ranas” by 12:45. We enjoyed seeing several ball courts and pyramids; Las Ranas was in use from about 600CE to 1000CE. Eric skillfully guided us around, managing for us to climb almost to the very top without feeling exhausted despite the elevation of over 8000 feet. The ball courts there do not have rings; Eric said that archeologists think that the players either kicked the ball or used a stick of some sort to propel it.
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We also enjoyed views from the top into the famous “Sierra Gorda” mountain area. About 1:45 we were back in the van and we drove for an hour before finally arriving at our dinner location in the town of Caydereta.
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The spread they put out was a major meat fest, although it did include frijoles, guacamole and tortillas. We had jamaica water to drink. Then it was back in the van for a short hop to the winery: Las Cavas Freixenet, which was a major flop.
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By rushing madly we got there in time for the last tour at 4pm. First there was an unintelligible video advertisement for the place, followed by a tour of the bodega led by a guide who stopped occasionally to explain the place to the 100 plus people on the tour. We were not allowed to use flash photography (there was not much to photograph anyway: just zillions of bottles in racks) and finally they showed us some apparatus (which was not working) that cleans the bottles and puts labels on them. Eighty percent of the wine produced here is sparkling. We each got a taste of that. The other two couples bought wine; we did not.