Christ and cows

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We had arranged to stay with a Couch Surfer in Durango. But foolishly we ended up in the city of Durango rather than the town of Gomez Palacio in the state of Durango. Gomez Palacio was a further 3 hours away but our host Jose happily retrieved us from the bus terminal at 9 pm. Jose was lovely and we ate some fantastic tacos at a local restaurant before heading to his house.

The next day Jose took us with him to work. A lab manager at a dairy company, we got a tour of the labs and were taken out to one of the farms where there were thousands of big healthy cows and a modern milking facility. Not quite the green hills of home but the cows were obviously well taken care of and stress free.

Gomez Palacio is merged with the city of Torrean and we spent the afternoon there. But yet again, it was Monday, and the museums were closed. So we just wandered for a bit. Not a tourist town but it kept us amused.

That evening Jose took us to see the Cristo de las Noas on a hill above Torrean. The modern Christ and church have a commanding view of the two cities. The lights went on forever. The Christ was a lovely big white statue. Less famous and shorter than Christ the Redeemer, but somehow a much more interesting site to visit. We found the church lovely inside and visited a bunch of chapels that told the story of Christ. A cat was our guide.

It really makes a difference when you are staying with someone local. You see fantastic things that are not on the tourist trail.

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