The Stairway to ... Cuernavaca

The Stairway in Cuernavaca

The stairs in this picture are the first of a series of steps leading up from the house where we were staying in Cuernavaca.  The house was at the bottom of a ravine.  The first steps you can see in the foreground are about 1/8 of the distance, and the steps in the background leading up to the black door at the top of the picture (left-middle) make up another 1/8.

From that black door, you have to walk about 5 meters to another flight of stairs similar to the ones in the foreground.  From there, you walk another 10 meters to the last, longest and steepest flight.  It's about twice as long as all the other stairs put together (I know, the math doesn't add up, but you get the idea.)

The step's are narrow, irregular, and wind up the hill.  There are places, that if you fall, you would probably fall the full length of that flight, and you may not survive the fall.  In a few of the most dangerous points, a fence is being put up, but it is still not complete.

For those of us not used to it, it's quite a workout, and a little intimidating.

At the top, there's a walk of a short block, and then there's a main road with stores, where buses and taxis go by.

When my wife was stung by the scorpion (see Scorpions in Cuernavaca) we almost ran up these stairs - as close as we could get to running.  A few years ago, she was very athletic and would have easily beat me to the top, but this time, I had to help her up.

Most of the people who live down there are in pretty good shape.  Some of them have stumbled down these stairs drunk.  I'm not sure how they do it.