Although several thousand feet above sea level, it is so situated, with reference to mountain slopes and funnel valleys, that it has a genial climate, where plants nourish which are usually found only at lower altitudes.
Its fruits and "the finest coffee in the world" have rendered the town long famous.

The houses, bowered in dense groves of green, are of the picturesque Tarascan type.

The four-sloped roofs, now covered with long, narrow shingles, now with the dull red tiles, suggest the prettiest pictures in Japanese towns.

The streets are clean.

Through the centre of the town dashes a mountain stream of clearest water, with the hue of sapphire.