Road trip Guanajuato

We left the town of Tlaquepaque in the early afternoon and arrived at the outskirts of Guanajuato around 4:00 pm. Its not a very large city, with a population of around 154,000 in the municipality, but it is tightly packed into a narrow and steep-sided valley. The original town was built on the banks of the Guanajuato river way back in the 1500s.  During the rainy season the river often overflowed its banks and flooded the town. By 1905 the place had been flooded 68 times. The federal government then stepped in and rebuilt the city on ruins of the old town, and in the process created a system of tunnels beneath the streets of the new city. Some of these were based on the course of the river and some were dug out of hard rock. Since the town was originally the site of some of the richest silver mines in the world, there were plenty of miners around to do the work. The result is a truly unique city with most of its thoroughfares underground. It makes a lot of sense and for a few moments I tried to imagine what LA would be like if its freeways were all underground.

Aside from its network of tunnels, Guanajuato is famous for its confusion of narrow streets and "callejones", which are really just alleys too narrow for motor vehicles. We were unprepared for this and immediately got lost searching for our hotel. Eventually a local climbed onto the back of our car and, shouting orders from the rear bumper, guided us through a couple of tunnels and bunch of twisty little streets to the staircase that led up to the Hotel Chocolate, which was perched on a steep hillside at the top of a row of tiny hotels and restaurants. It was sweaty work lugging our baggage up what amounted to about nine flights of stairs to the hotel lobby, then to our rooms which were three flights further up. But the view was spectacular and we enjoyed our brief time there.

Hotel Chocolate. The views from this quirky hotel were splendid.

View of the Jardin Union (Union Garden)  from the Hotel Chocolate. This is ground zero for the incredible festivities that go on every night. With lots of loud music and throngs of people out until around 4:30 every morning, its a tough place to get a good nights rest.

We could only stay one night at the Hotel Chocolate so we moved down to the Hotel San Diego, which was across the street from the Jardin Union. We could see all the festivities from our third story balcony and of course it seemed like the band was playing right outside our window.

The narrow streets and classic architecture of the city give it a distinctly European flair that was an enjoyable change from the more modern and Mariachi flavored Guadalajara. Because of the confusing streets and tunnels, and the fact that the car was parked miles from our hotel, we hired a guide to give us a tour of the city. This turned out to be a great way to see the place. With the four of us, the guide and a driver in a van, we visited many interesting places and quickly got acquainted with the lay of the land. After the tour we were able to explore central G-town without getting lost.

The church bells in town toll every fifteen minutes 24-7-365.

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A pair of mermaids guard the entrance to a home next to the Hotel Chocolate.

Guanajuato Cityscape. The building with the beautiful facade on the left is the University of Guanajuato. 

Main mercado in G-town.

Parrots waiting to be sold at the mercado.

The city of Guanajuato has adopted the classic novelist, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. His most famous work is Don Quixote and the city has built a museum in honor of the author and the book. It was interesting to learn about the author, but is was far more fascinating to wander the galleries and see modern artists interpret the the main character of the book, Don Quixote.

A whimsical interpretation of Cervantes Don Quixote.  

A bust of the Man of La Mancha

Pipili became the citys most famous hero when he strapped a large stone on his back as a shield against Spanish bullets and set fire to their fortress way back when Mexico was fighting for independence from Spain. He is everywhere in Guanajuato.

Pipili, the hero of Gunajuato stands guard on a ridge overlooking the city

Guanajuato is by far the most interesting and beautiful city we have visited in Mexico. We would have liked to stay longer and learn more about this fascinating town, but after three days it was time to move on to Morelia.

Road Trip Guadalajara

After the Banderas Bay Regatta we were ready for a different kind of fun so we joined our friends, Ed and Connie for a road trip up-country. We drove about a thousand miles, or perhaps it just seemed like a thousand miles throughout west-central Mexico. Here is a list of the notable towns and cities we visited on the trip:

Tequila
Guadalajara
Tlaquepaque
Guanajuato
San Miguel de Allende
Morelia
Angangueo
Patzquaro
Chapala
Mascota

Thats a lot of traveling, so for this post Ill focus on Tequila and Guadalajara.  Ed has a car here in Mexico and was kind enough to do nearly all the driving so I was free to just watch the world go by from the backseat of his Isuzu Rodeo, and occasionally hang on for dear life as Ed demonstrated his high speed driving prowess on the unpredictable roads of Mexico. Actually, we only stopped in Tequila for some beer and tacos along with a couple of souvenirs from the Jose Cuervo distillery. Anyway, we blew into Guadalajara and took rooms at the beautiful old Hotel Morales in downtown.

After the high speed run into town, I was more than ready for a stiff drink and we were fortunate that the hotel had an excellent restaurant with a fairly good bartender. The next morning we began our tour of this sprawling, gritty, bustling city. With about four and a half million residents in the metropolitan area, Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico and is a major center of commerce and industry. It is also the capital of the state of Jalisco. It has a long and colorful history dating back to the 1500s, and if youd like to know more about this fascinating and diverse megalopolis, feel free to check it out on Wikipedia.

Like most of Mexicos cities, Guadalajara is full of churches, and we wandered around several of the biggest ones, taking photos and people-watching. One thing I have noticed in all of the churches and cathedrals Ive visited in Mexico is the strikingly beautiful architecture and sculpture combined with a musty sense of dilapidation inside them. Outside, soaring spires and magnificent bells. Inside, cracked icons and peeling paint. Never a fan of organized religion, these aspects of the churches seemed to me to be a fitting metaphor for the Church itself.

Guadalajara is also a city of music. In fact, it would be fair to say that Mexico is a country of music because almost everywhere you travel in this beautiful country, someone is strumming a guitar or singing. This is a happy country in spite of all the troubles it confronts. I think the US could learn something about enjoying the simple pleasures of life from Mexico. Anyway, Guadalajara is said to be the birthplace of Mariachi music, that distinctively Mexican musical style. We were treated to lots of this kind of music but we also experienced a wonderful classical music concert in the plaza a couple of blocks from our hotel as well.

Atrium in the Hotel Morales

Central Square with the obligatory church in Guadalajara 

Guadalajara is the commercial center of Mexico but it is also a city of music. 

Cellists 

Violinists

Guadalajara is said to be the birthplace of Mariachi music.  This sculpture is a tribute to the genre.

After a couple of days in the city we were ready to move on. Our next stop was the town of Tlaquepaque, which is known for its artisans and craftsmen. I found it to be a bit too touristy for my taste and Ed agreed, so while the women shopped we set out on a mission to find some decent margaritas. Alas, we failed and had to settle for some watery concoctions that the waiter claimed were margaritas, but tasted like Fresca and lime juice. With that we piled back into the car and headed for the beautiful city of Guanajuato.

Road Trip The butterflies of Morelia

After three days in the fascinating city of Guanajuato it was time to reluctantly say goodbye and get back on the road. Our first stop was San Miguel de Allende. This town is renowned for its arts and culture, and is home to two prestigious schools, the Instituto Allende and the Instituto de Bellas Artes. These schools, founded in the 1940s by artists and writers, attracted American WWII veterans who could attend classes on the GI Bill. Many of them stayed in town or later retired there, and soon the town had a large and vibrant American community. But San Miguel also has a rich history dating back to the days when Mexico was fighting for independence from Spain and it is known as the first city to throw off Spanish rule.

Unfortunately we had time only for a quick tour of downtown and an hour or so for lunch. We wandered around the central plaza and admired the architecture of the buildings and the diversity of the tourists that crowded the area. The church is one of the most beautiful weve encountered and I couldnt help being impressed by it.

It is not difficult to see how this architecture could inspire 18th century Mexican peasants. 

These church bells are incredibly loud and can be heard for miles around. Notice the bell on the left, its actually tolling while this fellow calmly surveys the crowd below.  He reminded me of Quasimodo from Victor Hugos "Hunchback of Notre Dame".

Street musicians. This bongo player didnt miss a beat while acknowledging a passerby. 

After a couple of hours in San Miguel it was time to continue on to Morelia. Rolling down the highway we passed through rich farmland and crossed into the state of Michoacan, home of the notorious Knights Templar drug cartel. Here the conflicts between the cartels, the locals and the government are real, and we saw more than a few heavily armed soldiers and police manning checkpoints and driving around in big trucks. I know very little about this complicated situation but one aspect of it is that in some towns in the region, local citizens have taken up arms against the "Templars" that have terrorized and extorted money from them. Anyway we were careful about where we were at all times and were tucked into our hotel well before dark whenever possible.

We really didnt do much in Morelia. We had come to see the Monarch butterflies, but it turns out that they dont actually hang out in Morelia, but in the mountains about 80 tortuous miles east of the city. So we got up early and drove out through mountains and high valleys toward the town of Angangueo. From there it was another ten or fifteen miles up a steep mountain road that ended at a small settlement that marked the entrance to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary, which was at roughly 10,000 feet elevation. We parked in a deserted parking lot and hiked up to the entrance of the sanctuary. The entry fee was about 35 pesos per person, which included a guide. As we hiked up the trail, which consisted of a nice footpath and in some areas staircases, he told us about the butterflies and their migrations.

The countryside is a beautiful forest of spruce and pine and it was a nice walk up to an elevation of about 11,000 feet. The guide told us that the path to the top included 700 stairs. We knew we had arrived late in the season so we expected to see a few butterflies and then head back down the road. Sure enough on the way up we encountered a few and thought they were beautiful. We told the guide they were nice and said he didnt have to walk all the way to the top with us. But he encouraged us to go on. I was a little concerned for our companions, Ed and Connie, they are both a bit older and not accustomed to hiking. But they were game and we continued on up to a small pass where we encountered some horsemen who offered their horses to us, which we declined.

The country around Angangueo is beautiful and rugged.

First butterfly

As we headed down the trail on the other side of the pass, the forest canopy closed in and the guide dropped his voice to a whisper. We walked on in silence, deeper into the forest. Then we arrived in the heart of the sanctuary and found ourselves surrounded by millions of Monarchs. They flew all around us, landing on us, posing on flowers and clustering by the thousands on branches above us. It was at once magical and awe inspiring to stand in silence and hear the sound of thousands of butterfly wings. We spent an hour or so with them, then it was time to go.

Butterflies in flight

Eds ride down the mountain

We hiked back up the trail to the pass where the horsemen had patiently waited. Ed and Connie decided theyd had enough walking and accepted the offer of a couple of horses while Lisa and I accompanied the guide back down the trail. Soon we were back in the car and headed for our hotel in Morelia, we arrived in the early evening tired but still enchanted by the butterflies. It was a perfectly beautiful experience. The next day we got an early start toward the troubled city of Patzcuaro, where local vigilantes had recently taken their town back from the Templars.