Advertisement
Published: March 26th 2006
Mariposa Monarch Reserve
The monarchs at the reserve were everywhere eventhough I was there at the end of the season.Guanajuato is a city of narrow, winding alleys, criss-crossing tunnels, stone bridges and impressive colonial architecture. The colonial heart of the city was built into the valley of a narrow ravine with most of the residential homes occupying its steep slopes and with an ever expanding network of tunnels underneath, built to ease the traffic in a city originally designed for horses. Guanajuato was build with the wealth of prosperous silver barrons and is now a thriving university town with an active nightlife. I spent four wonderful nights there. I spent my days getting lost in the maze of cobblestone alleys, every once in a while coming to a break in the buildings that allowed me to look down on the city center and get my bearings. Sometimes even being able to see a familiar structure didn't make it any easier to get to - I wondered around for over an hour one day trying to get to a church that I could see, but the alleys seemed to lead me away, even when they looked like the right path. The days were great, but it was at night that Guanajuato really shined. The comfortable evening breeze filled the streets and
Guanajuato
The view from the Pipila statue. I loved the city of Guanajuato. plazas with people, young and old, and the music of the callejoneadas filled the air, accompanied by the ever present clanging of the church bells. I spent my evenings sitting in the Jardin de la Union, which was the social heart of the city, watching the crowds under the sprawling, well groomed trees, or following the Callejoneadas, which were roaming bands of musicians in traditional outfits. Following the Callejoneadas was a lot of fun - We walked through the alleyways of the city in a large group while the musicians serenaded us with traditional Spanish music and occasional stops sent the crowd into a frenzy of playful dancing and laughter frequently broke out due to a joke the musicians told or the antics of the tambourine man. I was enjoying my time in Guanajuato so much that on the morning following my third night in town, the morning I had originally planned on leaving, I decided I wasn't ready to go. I spent my extra day riding for several hours down a rough dirt road in a rickety old local bus to the geographic center of Mexico and the statue of Christo Rey (Christ the King), a 20 meter high
Stone Bridges
One of the many roads that go under the city. Many buildings are supported with bridges like these. bronze statue of Jesus that sits atop a small mountain there. The statue, the accompanying shrine and the location were all impressive, but, unfortunately, the statue was partially obscured by scaffolding - I guess even Jesus needs a facial every now and then! That evening I attended a performance by the University of Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra. The performance was held in an old stone church and the house was packed! I found it strange, as I sat there on the cold stone floor next to one of the towering columns, to be listening to a performance of classical music in a building that was standing well before any of the originally composers' parents were born. The concert was flawless and it was a great way to end my stay in the old, but sophisticated silver city of Guanajuato, a city that I will certainly have to return to someday.
The next evening found me in beautiful Morelia, the result of a spur of the moment change in plans. I had originally planned on going straight to Mexico City, but I discovered that there was still enough time to see an amazing natural phenomenon - The Maraposa Monarch Reserve, the
Guanajuato's Tunnels
The tunnel system is extensive under Guanajuato and it gets bigger all of the time - The ground shuddered many times while I was there due to one of the new tunnels being built. winter home of millions of giant Monarch Butterflies. I had planned on staying in Morelia for a few nights and seeing the reserve in a day trip, but, being a solo traveler, I had a hard time organizing the outing. I was forced to cut my stay in Morelia short and, racing the butterfly's urge to fly north, I made my way to the small town of Angangueo just outside of the reserve. Angangueo was a charming little town and I seemed to be the only foreigner there. My worries that there would not be any butterflies left were put to rest when I got there, because they were fluttering all over town. I arrived at a good time, because I was able to catch the Mariposa Monarch Festival's closing festivities. The festival stage, decorated with monarchs and green mountain scenes, was set up in the street next to the plaza and it seemed like the whole town turned out for the show. The first performance was done by a dance troupe from Veracruz who performed traditional dances from several different regions of Mexico. They changed their colorful outfits for each dance and they did an excellent job - My
Jardin de la Union
This is the social heart of the city. It is great for people watching. favorite was the mambo. After the dance troupe came a comedian who entered the stage doing a cartwheel and wearing a bright green, old-fashioned dress, obviously spoofing the dance troupe. Unfortunately the language barrier prevented me from understanding most of the jokes, but the ones I did understand were funny and, judging by the laughter in the crowd, she was a hit. After the comedian finished the festival organizers did the official closing ceremony and then a band was supposed to play. I say they were supposed to play, because they never got around to it, at least while I was there. All day long, Mexican music had been pouring out of the speakers on stage at a volume that should have made it enjoyable for any passing spacecraft and during the comedian's performance a few of the speakers finally gave out. The ensuing frenzy of activity was humorous to watch, but before everything was fixed I had to return back to my hotel - The hotel had a curfew of 10:00, which didn't work well with the 10:10 start time of the band (of course the speakers were as loud as ever, so I could still hear the music
The Basilica
This is one of the many churches in Guanajuato and is probably the most importaint one. just fine!) The following morning I was up with the sun and headed to the reserve. I took a small local bus down another winding dirt road to a small cluster of taco stands near the entrance of the reserve. Along the way I was amazed by the numbers of butterflies in the sky - The sight made me think of the scene from 'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom' when Willie Scott (the beautiful, but not so jungle savvy singer) said, "Ooh, what big birds!" and Indiana Jones responded with, "Those aren't big birds sweetheart, they're giant vampire bats!", but instead of bats they were giant orange butterflies. I had to walk through a big cloud of the butterflies to get to the entrance of the reserve - The cloud was so dense that I had to slow down and watch my step, or I would have smashed several of them. I ended up getting a hitchhiker when a large butterfly landed on my leg and climbed up to around my belly - The sign at the reserve entrance said I wasn't allowed to take any butterflies out of the park, dead or alive, but it was unclear
Callejon Del Beso
Legend says that a young lady from a rich family fell in love with a miner and they were forbidden to see each other, so the miner rented a flat with a balcony on the tight alley and they were able to smooch from balcony to balcony (Beso means kiss). what would happen to me if I smuggled one in; Unfortunately it flew away before I could find out. I met my local guide at the gate and we set off towards the butterflies. The trail led up the mountain through thick pine forest. The ground was littered with hundreds of dead butterflies resulting from the death of the male butterflies after mating (March is mating season for them). My guide picked up a few dead specimens and showed me how to distinguish a male from a female - The males have two dark spots on their lower wings which serve as their reproductive organs. We plodded on up the mountain, huffing and puffing from the altitude and our fast pace, and we came to a place where a side trail was blocked by barbed wire - We took the blocked trail. Almost immediately large groups of Monarchs appeared and when we came around a bend in the trail we were consumed by another large orange cloud of butterflies. It was there that my guide pointed to the surrounding pine trees where, about mid way up the trees, the branches were hanging low from the weight of thousands of butterflies
Christo Rey
This giant statue of Jesus sits on top of a mountain at the geographical heart of Mexico. clustered tightly together. The giant clusters would occasionally break up and take flight, scattered by the wind. The ensuing clouds blotted out the sun and an Antarctic blizzard of orange would fill the air before resettling on the branches. We stayed with the Monarchs for nearly an hour and a half watching them feed on the nectar of the surrounding flowers or just fluttering by. Occasionally a mating pair would fly by, joined at the abdomen and being flown by the males powerful wings (they had a hard time staying in the air). I reluctantly left the reserve and headed slowly back to town, having fulfilled yet another forgotten dream of my childhood. I spent my last evening in town exploring a large market and hiking up to an overlook above town.
The journey to my next destination required me to take three different buses and a combi. I arrived in the beautiful white and red town of Patzcuaro late in the afternoon. My first impression of Patzcuaro was not a good one. The town had been build up by several people I had talked to as their favorite town in Mexico and I arrived on an empty stomach.
The View from the Top
This is the view if you look in the direction the statue is looking. While the town didn't move me enough to become my favorite in Mexico, Patzcuaro did move near the top of the list. Once I ate a big meal and stopped looking at the town through hungry eyes, Patzcuaro's many charms started to shine brightly and my impression of the town quickly changed. Patzcuaro was built on the shore of a beautiful lake of the same name and is an old city. There are a few grand colonial buildings in town, But they are not overly spectacular. What stood out as unique about Patzcuaro, to me at least, was the uniformity in architecture through out the old part of the town. All of the buildings were of white adobe with brick red paint from the ground up to about waist height and all of the roofs were done in the famous red Spanish tile. One building done like that wouldn't have been that interesting, but when the entire heart of the town was done that way it was amazing. The only buildings that were different were the churches (and former churches) and the buildings lining the plazas, which were done in a similar and complementing style with covered walkways supported by
Morelia
The large cathedral in Morelia is nice, as is most of the historic center. columns and arches. While searching for my first cup of coffee in nearly a week, I ran into my friend Marco, who I met in the Copper Canyon, and a well traveled local woman named Paulina and we sat around drinking coffee and sharing travel stories for nearly two hours before Paulina had to go to work. Marco and I decided to go and explore one of the lake-side towns that had a set of Tarascan ruins nearby. The town was Ihuatzio and the ruins (of the same name) were a short walk out of town down a scenic cobblestone road through some farmers' fields. The site had two partially restored, pyramid-like structures that sat on an elevated rectangular platform and a series of walls that surrounded the pyramids and a large ceremonial area (flat field). While definitely not as impressive as La Quemada, I enjoyed the site a lot, but, to a non archeology buff, Ihuatzio may not be all that impressive. We walked back to town with a small group of cows and horses and then we went in search of the towns church and the lake shore. The winding alleys made the lake difficult to find, but
Morelia (2)
The main street in Morelia. we finally found a farmer who allowed us to cross her land and we were rewarded with an interesting, but somewhat concealed view of the lake. Back in Patzcuaro, I explored the town a bit more and then I went back to the lake. The ferry ride across the badly polluted Lake Patzcuaro was enjoyable. The lake was a muddy brown color and was lined with green reeds and small trees and there were occasional clumps of floating vegetation and lots of birds. The ride across the lake brought back some old memories, not of joyful lake rides (though this was one), but of a time during the construction to the Easterly Waste Water Treatment Plant in California, when I was standing with several coworkers discussing a problem. That is the memory that came to me because in that particular memory we kept feeling a light, cool mist on our faces as we talked and, after several minutes of feeling the mist, it dawned on us that feeling a mist at a sewage treatment plant on a clear, calm day was not a good thing! What brought that memory to me as we crossed the lake was the constant bow-spray
Arches and a Dome
The inside of the cathedral in Morelia is one of the best I have seen. that was hitting me in the face (Lake Patzcuaro was at one time, and still may be, the sewage depot for all of the towns surrounding it) - It was too pleasant of a place to sit and watch the approaching island get closer, so i didn't move (I did keep my mouth shut this time though!) The island that I was headed to was Isla Janitzio, a small peak-like island rising up out of the middle of the lake. The island was completely built out with homes and shops starting at the waterline and going all the way to the summit, which was crowned by a giant, stone statue of Jose Maria Morelos y Pavo, the Mexican independence hero. Standing beside the impressive 40 meter high statue was a solitary tree of equally gigantic proportions. The island was most impressive from the boat, but it was a lot of fun exploring the narrow, steep alleyways, all of which seemed to eventually reach the statue. I didn't have a lot of time on Janitzio because of evening plans with Marco and Paulina, so I made my way up to the statue. The giant statue is actually a shrine to Morelos
The Aqueduct
This is a very photogenic part of town. on the inside with and eternal light burning, some revolutionary artifacts and a series of impressive murals painted on the walls along the steeply spiraling staircase to the towering overlook - You actually get to ascend the statue and get impressive views of the surrounding lake and beyond from the cuff of Morelos' upheld fist! I reluctantly said good-bye to Isla Janitzio as I took my seat on the boat back to Patzcuaro - This time at a nice, dry place at the stern! I spent my last evening in town with my friends and I boarded a bus early in the morning for Guadalajara - The long way!
Marco had told me of a hike he had done a few days before to the ruins of an old church that had been destroyed by lava and I decided I must see it. To do so, I made my way to the small town of Angahuan, which was the closest town to Mt. Paricutin, a volcano that rose out of a farmer's field in the 1940s. Looking at the towering volcano in its current state, it is hard to believe it rose out of a flat field in the
The Domes of the Cathedral
Some more pictures of the church. last century, but the path of destruction from the slow moving lava flows looked relatively new. By the time the volcano was finished it had destroyed two towns, including San Juan Parangaricutiro where the ruined church is, but despite all of the destruction, no lives were lost. Now all that remains of the two towns are the towers of the church, part of its facade and the rear altar. It was a surreal sight to see the towers sticking up out of the now hard, black volcanic rock and to think about what the scene must have looked like as the molten lava poured over the town and reclaimed most of the church. I was amazed by the roads in Hawaii that were covered by recent flows, but this was much better!
I made it to Guadalajara later that evening and, yet again, I was surprised with what I found. I went to Mexico's second largest city with some trepidation, expecting a big city with big city problems, but what I found was more of what I have loved about Mexico so far, only on a grander scale! The historic district with its colonial architecture, its many lively plazas
Traffic
More fun with the camera. and an excellent scattering of fountains and sculptures was impressive. I felt perfectly safe, even at night, as I wandered through the crowded streets. I also met lots of great people there. My four days in Guadalajara went by quickly. I explored the markets and generally just walked around during the day and I did about the same at night. I went to a symphonic performance at the famous Degollado Theater, I watched the mariachis perform in the plazas at night, I went out and explored the active nightlife with my new friends from the hostel and, in a surprisingly '60s like festival, I listened to lots of great music that culminated in a speech by the Zapatista leader Comandante Marcos - It was strange to see a rebel leader, complete with a ski mask and smoking a pipe, eloquently speaking next to the government building in an officially sanctioned event in the second largest city in Mexico, but most of the Mexicans I have talked to love what he has done for Chiapas. Apparently the 'armed conflict' that has given the Zapatistas a such a bad reputation in the US media is not as big of a deal down
The Mariposa Monarch Festival
The traditional dancers from Veracruz. here - Who knows?
I ended up having a wonderful time in Guadalajara. I am glad I changed my travel plans to include this part of Mexico. Now it is time to leave and go back to the beach!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.061s; Tpl: 0.019s; cc: 11; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0337s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Maggiegladyoucame
non-member comment
Great article
This is the first of your writing and pictures that I've looked at. I hope to get this good one day. I'll be back. May I recommend this article on my blog? It's travel but in the USA. There are a few other topics too - an occansional book mention or a recipe. I'm w.maggiegladyoucame.blogspot.com. If I don't hear from you in a couple of days I'll assume that I may refer folks to you - surely that's a good thing. Thanks,