Advertisement
Published: April 21st 2008
Edit Blog Post
Market Street in Guadalajara
Entry to the area was restricted to those carrying US dollars :) Lake Louise? What is this place you speak of??
We’re in Mexico! That’s right, Manzanillo, Mexico.
Lake Louise finally got the better of us (well, me in particular) and we packed our stuff and left! Not just left, headed south, way south, and we’re now in Mexico on the pacific coast in the heat and sunshine.
Maybe a bit of background is required….. I was absolutely hating Lake Louise and everything it stood for. Paul found out he could be laid off and still receive his end of season bonus, and I found out I wasn’t eligible for one. So, we got his bonus and left. We booked a super cheap all inclusive package deal to Mexico leaving from Calgary, drove there, and left the car in long term parking. We’ll head back there next week, and then start the massive road trip we planned. The sun is restoring our souls (and our tans), and the beachfront room we have makes us remember why Queenslanders shouldn’t attempt to spend a winter in Canada!
Anyway, Manzanillo - it’s on the Pacific coast, and about a 5 hour flight from Calgary. We’re staying in a 4-star resort (Tesoro Manzanillo),
Colima Volcano
The volcano is visible for half the journey - it's just by the highway. No-one seemed particularly concerned that it was going to erupt - just a little smokey... and are right on the beach. Everything is included (including unlimited drinks), and there’s even tacky shows in the evening. Yes, audience participation is wanted, but so far we’ve managed to escape ‘volunteering’ - drinking seems to help! The other night there was a version of Cirque de Soleil, but we wouldn’t have known that if they weren’t showing footage of ‘Allegria’ before the show started. It’s also one of those places where there are lots of activities for everyone to join in - strangely enough, we’re trying to avoid all participation! It’s all fun, and most importantly, it’s warm...
We’ve spent lots of time reading, sitting by the pool, sleeping, swimming and eating, but yesterday we decided to be adventurous and got ourselves on a tour to Guadalajara - the second largest city in Mexico, and with a population of 8 million. We got picked up ridiculously early (6.45am), and along with another couple were transported to Guadalajara. Our driver (Chiqa) was a maniac, believed the speedo acted as a means to check just how fast the car could go (he seemed happiest at about 145kms per hour), and that solid double lines meant overtaking was only for
Cathedral
The cathedrals were amazing, and full of worshippers - given most of them were also begging, not sure where the alms to the poor fits? those who were excellent drivers (he of course fell into this category).
Drove through some phenomenal landscapes, and saw volcanoes, and amazing valleys and cliffs which rapidly increased in size in 2003 during the last major earthquake! Some of the roads haven’t been replaced/repaired since then, and there were huge rolling sections of road.
As we entered the city the traffic was unlike anything we’d seen before, and stopping at traffic lights seemed to be best avoided. There were loads of people approaching the car and trying to either sell things or threaten us - sometimes it was hard to tell the difference! It was really sad though, as most of the people were either little kids or missing limbs….
Anyway, the city was amazing, and nothing like we expected. He took us first to ‘Independence Street’, an area which seemed to thrive on foreign tourists looking for antiques to decorate their houses with (the stuff was divine, but we didn’t get anything as we couldn’t find anything that would match the décor of our tent), and art. It was beautiful, and very safe (probably helped by the fact that there were police officers on bikes every
few metres who stopped the ‘riff raff’ from entering the area).
We then went into the ‘downtown’ area and were given a tour of the state parliament and the main cathedral. The parliament had the most amazing artwork on some of the ceilings - all depicting the struggle for Mexican independence, and the way religion and politics has influenced the world. The cathedral was also beautiful. It was very ornate in it’s own way, and really highlighted the divide between rich and poor. It was full of marble and stained glass, yet at all the entries there were people asking for money. Not quite sure how the division of alms to the poor works…
Next stop was the square which is edged by a convent, the state theatre, the conservatorium used by the university, and a couple of other historic buildings which I can’t remember their purpose!! Most of the architecture was obviously Spanish inspired, but there were a few areas which showed indigenous (mainly Mayan) design. Absolutely loved the whole area, and was embarrassed by how little we knew about Mexican history - fortunately our guide wasn’t happy unless he was demonstrating the extent of his knowledge,
Mural in State Parliament
Two rooms had murals on the ceilings, both of which depicted demonic images of events in history - invasion, war, religion... so it all worked out fine.
We visited a market which sold everything from tequila candies to DVD players! All we wanted was a hat, but left empty handed - it was one of those places you’d have to go to a couple of times to get the hang of before making any purchases. The size of it was incomprehensible, and definitely put the ones in Thailand to shame!
We left the city via wealthy residential areas, and saw incredibly ornate houses - when I asked whether we could drive through some regular or poor areas our guide looked at me as though I was crazy and said we could only go to those places if we wanted to be shot. Strangely enough, we stayed where we were!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.073s; Tpl: 0.021s; cc: 12; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0383s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb