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Published: March 18th 2012
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Cactus trees.
There was an usual amount of variation in the vegetation in the 200 miles between Zacatecas and Guadalajara. Miercoles, 7 Marzo, We left Zacatecas at the 8000 foot elevation and headed southwest to Guadalajara. The drive was pleasant, with the elevation going down then up again reaching nearly 7000 feet then down to comfortable 5000 feet or so. Both Ray and I had picked up a bug so the variations in elevation were hard on our ears. The roads were good and the terrain ranged from high desert with only cactus to fields of agave for the making of mezcal, plus grain and vegetable crops. We passed numerous small cattle, goat and sheep herds and a few small tidy villages with pretty zocalos.
Given the size of the city, with our maps, GPS and Ray’s instincts, finding our Guadalajara campground was not too difficult. Guadalajara has a periferico (ring road) around the city. Immediately after we got on this road we pulled into the right hand lane “trafico pesado” designated for trucks with duals. Shortly thereafter, a police vehicle pulled in front of us and slowed way down for a couple miles. Ray patiently followed them for about fifteen minutes. Clearly, they hoped we would get impatient and pass them so they could issue us a ticket. All
We are in mescal country now.
Growing those little mescal bottles as far as the eye can see. the while, Mexican trucks were passing us and them. The cops finally gave up. This is the first incident we experienced like this since 2009 when we made our first major trip south of the border.
Guadalajara has only one underutilized campground, San Jose del Tajo Trailer Park, an hour’s bus ride from the city center but just across the highway from Costco, a Wal-Mart Super Center, Sam’s Club and Home Depot. Several major Mexican chains are nearby as well as Chiles and Applebee’s.
The trailer park is quite pleasant with lots of trees and grass, hot showers but marginal internet. The park manager, Andy is friendly and helpful. He told us he had worked here for twenty-three years. He speaks English well. He lived in New Jersey for several years and has family all over the U.S. There are logo stickers on his office door from all of the RV caravan groups that used to conduct tours into Mexico. Andy says they don’t come anymore because the owners no longer offer discounts. We told him we hadn’t seen any caravan groups anywhere in Mexico since 2009.
The park must have been impressive in its hay-day. The
huge former day room has a huge meeting area with fireplaces, built-in grills and a wide tiled veranda. There is also a huge pool with a lovely deck. What a shame that this place has gone to seed.
Ray chatted with Stan, one of our park neighbors, from Virginia City, Nevada. Being a balloonist, Stan participates in the Albuquerque festival and then heads down here to winter in Guadalajara.
Guadalajara is the other “mile high city” but with a much better climate. It is said to have perpetual spring like weather. There are about 5000 retired norteamericanos living here full or part time as well as a number of gringos working for American companies in the city. Additionally, probably because this is a sophisticated international city, there seems to be larger number of Spanish speaking non-Hispanic people around town than we are accustomed to seeing.
Because I love big cities, I fell in love with Guadalajara right away. It took two days to grow on Ray. Wandering around downtown today, Ray was impressed with how the city is still using their ancient buildings for routine government business such as state and city government offices including, we think
No idea where they haul this stuff.
The U.S. is definitely not a major market for Mezcal. - judging from the long lines - the DMV, instead of converting them to useless museums, etc.
We don’t know how big the city is. Web searches give Guadalajara’s population between 1.5 and 4 million. There is also disagreement whether this is Mexico’s second or third largest city. In any case, once we endure the hour long bus ride (because of traffic) to the city center, getting around by shanks mare is a piece of cake. All of the historical sites, many good restaurants, and the city’s market are all within a few blocks of each other. The sidewalks and streets are wide and pedestrian friendly. Drivers are courteous and patient.
While not as anxious to talk to us as the folks in smaller towns, quite a few people speak at least some English and many people here have gone out of their way to be helpful. Just tonight, we had waited quite a while for our homebound bus when a young man came across the street from his mom’s shop to tell us that our bus wasn’t running and which bus we could take to get near our destination. Two very crowded buses with helpful drivers and
passengers got us to within a reasonable taxi ride home. Our taxi driver was unfamiliar with the area as we are outside the city limits but he seemed to enjoy bringing us home. We pointed out a fabulous taco joint minutes from our campsite where the other night I had, I swear, a two by four inch piece of flaky breaded white fish in a taco with all the condiments I could pile on for eighteen pesos. (about $1.38) Yummo!
Getting back to the campground, Ray turned on the TV. Coverage showed burned busses and trucks but of course he could not understand the language.
The next morning, Andy, our landlord, explained what had happened. Police had busted two major drug lords. Immediately, they dispatched emissaries to disrupt transit systems by incinerating fifteen to twenty trucks and city busses. By morning, all had been captured. Andy says they will all spend forty years in jail.
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