Category Archives: Mexico

Guanajuato Mexico: A Perfect Fit

  

Has it been a week already? Wow, there is something about time down here that is surreal. Like it passes so slowly and you can savor every breeze, chirp, glass of wine, tortilla and conversation but look up and days have passed. I am totally in lurve with this city. Guanajuato is a small college town with beautiful theatres, gardens, statuary and multi-colored houses. Oh, and I can’t forget the churches. It is a walkable city. Indeed it would be a pain to have a car here because (like all college towns) you’d never find a place to park.

I went for a run (okay, a long walk*) yesterday morning TRYING to get lost, and couldn’t manage to do it. Now for anyone who knows how geographically challenged I am that should tell you how navigable this place is. Noone is in a hurry, noone pays me any special attention, noone expects me to be anywhere at any particular time and I can spend hours absorbed in thought, The Chronicles of Narnia or listening to Floetry and Outkast on a bench in center of the town (La Jardin Union). Actually that isn’t true. I started my Spanish class on Saturday so I have to be there a few times a week or Maestra Marisol might have a few things to say (that I probably wouldn’t understand). I decided to go the Hostel route because I know that if I stay in a hotel I would be less likely to venture out and meet people. I found a nice balance at La Casa del Tio which is run by women and is brightly painted and decorated with textiles, plants and music coming from the central sound system most of the day. The hostel I stayed at the first night was adequate but definitely had the feel of being run by a man (sorry!). He has an amazing green thumb but I couldn’t lock the door when I went to bed for the night, the rooms have navy blue accent walls and although I didn’t mind the HUGE picture of Jesus hanging over the bed, it was a little gloomy for my taste. When I moved over to Case del Tio, I compromised by getting my own single room ($12-15US/night) so I have the best of both worlds. There’s free purified water, free internet, a small kitchen w/ fridge and microwave, a little washing machine and free coffee and tea daily AND satellite TV! The hostel isn’t at all packed right now so actually meeting people, remembering names and feeling at ease with introductions and hanging out have been amazingly easy. Everyone has a story to tell and I love hearing them. Like this guy.

I have been trying to think of what I’ve been doing for a week and all I can come up with is drinking hennesey with Blaire (24, Maine) and eating Bratwurst at Bar Ocho. Playing pool with Gaby (24, Mexico) at Caronda, Jibber-Jabbing with Sabine & Andrea (both 24, Swiss) and trying to hack our way through Spanish class with Yoko, Mina and Yuriko. More pool with Carlos (30, local artist). I have been kind of lazy about taking my camera out with me, but there is always something to see. Gaby and I wandered around over the weekend and never got bored. There is a nightly comedy show on the steps of Teatro Juarez. It is mostly physical comedy so even though I can’t follow most of the words, I get the jist of the jokes. If you are in the crowd then you are fair game for the comedians to pick on (always good natured) and there’s alot of crowd participation. There’s also a group of minstrels that roam the streets at night playing instruments and the thing to do is grab a drink and a friend and follow along, so towards the end of the week the crowd can be pretty large and you can hear it from a mile away. The experience is only better from the terrace of the hostel or from the patio of Bar Ocho.

In day to day news, I bought some new kicks (shoes) so I can be more stylish and I’m hooked on my daily breakfast of Huevos revueltos con queso y Tocino (Scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon). If you are looking for me, I’ll be in the Jardin de Union trying to conjugate some verbs.

*I need to run/walk because of this and this.

Angangueo Mexico: Dónde están las Mariposas?*

     

*Where are the Butterflies?

Sunday I was standing at the top of Mexico (the country) and had a decision to make. Would I play it safe and head to Guanajuato to settle in, find a place to stay, and make sure I had a good internet connection in time to work on Wednesday or…would I try to book it down to Morelia to see the Monarch Butterfly migration? Yeah, that’s what I did. I hopped on a first class bus for the 15 hour ride down to Morelia. I got there Monday morning around 8:30 after a good night’s sleep in the luxury coach seat, a ham & cheese sandwich and soda courtesy of Primera Plus (bus company) and a wicked line/crease on my face from where I’d slept on my pillow. 

I walked off the bus into a crisp, clear morning ready to find those butterflies.  It turns out that I was still quite a ways away from the Monarch Sanctuary. I will admit that I was finally starting to really feel out of my comfort zone. I hadn’t seen or spoken to anyone who spoke English in 24 hours and none of the people at the bus station in Morelia a) spoke english or b) could tell me if the Monarch Sanctuary was still open and c) where exactly the sanctuary was located. I was leaning heavily on the guidebook I was carrying around and found a really cute guy who helped me figure out that I needed to catch another bus to San Felipe (2.5 hours, 105 pesos=$10 US). The great thing about the Mexican bus system is that it is clean, comfortable and there is ALWAYS a bus leaving RIGHT NOW for wherever you want to go. Megan does a great job of describing the ins/outs/ups and downs of bus travel in Latin America and so far I agree with her observations.  The bus to San Felipe was more of a regular bus (US Greyhound without the crazy folks) and it was packed so there was always someone right next to me, leaning on my hip or elbow digging in my side. These folks were people heading to/from work or coming from celebrating Semana Santa with family last week. So mostly everyone was asleep. The sun was shining and the ride through the countryside was peaceful and a nice way to wake up to the day.  I was starving by this time, but saw no options for food in sight.  We got deeper into the countryside where the human population are outnumbered by cows, horses, sheep and corn.

We got to San Felipe around 11:30am and I psyched myself up to see the butterflies, find some lunch and try to get to Guanajuato by dinner time. Oh if I knew then what I know now…I found out in San Felipe (after many, many attempts to find someone who spoke a little english or understood my spanish) that I had to take ANOTHER BUS to a place called Angangueo which was where the actual sanctuary was. I figured out how to catch the smaller bus and paid my fare (10 pesos=$1). By this time I was tired, hungry and couldn’t remember why I wanted to see some butterflies so much.  The 40 minute ride up to Angangueo was again a peaceful ascent into cooler mountains with trees, more livestock and a blessed glimpse into the day-to-day carryings on of the local people. And it is always comforting to see one of these on a rickety, ancient bus with questionable breaks.This part of Mexico is unfazed by tourists, they don’t cater to us, we don’t impact their day and aren’t the major driver in their economy so it was nice to be disregarded as a non-entity. When the driver indicated that I was at the right stop I hopped off the small bus and asked for the tourist office. It was closed. I asked a policeman about the Butterfly Sanctuary and he did his best to mime, signal, and act out the reality that the sanctuary was closed, the butterflies left in March and that the tourist office was closed since the season was over.

I could have cried. Mainly because I was so hungry. But still, 19 hours, $20, 3 buses, 1 bottle of water and a smooshed breakfast bar later and no butterflies. I laughed and asked how to get back to San Felipe. At the bus stop I meet the two people who speak any english within 300 miles. Olivia and her daughter Ingrid. They were sympathetic to my disappointment and my hunger and more importantly they were just plain good company after two days of semi-isolation and constant movement. Listening to their lives (they were visiting from Acapulco for the Easter week) I was struck by how everyone on the planet really is/are more alike than different with regards to our needs, dreams, frustrations and ambitions. I got back to San Felipe. I walked around looking at the pottery, homemade goodies and woven baskets. Finally, I peeped this mission. This guy made me a couple of fajitas and I bought some pistachios from a cool roadside stand and then hopped on the bus back to Morelia. Fortunately there was some unplanned entertainment when this dude got up and put on a show in the aisle. He was actually pretty good, and I was impressed at his ability to play the guitar AND the Harmonica at the same time! Later I spoke to him and it turns out that he (Victor) speaks pretty good english and lives in Mexico City. He lived in Chicago for a while but left due to green card issues. He told me to look him up if I get down to MC and offered me the remainder of his bag of weed. I declined and told him I much preferred liquor if I was gonna get down, get funky and get loose. He was a real sweetheart though.

In the end, I got to Guanajuato at 11:30 Monday night tired but content even though these were the only butterflies I ever got to see.

Mulege Mexico: NOLS Shower

One of two outdoor showers @ NOLS.

Yes it is closed in, and yes, there are cacti and trees inside of each.
Now does that sound refreshing or what?

Mulege Mexico: NOLS-Public Service Announcement

 

Bed at Nols, originally uploaded by funchilde.

So, um…yeah. THIS is where I am sleeping. NOLS has a bunkhouse with 6 or 8 rooms that sleep up to 4 per room. It is rare that there are that many people in camp at the same time so I have a room all to myself, and it is actually quite comfy. It is about 12 ft high, 7 ft wide and 9 ft deep. Yes that is MY pillow that I have dragged cross country because I’m crazy like that.

If you look in the upper right hand corner you will see a drawing of the Virgin Guadalupe, she’s a VERY big deal down here. There are shrines to her all over the place. Supposedly she offers protection and safe passage so uh, yeah I’ll rest my head here and let her watch over me.

And now some things about travel that you should know. Kind of a little Public Service Announcement.

1. Birds are EVERYWHERE and they are loud. They have lots to say to one another and they start sayin’ it at 5:30 a.m. every.single.day.

2. All those cartoons that led you to believe that Roosters crow at the crack of dawn to signal the sunrise? Wrong. Oh, so very wrong. When do Roosters crow you ask? When ever the hell they want to. This generally seems to happen when you are trying to GO to sleep, when you are ALREADY asleep, or when you are stuffing earplugs in your ears to maintain your sanity.

3. I woke up one morning thinking that there was some major construction going on in the compound. It sounded like one of those jackhammers that road construction crews use. I couldn’t believe that they would start work at 6a.m. When I got up to see what was going on? Kevin informed me that the resident Woodpecker liked to peck on the roof of the bunkhouse. excuse me, the CORRUGATED TIN ROOF of the bunkhouse. This Woodpecker is also known for sitting on the door of cars/trucks and pecking his reflection in the mirror (which i did witness).

4. So I’ve been harassed by a hummingbird, roused by roosters, chased by chickens and had my nerves worn to shreds by a woodpecker.

I’m so not in love with nature right now.

Baja Mexico: Mulege

 

Uploaded by funchilde.

Any traveler knows that there are essentially two truths that you will encounter if you vagabond for any length of time:

1) you will get ripped off at some point (even if only for a $1 or $2)

2) you will get sick

Fortunately, since my life’s valuables are taped inside my underwear (thanks for the advice H), I haven’t yet been hustled. Unfortunately, I had a stomach bug that wore me down a bit.

I hopped off the Green Tortoise trip in Mulege Mexico so that I can continue my travels from here. Mulege is an oasis in the desert, a little sleepy town set in a valley with a river that runs through it which means nice breezes and lots of greenery. Mulege weather reminds me alot of San Diego in that the temperature can vary between a chilly 60 degrees and a balmy 80 degrees during the day, but you’ll almost always want pants and a jacket at night. The people are friendly, the pace is slow, there is no ATM, one internet cafe, and the cutest elementary school you can imagine with Disney characters painted in a mural on the exterior. You can walk around the whole town in under 20 minutes.

I decided to recuperate here at Hotel Mulege ($32 US/night incl. TV, 2 bottles of water daily). After weeks of travel and camping I was so happy to stand in a piping hot shower, roll around on the two beds and brush my teeth with running water.

I got some meds from a mexican doctor who only charged $25 to see me and the farmacia (pharmacy) was right there at the clinic. For the most part I needed rest, the last 4 months of prep and packing and partying and then traveling fast and furious wore me out. It has been nice to sit, stare out the window, watch television (which those who know me is really, really rare) but mostly I slept, I walked around the town and slept some more. Restricted to a diet of bananas and water and juice I longed for tacos and oranges and a diet coke but was happy with the scenery and the quiet, a soul deep quiet that echoed “rest”. People around town began to say things like “oh I saw you at the taqueria yesterday” or they’d start asking me (in spanish) if the dog following me was mine, etc. All in all a nice place to recover for 5 days. The funny thing is, as nice as it has been to be in a hotel w/ a shower and t.v., I find myself missing the rugged adventure of “roughing it”.

I donated my tent, snorkel gear and life vest to Cortez Explorers and am now down to my main pack (30lbs) and my daybag (9.5lbs). So with renewed strength, increased confidence and lots of Mylanta, I am ready to begin the motion of traveling again.

It occured to me that one of the reasons that travel is so personally transforming is that it infuses you with confidence. That confidence stems from realizing that you CAN adapt to a harsh environment, that you CAN deal with hygiene issues without running water or a 7-11 store, that you CAN navigate a foreign medical system. You then believe that you CAN go further, delve deeper, risk more and if all else fails, try again. The dream of the traveler is that you CAN explore far away places, seek untold adventure and return home safely to tell the tale.

*for a truly harrowing tale of adventure on the high seas, check out this post by Megan!

Baja Mexico: the good, the bad and the ugly

we hit a few more places on our journey. i know that all of my posts seem like everywhere is a little slice of heaven so i will temper that with some of the places i wasn’t so fond of:

[1]bahia magdalena for more whale watching if you wanted. i wandered around taking pictures and practicing my poor excuse for spanish skills. bahia is also home to a fish processing plant so there were thousands of birds and a smell that i couldn’t describe if i tried. it was a little decrepit (?) but another great whale watching spot. bahia is on the pacific side so we were startled to wake up to cold winds and cresting waves.

[2]i can’t say i liked todos santos (home of the original Hotel California) too many gringos building 2nd homes. and finally,

[3]los cabos is a beautiful spot that has become a totally overdeveloped, water sucking playground for the wealthy. i feel somewhat hypocritical in that i probably would/would have enjoyed playing some golf at one of the cabo resorts, but seeing how they use the water which is in critical short supply, makes me cringe. so i’ll leave you with a picture of a hermit crab.

Baja Mexico: Hot/Cold Springs

  


the only solace for leaving Cabo Pulmo was that we headed to some secret hot/cold springs known only to local families. we paid a guide to get us most of the way there via truck then had to walk about a 1/4 mile over some really slippery rocky terrain. i had on flip flops so i was moving real slow since the nearest medical aid was 3+ hours away, but it was worth it.

there were 4 pools. the one pictured above is the smaller of the two mid-temp pools, perfect temp and depth for me so this is where i hung out. the water was amazingly clear and you could see the gold dust (micah?) on the sandy bottom. the big pool had a couple of places you could jump from and the youngins ate that up. i went down into the hot pool and then the very cold pool and back a couple of times. i wasn’t feeling too great so it took it slow. most of us were sun-weary and probably borderline dehydrated but it was a nice way to spend the afternoon. and my feet were the cleanest they had been in weeks!

after that we stumbled across a mexican circus and were attacked by mosquitos! after almost 10 mosquito-free days on the beach, i finally remembered what was missing! we had to go inland to a circus to find the bugs, or rather they found us.

Baja Mexico: La Paz

  

my favorite city by far. this place is beautiful in a way that i don’t dare try to articulate. from loreto we headed into La Paz which is a must see. it is also a waterfront city and the weather was amazing! unfortunately we rolled into town at 7 am and i spent 2 hours walking around looking for a hotel/hostel. the coolest one was out of single rooms and i needed a mental health day so i declinded sharing with 2 others though they were very chill and it would have been fine. the lodging scene is pretty skewed between skanky hostels where i would be uncomfortable putting my head on a pillow, and the 7 Crown which was $130/night with the rooftop bar, moonlight sauna and wireless. i couldn’t check in until 1pm but I got into Los Arcos which had the best.pool.ever. and had a clean double room for $85 which i justified after a week of not sleeping in a bed with another week to come.

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