Slowing Down

We stayed in Chimulco or Villa Corona for six nights. Reasons for this are multiple, but basically, the sprint down the coast for 2,000 miles was taxing and we needed a break. The weather here was nicer than on the coast, it was still quite warm, but we had left the humidity back in the lowlands. Villa Corona is about an hour south of Guadalajara and west of Ajijic – both of which we explored for a day, but mostly we stayed at Chimulco – which is a popular vacation destination and water park for those from the area.

We were pretty much alone in Chimulco, except for a mother-daughter pair who were traveling in their eurovan throughout Mexico for the last two years. They were escaping vaccine and mask mandates in Europe – and Mexico was one of three places that they could go without being vaccinated.

One of the attractions of Chimulco was that the many pools they have were fed by natural hot springs. I took a dip one afternoon to cool off from the 95 degree heat, but that lasted a very short while as the water wasn’t that comfortable. What was the key was to jump in with a shirt and shorts on and then sit in a chair in the shade while the evaporative effects of the wet clothes cooled me off.

Ajijic

Ajijic – a Pueblo Magico about an hour east of Chimulco, is a fairly recent addition to the list of Pueblos Mágicos in 2020. The town was founded in 1531. Its name in Náhuatl means “where the water falls”. This area has been inhabited for many centuries before the arrival of the Spanish. Due to its powerful energy and location along the northern shore of Chapala lake, it was thought of as one of the four cardinal points in Náhuatl myth and lore.

While Ajijic was recently named a Pueblo Mágico for its rich culture and historical value, when visiting the town, one has to think that the main reason for this exclusive membership is mainly due to the North American expat community that calls this area home. Ajijic is a gentrified town where home and property prices are in US dollars, and are out of reach of most locals.

It is a quaint little town with a large artistic influence which is purportedly brought in by the ex-pat community. There are private gardens run by and catering to the ex-pats where most business and events are conducted in English. There are many modern art galleries, exhibits, statues, and murals throughout the town and for those looking for modern are, this is a great place to see a great deal of variety.

Many of the “locals” that work the stores that cater to the ex-pats are they themselves transplants from other areas in Mexico. It was not uncommon that when in conversation with them about the local area, the conversation would go in the direction of them not knowing the area because they themselves just moved to the area to work.

Tlaquepaque

San Pedro Tlaquepaque is another Pueblo Mágico – which used to be a separate and distinct city near Guadalajara. Then Guadalajara grew and surrounded Tlaquepaque. Tlaquepaque is still its own entity with a separate municipal government, and appears to be just another neighborhood of the second largest city in Mexico – but don’t be fooled. The locals take pride in their history and make an effort to distinguish themselves as not Guadalajara.

The art scene here in Tlaquepaque goes back to before the conquest. For centuries, it has been a place or artistic creativity. It follows this tradition today with local handicrafts and modern art. Calle de la Independencia is a pedestrian street filled with high-end artisan shops from all over Mexico. For a compressed Mexican experience, you could spend a day or five wandering around Tlaquepaque, from the local markets to the high-end exclusive furniture shops.

The local market is vibrant and all of the colors, smells, and flavors one would expect from a typical Mexican market. The local cuisine here is both varied and delicious. While here, we tried both local market fare as well as high-end restaurant fare. We were impressed and delighted with both.

Mazamitla

Mazamitla is a Pueblo Mágico that blew me away. It is an experience that I never expected to have in Mexico – in California in the Sierra Foothills – sure, but Mexico… no. the meaning of the Náhuatl word Mazamitlta is “place where deer are hunted with arrows”. They celebrate the stag with honor and art. The town has dozens of life-sized stags artistically decorated by individual sponsoring artists and placed throughout the town – much like Santa Rosa honors Charles Schultz with statues of Peanuts characters.

Mazamitla blew me away because of its unique beauty and architecture. Here you will find multi-story buildings in a fusion of the Western US (think cowboys and westerns) and Spanish colonial architecture. Each building has patios and balconies on each floor that look over the street and plaza. One could easily imagine horses tied up under covered balconies to stay out of the sun while the locals would sit above them looking down on the vibrancy and busy life below, all while enjoying a limonada or ice cold beer. Oh wait, that’s what we did!!!

Outside of town, you will find an environment that caters to the outdoors explorers with hiking, horseback riding, sunset viewing, quad and off-road rentals and fun… the list goes on. This town is reminiscent of the foothills/gold country towns of California – with a Mexican twist. It’s awesome. I could spend a week or more relaxing and exploring here – during the winter where it’s cooler (and dry).

Patzcuaro – home base for a week

Patzcuaro is -yet- another Pueblo Mágico situation in the spine of the Sierras in central Mexico. I have been to this town several times before, but only have spent a couple of days here each time. This time we are here for a week. This town is a beautiful town at about 6800′ in elevation so it gets cool at night, and warm in the afternoon. All-in-all eternal spring. Patzcuaro has centuries of history before the Spanish even dreamed of exploring the area. The area is rich in culture, unique culinary delights, art, and exploration opportunities.

This town is situated in a beautiful valley with a large lake with little towns sprinkled around the lake and on islands within the lake – all providing us with days, if not weeks, of opportunities to explore, relax, and take in the sights, smells, and tastes of central Mexico.

More will be written about Patzcuaro in the next week or so when I have had an enough time to digest all that I have seen and done.

Janitzio

While Janitzio is not a Pueblo Mágico, it is magical in its own right. Janizio is situated on the largest island of Lago de Patzcuaro. It reminds me of a cinder cone, probably because it is one. The surrounding area is volcanic in nature and you can easily see evidence of it just by looking at all of the volcanoes in the area. One could imagine that Lado de Patzcuaro is the caldera of an enormous, ancient volcano that blew its top millennia ago and left the lake behind with the crater rim formed of many different vents-turned-volcanoes. This is me imagining, so I don’t know if it’s true or not.

The boat ride from the municipal pier in Patzcuaro takes 25 minutes at a slow, no-wake-pace to the island of Janitzio. Once there, we climb the meandering stairs to get to the top – a 350′ climb. This is not your average staircase however. This is the street. There is no way to get to the top without walking up the 1.5-2km of stairs. It’s a maze of sorts. The whole way up, one is treated to the cacophony of over-stimulated senses from the food, stores, and people living life. It’s important to note that there are no vehicles in this town, so the people carry their entire inventory supplies from the pier to the top or to wherever their store, hotel, restaurant, home is located on the island.

At the top of the island, is a 40 meter statue of Jose Maria Morelos – an important revolutionary figure in the history of Mexico. He is revered among the people and we were treated to be able to climb inside and up to the top of his upwardly thrust fist, 120 feet above the top of the island and 500 feet above the lake. To see the statue from the boat approaching the town, is reminiscent of the scene in Lord of the Rings, when they encounter the giant guardians protecting the lake.