We arrived in Tepotzotlán from the north and spent half a day before we caught an Uber to CDMX (you can see the post here). At first glance of wandering around, it seemed like an unassuming little town with little to offer. After CDMX, we caught another Uber back to Tepotzotlán and had an entire down day (I caught a cold in CDMX – took two COVID tests, both came back negative) where we didn’t leave the RV park except to do laundry, pharmacy, and market.
The next day we wandered to the town square where there was a very large stone wall around a very large city block – we wondered what was on the other side. This is the town where they had the giant bronze Jesus on a crucifix laying on the ground – 30′ or there about tall. We walked up to the church and the facade was extraordinary but the doors were closed. So we wandered a bit to the side of the church where there seemed to be a park. It ended up being an ancient (300 years old) olive orchard and a museum. I didn’t have high hopes for the museum, but we went in anyway – what’s $90 pesos, we had time to kill.
This unassuming museum was actually quite spectacular. Its focus was on the convent, monastery, and Jesuit School which were located at this site and their role in the conquest of the Mexica people of the 16th-18th centuries. The museum did a good job at a historical perspective of the conquest and challenges of, controversy within the church, migration of peoples throughout Mesoamerica, and the importance of trade between Mexico and the rest of the world during these times.
Iglesia de San Martín
The church of San Martin was attached to the school and monastery. As I walked in, I was blown away at the opulence of the 23.99k gold plated walls. These ornate works of art were the way the church and clergy was supposed to communicate or tell the tale of the holy trinity and Christ, as none of the local could read or even spoke latin. The story had to be communicated in such a way as to inspire awe, reverence, and fear. There are far too many details to go into about each panel, so I will just post some pictures to see.
Casa de Loreto – birthplace of Maria
The church has also become a modern pilgrimage destination to visit the Virgen in the house of Loreto – supposedly the house in which the Virgin Mary was born in Nazareth. This is an ‘exact’ replica of the house – built into a single nave of the Church of San Martin. It was built between 1679-1680 and has become a religious relic which the devout embark on pilgrimages for to pay their respect and ask for personal favors and miracle.
Relics and other interesting items in the museum
The museum hosts many exhibits, inclusive of the school and cloister, religious relics, historical information for trade, and the conquest of the people of Mexica. There’s a lot of information, so I will just post pictures
Note that this post is a bit morbid – and also note that while these festivals are still practiced, they are not sacrificial in nature – at least not to this degree…
Tlacaxipehualiztli is an important festival in Aztec culture, celebrated during the month of March in the ancient Aztec calendar. The name Tlacaxipehualiztli translates to “the flaying of men” or “the festival of the flayed one.” It was dedicated to the god Xipe Totec, who represented fertility, agriculture, and the renewal of life.
The festival was a time of great significance and was observed with various rituals and ceremonies. The central element of Tlacaxipehualiztli involved the sacrifice of a captive warrior who was chosen to represent Xipe Totec. The chosen warrior would be dressed in the flayed skin of a previous sacrifice, symbolizing the renewal of life and the shedding of the old to make way for the new. This act of flaying represented the shedding of the outer layer, revealing the fresh, fertile skin beneath.
Once the flayed skin was worn, the warrior would participate in a series of rituals and processions. These included dances, music, and offerings to honor Xipe Totec. The festival was also associated with agricultural rituals, as it marked the beginning of the planting season.
Tlacaxipehualiztli was a time for the Aztec people to express their devotion to Xipe Totec and seek his blessings for a fruitful harvest. The festival was seen as a means to ensure the renewal of life, both in the agricultural and spiritual realms. It also served as a reminder of the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.
While the practice of Tlacaxipehualiztli involved human sacrifice, it is essential to understand it within the context of the Aztec civilization and their religious beliefs. Human sacrifice was a central aspect of Aztec religious rituals and was thought to appease the gods and maintain cosmic balance.
Today, the ancient rituals and ceremonies of Tlacaxipehualiztli are no longer practiced. However, its historical significance and cultural impact continue to be recognized and studied as a part of Aztec civilization and Mesoamerican history.
The 12 day trip back to California to tend to some things at home turned out to be a nice break from the trip as well. We have a family of raccoons taking refuge under our house, and my attempts at trapping them were fruitless. I did believe that I had chased them out, but it seems that they broke through another vent screen – so the hunt goes on. I have a critter cam and my wife is placing it at strategic places, but she hasn’t reported back yet as to what going on.
The flights were rather uneventful which is always a nice thing. In and out without much ado. No hassles with security, immigration, or customs.
We were scheduled to head out of Patzcuaro the day after I got back, but we postponed it by two days so we had some relaxing down time – which was needed, even though I didn’t think I did need it. We decided to take the toll roads to CDMX, and the trip only took about five hours, and while the roads were in good condition and fast, the tolls were brutal.
Tepotzotlan
This Pueblo Magico is an hour north of the CDMX Centro Historic. We spent the afternoon wandering around, and while we haven’t found out why it’s magical yet, we are spending another day there. The rigs are parked at the closest RV Park to CDMX while we are visiting the capitol.
We happened upon the town on a Saturday, and as it happens, it was market day and many people from the capitol go on day trips to the surrounding towns, including Tepotzotlan. In the center of town, there is a giant bronze Christ laying down, signifying when we was taken down from the crucifixion.
CDMX – Centro Historico
Leaving the truck in Tepozotlan, and taking an Uber into the Centro Historic, we arrived just after noon at the hotel. We checked in and went wandering. First things first, we went to eat – and got robbed. Not mugged, but the restaurant robbed us. Similar items on the menu, with drastically different prices, that was the most expensive meal we have had in Mexico – and we’ve eaten at some nice places – all for a mediocre fast food (that’s what they call themselves) meal. We’re talking $20us for a pitcher of lemonade, a side of guacamole, some French fries – EACH, not together. Now imagine for the entire meal…
The nice thing about the restaurant, is that it was on a terrace and we had a nice view of the zocalo, the gardens, the cathedral, and all of the tourist industry shenanigans going on below.
After lunch, we hoped on over to the cathedral, the largest and tallest in the americas??? There are so many naves in this church, and they are mostly active with parallel activities. Their sound system is directional, so you don’t hear the other services unless you move under, or in the way of the speakers. This cathedral is also one of the most important and largest pilgrimages in the americas, to see the Virgen de Guadalupe. It is not surprising that a cathedral of this size has parallel services, there are 19mln ppl in CDMX.
After the cathedral, we headed to the Temple Mayor. This Aztec temple was only in use for about 200 years until the Spanish came over and conquered them. It was used for a relatively small amount of time. This temple is in its 7th iteration, each one being built over the others. And the cathedral is built, if not on top of, then just to the side of – and of the rocks that the temple was built from. Inside the Templo Mayor, there was an archeology museum. A small, but well put together museum showcasing the templo mayor, and the Project of Urban Archeology – which was founded in the 80’s or 90’s to excavate and preserve important sites in CDMX that are found during construction projects.
Xochimilco
Another UNESCO site, Xochimilco is a city of floating man-made islands (Chinampas) and canals. Most of which have disappeared to to heavy draw from the water table and sinking of the area. We took a canal boat (trajinera) ride fro a couple of hours and visited many interesting sites on the chinampas, had food delivered to us on the boat, and were serenaded but mariachi bands floating the other way down the canal. As the day wore on, we saw more and more trajineras taking tourists up and down the canal – it was quite festive and entertaining.
Chapultapec
While in CDMX, we have been relying on taxi and Uber transportation. It’s more expensive than what we have paid previously, but everything in CDMX is more expensive. So this day, we decided to take public transit and it… paid off. The fair for the metro is $6mx – about 35 cents. Very affordable. The metro line 7 runs every… two minutes. Yup, two minutes between busses. The busses are all very clean and well maintained double decker busses with a large panoramic window in the front for those lucky enough to sit there. To say that I am impressed would be an understatement. The transit system is efficient, easy, GPS tracked, and inexpensive.
We took the bus to the National Museum of Anthropology in Bosque de Chapultepec. This museum was… impressive. Its two floors each sported 7-8 sections and were divided between pre-hispanic and post-hispanic (modern indigenous culture) exhibits. I have seen Aztec, Maya, Olmec, and other museums, but not with all of them together. You really get an idea of the different people, level of advancement, art, music, culture, etc when these different peoples artifacts are displayed side-by-side. This museum, while it’s primary focus is to the Mexica people and Tenochitlan, they have done a fantastic job of incorporating other people and civilizations into their exhibits – all while tying them back to the Mexica civilization. We were only able to see the pre-hispanic exhibits, and we ran through the modern indigenous cultures just to see if we were interested in coming back – which we will.
Not far from the museum, via a gentle stroll through the Chapultapec forest, waits the Castillo de Chapultepec – an impressive castle built in the 1600-1700’s on top of hill top in the middle of Mexico City – creating an imposing fortification. The government has turned this castle/fort into a post-conquest history museum of Mexico. Going through this museum, as someone from the United States, one realized how little we are taught about our neighbor in school, and even how little we are taught about the Mexican-American war.
Specifically, the Niños Heroes, who were military cadets ages 12-early 20’s, who were left to defend Chapultepec and CDMX from the American military aggressors. The cadets held off the invading American military for many days until Mexico City finally fell. The story actually goes back further, to when Texas, then a Mexican state, declared its independence from Mexico and seceded from Mexico. The US Congress then approved Texas’ statehood request and declared war on Mexico. The fall of Mexico City, left the US in a predicament, they held the vast majority of the Mexican territory, but they did not want it. Arguably, slavery was still a hot issue, and if the US were to make Mexico a colony or territory, it would be a slavery state. So the occupying US military just packed up and left – except for California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, which the US annexed from Mexico and made them territories.
Anyway, the point was we are not really taught history other than our own positive outcomes, like that these young cadets held off the US Military, vastly outnumbered, outgunned, out trained, for weeks – an embarrassment to the US military and now the pride of Mexico.
One of the ideas of this trip was to have flexible plans – or to have open plans – a general idea. No end date, but an idea of what month we needed to be back home. So far, this has been the case, except for needing to be somewhere to pick up a friend coming in to visit for a week.
Well, plans change. Due to circumstances, I must return to California for 10 days to take care of some things. But this brings up the point of this blog entry – new ways of travel.
Through the air
Back home, for the last two or three decades, I have been a fan of Alaska Airlines and my local regional airport, STS. Not only do I fly out of there whenever possible, I also learned how to fly there. Not that I have flown recently, but I did get my ticket there and I know the airspace, landmarks, and airport itself – fond memories.
Since I have been flying to Mexico and Central America, I have flown on many different airlines, in the last few years, I have found a Mexican carrier that I prefer – and a new way of traveling to/from Mexico and Central America. That would be CBX.
CBX – Cross Boarder Exchange
CBX is an ingenious tool. It is a terminal of the Tijuana International Airport – located in the United States, more specifically, near Otay Mesa, 30 minutes to the San Diego Airport. CBX is an enclosed catwalk that goes over the border from baggage claim in TIJ/Mexico, through US customs and immigration, then out into the CBX terminal, not unlike any other regional airport in the US. It can be and usually is -VERY- fast and easy. There are, however some caveats to it, namely, you need to purchase a CBX ticket to use the catwalk – that’s about $57US for round trips – and the tickets are only valid within two hours of your scheduled flight in/out of TIJ. Not really an issue. The other BIG advantage to using CBX is cost.
I have an un planned flight, and I needed to book three days in advance from Morelia to Santa Rosa. Going to Kayak and Alaska Airlines websites, I would be able to book a round-trip flight from MLM-DFW-STS for $4600. Since I was in Mexico, I thought that $4600mex was a pretty good deal – about $260US. The only issue I could see was that it took 24-36 hours with at least one extended layover – almost always in DFW. As I moved through the booking process, I realized it was $4600US, not pesos.
So I looked at flights from MLM-TIJ. Direct flights were about $250 (a three hour flight). Then I looked at flights from SAN-STS (a 1:15hr flight) and due to the high demand and short notice, the prices were about $550 – but I would never make the connection as I needed a couple of hours to get through customs and immigration, grab an UBER for the 30 minute ride (about $40) to SAN and get through security. That just wasn’t going to work.
So instead, I booked SAN-SFO with miles ($12 in taxes) and will be able to make my connection. Now how do I get to STS – a 75 minute drive, or 4+ hours on public transportation… Well, luckily, we have an airport service that can get me there in about two hours, or just shy of it – for about $60.
So, instead of $4600 on a single ticket from MLM-STS and 24-35 hours, I have the following: MLM-TIJ – $260 & three hours. CBX, $57 and an hour, UBER from CBX-SAN $40 and 45 minutes, SAN-SFO, $12 and 90 minutes, SFO-STS airporter $120R/T and two hours – coming in at $459 and 9 hours. This is all with a three-day advance purchase – and round trip – the return is similar in time.
Volaris – my new favorite Mexican airline.
I have flown on many Mexican and Latin American Airlines over the last 30-40 years. Most of them have poor reputations, reviews, and statistics. One however – Volaris, stands out. I’ve never had a delay, customer service at the airports have always been exemplary, prices are very low, etc. Now Volaris doesn’t come with many services, it is a low-cost airline and has a litany of extra charges, but if you know what you want, you can still get an affordable ticket.
Volaris caters to the Mexican people and culture. Many from the US and other countries would not be happy or even understand their processes, but if you change the lens you look through, the experience can be gratifying. There are no lines, there’s a mob, just plan for it – give up your seat and go stand in line before the line starts. Sit on your carry-on if you don’t want to stand.
Another example of how Volaris excels, is their customer service. We once had tickets – a multi-city itinerary, but all separate tickets because they don’t offer a multi-city purchase option on their website. The tickets were TIJ-PBL, MEX-GUA, and TAP-TIJ. We paid about $500 for them and bought them months in advance. Just a week before the first leg, something came up and we couldn’t travel. I fretted how difficult it would be to try to get a refund or even a credit. So I called them up. The CSR was very nice and polite and called me Mr. Chris – forget my last name… So formal, but informal. I explained that we needed to cancel and for what reason, then explained the multi-city/multi-ticket issue and with a few minutes came back with and option for us – a 125% voucher on our full ticket price for future flights with Volaris. 125%???? No American airline would ever do this.
Returning to the Pueblos Mágicos Adventure
I will be back on the adventure in 10 days or so at the beginning of July, with our next stop – Puebla. We will be there for about 2-3 weeks. More posts to come, stay tuned.
Our trip was to have a plan that wasn’t really a plan. To have a general itinerary which was flexible depending on what we felt like, what we learned along the way, and where we thought we wanted/needed to go. This is certainly the case. The original plan was to stay in the Patzcuaro area for just a week. We have now extended that to almost four weeks due to things happening – more on that in a future post.
In the mean time, some things we’ve done and pictures to go along…
Patzcuaro
This area of Morelia is beautiful. We are, however in the middle of a heat wave that is affecting much of the US, Mexico, and Central America. It is un-typically warm for Morelia, coming in in the upper 80’s where it should be in the upper 70’s. Because we are at 6900′ elevation, the sun is intense and adding the heat to it, tires you out quickly. When we sit down for lunch or dinner, the first thing we order – even before we get our menu, is a picture of lemonade.
Much of our time here in Patzcuaro is walking around, lounging, visiting the market, going to the Plaza Grande and people watching, etc. We also take day excursions to other towns near by to pass the time. We have landed in a small trailer park/hotel with perhaps 10 sites in all, and only three other sites filled. It’s a pleasant, quiet part of town, near – but set back – from the main road. Walking distance to many stores, and a short cab ride anywhere else. Usually, we only take the truck when we are going out of town, or have a truck-specific errand to run.
As for pictures of Patzcuaro, it looks like I have very few pictures, I will have to take more in the next two days.
Tzintzuntzan
Tzintzuntzan is a Pueblo Mágico, close to Patzcuaro – also on the shores of Lago de Patzcuaro. It is one of the three seats of power in the Purépecha Empire – which was impacted by the Spanish Hoard. The town itself is a typical town, I personally would not call it magical, but I am sure that there are aspects, history and culture that I am not aware of as to why it has the status of being a Pueblo Mágico.
They make straw Christmas ornaments, for amazingly low prices – even at the “I see your fat gringo wallet” prices, they are inexpensive. Needless to say, I bought some, many in fact, to adorn our tree next winter.
Tzintzuntzan – a fun word to say, also has a special convent next to its market. This convent is hundreds of years old, and is famous for its ancient olive trees planted by the priest whose name escapes me, who converted the Purépecha people to Catholicism. These olive trees are still alive and producing olives, albeit not very many. They are something to look at however.
We ate at a local eatery. It was one of my favorite places for ambiance, but the food was just OK. I had mole and while good, I wasn’t too hungry. The tables were in the kitchen and the ladies were very accommodating and nice.
Archeological Zone – Yacatas. This park and museum are another claim to fame of Tzintzuntzan. The ruins date back to around 700CE. While this area has been inhabited since 2500BCE, there have been several civilizations in this area which have superseded each other. The Purépecha people were the latest people to live in this area prior to the arrival of the Spaniards. There were three centers of power in this area, Patzcuaro, Tzintzuntzan (about 20km away), and Quiroga (modern name of town named after the Spanish Bishop who converted many). When the Spanish arrived, all three were conquered, but not without a fight. All three banded together and moved resources between the them and the other lake communities to keep the Spanish at bay.
These ruins, while they look solid, are most likely hollow or have passages and rooms inside them. Cool air currents could be felt around the base.
Santa Clara del Cobre
Santa Clara del Cobre is yet another Pueblo Mágico in the area – about 20km from Patzuaro. But much like Tzintzuntzan, by first appearance and my lack of knowledge, the magical nature of this town is obscured. This town is famous for its copper artisans and art. This seems to be a fairly recent addition to the towns jewels, as they do not have a mine nearby, they deal in recycled copper – which, but writing this, leans me in the direction of being magical and good stewards of our planet.
They usually source the copper in waste form, ingots from circuit boards, electrical wires, scrap metal, etc. They then smelt it down to ingots and then split the ingots into the appropriate size for their project and start pounding. It’s all manual, they don’t use hydraulics in their work.
Morelia
Earlier in the week, we dropped a friend who was visiting off at the airport in Morelia. We then spent the day wandering around the historic center and taking in the sights. Morelia is an UNESCO World Heritage site for it unique baroque architecture, and its cultural significance (the Mexican Revolution started here).
Morelia is a city of more than 1mln people in the city proper as well as the municipality. The airport is convenient and fast. I like airports like this. Their webpage states that you should show up 45 prior to your flight – that’s at boarding time. Morelia is a university town as well as the state capitol.
We wandered around and found two libraries, one at the university, and the public one next door. As we were wandering around the university, a man pulled us aside and asked/urged us to take a tour in the museum. This museum is dedicated to a hero of Mexico, Melchor Ocampo. Ocampo was born during the Mexican revolution and was assassinated 47 years later for his work and social programs. He was a politician, astronomer, gardener, linguist, the list goes on. He was so enamored with the ideas of Benito Juarez, the first indigenous president of Mexico and who was the first leader during the reform wars. Juarez was unable to enact many of the social programs during his term before he was assassinated, but his ideas turned into reforms post-mortem. Ocampo was one of those that pushed for reform and is credited with implementing many social programs and being the father of the civil registry of Mexico.
Ocampo loved Mexico and the people to such an extent that in his last will and estimate, he bequeathed his heart to the university through the following statement “Mi Corazón le pertinence al Colegio de San Nicolás” (My heart belongs to the school of San Nicolás). His daughter took that statement more directly than most would read it and donated his heart to the university where it is revered and on display along with his library and other relics in the museum.
The public library of Morelia has hundreds of books dating back centuries, the oldest which I saw was published in 1528. The architecture of this building, and the accessibility of these ancient books to the public is impressive.
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.
Three weeks. That’s how long it to get to the point where we wanted to be. That’s a long haul. While it’s still hot where we are, the humidity has dropped to a tolerable level, and the bugs seem to have disappeared.
The first three weeks, we traveled 2400 miles. That’s a lot of driving. The next six weeks, I expect that we will be driving half that distance – which brings our travel rate to 200 miles per week rather than 800. We will still be driving for exploration purposes, but we will be fairly stationary for multiple days at a time. This is where we want to be.
Mascota – Puebla Mágico
Our first PM in the highlands was Mascota. It is on a small mountain highway between Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. It’s at about 4000 feet in elevation. While it was still quite hot during the day 95-100°, it cooled off at night to the low 60’s.
Due to the heat, the town holds strange hours and even when posted, they are not always followed. Hours are typically 0700-1400 and again 1700-2000. But when we showed up to the archeological museum during posted open hours, it was closed. We were lucky enough to be in Mascota on both Saturday and Sunday evenings to watch the people come out in force and participate in the socializing in the town square.
Mascota is a mining town and in prehispanic times, Mascota was the head of a cacicazgo,which ruled over the populations of Talpa, El Tuito and Chacala.In 1525, the Spanish explorer Francisco Cortés de San Buenaventura arrived to Mascota, who was commanded by Hernán Cortés.
Due to the rich natural resources of the area, there are many estancias, haciendas, and casonas. Walking the streets, one misses the rich architecture inside the hidden casonas. But if you peer into the open windows and doorways, you are treated to beautiful hidden courtyards, just enough to let you imagination wander around and explore the mansions.
Talpa de Allende
Talpa de Allende, is a neighboring town about 30km from Mascota. Talpa is also a silver mining town and thus also has spectacular casonas. Many of these in the downtown or city center have been turned into hotels and little market places.
Talpa de Allende is also the destination for over three million pilgrims a year to see the Virgen del Rosario, and this specific iteration is also called La Caparita. The legend has it that back in the day, people would make disposable statues of corn meal, sugar, salt, etc. for festivals of important figures in the Catholic Church. Once the festivals were over, the statues would be buried. On one occasion, the statue of the Virgin was handed to the undertaker and as he was burying it, the ground exploded and knocked him out. When he came to, the current iteration of the virgin was in its place. Ever since, Talpa has been the destination for millions to ask favors and miracles of the Virgin.
This town was vibrant on the Sunday morning we visited – during the low season for pilgrimages. We were able to wander around town and see townsfolk, pilgrims, tourists, etc. Talpa is also know for its candies and murals. Of the candies, they are known for guava paste – so I bought a bunch.
After three weeks of driving, we have made it as far south as we are going to get (+/- 100km) on the Pacific Coast. Going into this trip, we knew that this section would be fast, hard, and hot… umm… let’s say difficult. We’ve been through this area before, five years ago – again in May, but instead of spending three weeks on this section we did it in around eight days.
Progress
Here are a couple of screenshots of the map and vehicle stats. Interestingly, diesel is more expensive here than in the states. I thought it would be about the same difference, but in the other direction. So about $1US more than my estimate.
To get the difficulties and bummers out of the way:
It’s bloody hot here on the coast. Once we got to the Palm Desert east of Los Angeles, the temps have remained in the upper 90’s and low 100’s. The further south we got, the more humidity was laid upon us. This is May, after all. My inverter took a dump a week or so ago and that made driving without air conditioning tiresome. The inverter has been fixed – I derped it, so now I am running in the low 80’s on the road. Not too bad if you consider the bus is like a terrarium. I have the windows covered to prevent the heat from coming in.
The bugs suck – literally. 100’s of bits on the arms and legs. Yesterday was the first day I didn’t put ointment on.
For me… from the border to Puerto Vallarta, is not why I like Mexico. But from here east and south (the highlands), is just in front of us. I’m not a desert kind of person, or tropical costal type of person – in the heat of summer. I like the mountains – and I can see them from here.
Now for the good…
We have so far visited three Pueblos Mágicos. Madalena de Kino in the far north of Sonora, El Rosario in Sinaloa, and Mexcaltitán in Nayarit. They are all unique in their own way, but from my limited exposure to them, leave me wondering about the Pueblos Mágicos program. I have visited many other Pueblos Mágicos, and many were awe inspiring at the architecture, culture, gastronomy, etc. These three were interesting, but didn’t wow.
Magdalena de Kino
Magdalena de Kino was founded in the 1680’s by Father Kino as part of the Spanish missions, similar to that we see in California and Argentina. To go along with this, mission architecture is all over the town. The people revere Kino and the altruistic nature he took to his role as a missionary.
El Rosario
El Rosario is a mining/quarry town. The town was build by the proceeds from the quarry, and due to monsoons, the oldest of the quarry pits filled up and the town made parks out of the resulting lakes. The town is also famous for a local musician who took the spirit and music of Mexico and introduced it to the world – Lola Beltrán.
Mexcaltitán
Mexcaltitán is also known as the Mexican Venice. It is built on a man-made island in the middle of mangrove swamps. It’s an oval of only 400m across at its widest spot. Legend has is that it is from here that the náhuatl people started a pilgrimage to and the founding of the great city of Tenochtitlan – today the City of Mexico. It is said that the eagle and snake of the Mexican flag came from this town.
San Blas
San Blas was a jumping off place for Mexcaltitán. It was a nice little town with a sorted market of handicrafts. We spent a couple of nights there, hanging on the beach, wandering around town, and going to Mexcaltitán. They have a wildlife sanctuary there where the have alligators lounging next to the side of the road – with a fence between them and the viewing area. The fence only goes a few feet, so the could have just waddled, drug, lunged, or whatever they do on land to move, around the fence and to the tasty, tender tourists.
Lo de Marcos and the Riviera Nayarit
Lo de Marcos, while not a Pueblo Mágico, is a nice beach town. Due to its location on the Riviera Nayarit, it has been gentrified by American and Canadian tourists. Many stores cater to the tourists and have US prices. The owner of a local wine shop – only the second I have seen in my travels throughout Mexico, does not speak Spanish. I went in to ask where there was an ATM and he asked me to speak in English – it would be easier for him.
Lo de Marcos has many (more than four) RV parks. All but one were closed. The one that is open is charging four times the going rate. Granted, it’s a nice fancy resort type of place, but still… I have spent the last two days sitting on the beach, by the pool, wandering around town, and yes… working.
Eastbound Wandering
From here on out, we will be heading up into the mountains eastbound. We have driven 2250 miles so far in three weeks. For the next leg, we will be traveling about 1000 miles in 7-8 weeks. So we will slow down quite a bit, but this is the real exciting point. This is what we came here for – culture, archeology, gastronomy, natural wonders, etc.
The last six days has been, both eventful and unremarkable. We traveled south down the west coast of mainland Mexico through Sonora and Sinaloa. It’s H.O.T. Average temps on the road are about 100º F. The most remarkable thing about this travel is that my inverter failed due to the heat, and therefore I don’t have air conditioning on the road. I try to push an early departure to beat the heat, but it’s usually about 90º by 10 o’clock so it doesn’t help too much.
We have also been staying at little beaches on the way down, which is nice because the breeze cools off the temps to the mid-high 80’s. It would be more enjoyable if the bugs didn’t eat us alive. My legs were eaten, but not as bad as Gary’s. Between the high heat and the bugs, heading south has been a slog. We knew this going into it. One of the unfortunate consequences of this, was that we missed several Pueblos Mágicos. This was disappointing, but… it is what it is.
We are now in Mazatlán where we slow the trip down considerably. We have traveled 2100 miles from Santa Rosa to Mazatlán in 15 days. From here to Puebla is about 800 miles more, and we expect to spend seven weeks between now and when we leave Puebla. This is just an idea and it will probably change as Puebla is socked in with volcanic ash due to the eruption of El Popocatepetl. We will see what happens when we get closer.
Inverter Woes
Back in October, I knew that my 2kva inverter was not powerful enough to power the air conditioning under high temperatures, so I replaced it with a 3kva one – under all rated temps, it could handle my air conditioner and then some. Seems like there was a failure and in talking with the vendor, it might be a warranty replacement issue. The only problem with that is I would have to return it to Arizona and it would be weeks if not months to get it back repaired. So that’s not really an option.
The issue is that the inverter thinks it sees less voltage from the batteries than is actually being supplied by the batteries, and therefore increases the amp draw and overheats, and shuts down. There are some things that I can to do nail down the actual issue, but it failed all of a sudden and the components I could check wouldn’t go bad just like that.
I did find a vendor who has this inverter in stock – in Puerto Vallarta – but that means that I would have to buy a new one, get the old one fixed, and then sell the extra one – not something I am relishing.
El Rosario – Pueblo Mágico #2
Today we visited El Rosario. A little town about 100km south of Mazatlán. It was a day trip there and back. El Rosario received its Pueblo Mágico designation in 2012 for its history as a mining town. I’ve been to many Pueblos Mágicos, and this one was fairly unremarkable. There were certainly some interesting things about the town and definitely worth a visit.
Gary got attacked by a pack of not-so-feral Chihuahuas. Their owner, a feral-dog-lady was standing at her gate trying to call them inside when they ran across the street to chase a car and bicyclist, and then coming back, ganged up on Gary and bit his ankle. More of a fun story to tell than anything else. If it were me they would have been flying, but Gary was more peaceful about the incident and walked away.
This town has lots of colorful murals scattered around and some pedestrian streets dedicated to sitting and relaxing. They are all quite nice and bring color to an otherwise drab town.
Another thing about this town was its effort to keep it clean and recycle. They had cages in the shapes of bottles and hearts to recycle plastic. A wonderful idea – that incorporates art, recycling, and stewardship of resources all in one.
Sometime in the 1930’s there was a monsoon and the amount of rain cause the quarry pits to fill up with water and the town has turned them into parks now.
The Panteón Europeo was rather… unremarkable. The town is 350 years old, but the oldest grave was only about 150 years old. Most graves were in disrepair and the feral chihuahuas… er… ducks and dogs, had the run of the place. The one interesting thing about this pantheon was the Druidic Portal tree (also a bee tree) growing on the inside wall of the pantheon. A druidic portal tree is a mythological tree where druids and fey creatures could enter and transport themselves to other trees. See for your self…
The final thing about the town was the Catholic Church. Unless I got my dates wrong, again in the 1930’s, the old church was falling down and the town relocated the church to its current location – 70% of the materials coming from the old church. The rest coming from the new quarries on the other side of the town. There is also the tomb of Lola Beltrán who was born in the town and according to a dedication to her, took the voice of the town and shared it through music with the rest of the world.
Mazatlán
We were in Mazatlán five years ago on our epic road trip through Mexico and Central America in Jeeps. Much has changed in Mazatlan in the last five years. The number of high-rises have doubled, and at least a half dozen new residential developments have either been built or are being built. Most of these are for the middle/upper-middle classes – showing that Mexico is progressing and expanding the wealth of the people.
Our little RV park seems like a mini Jurassic park – surrounded by resorts and high-rises. It’s right next to the beach and to get to it, you have to drive through a little jungle with bones/skeletal remains of whales I imagine, staged to look jurassic.
Gary had issues with his paperwork. He ended up driving the 200 miles back to California to fix the issues, and back again. This was Wed/Thu.
We headed out – back to Sonoyta to the customs/aduana to process the paperwork and get the TIP – vehicle import permit, and made good time, even though it rained on the way, it was a nice morning drive.
At the aduana, the official asked for the registration of both the truck and the trailer. So Gary proudly handed them to the official. Then the official said he needed the original. Gary looked through his folder again as my throat knotted up, and G high-tailed it to the truck. Only a few minutes later, he comes back with a smile on his face as both Rocco and I wiped the sweat off our brows.
As the official looked over the paperwork, he said that the truck was overweight (7700lbs) as the sticker on the truck stated 10K lbs. This is a known issue with the law, it is not written clearly and leaves it up for interpretation.
There is a difference between unladen weight (6800lbs), and gross vehicle weight (10,000lbs). The maximum weight in the books is 7700lbs, but it doesn’t say which weight. I then stepped in and explained to the official that the law was for the unladen weight (whether it’s an African or European swallow is not relevant). He saw the issue but said he didn’t have the authority to issue the permit. He would have to get permission from the bosses in Mexico City, and it would take time, how much, he couldn’t say.
After 90 minutes, he came out to the bus where we were hanging out and said it had been approved, we just need to file the paperwork, pay the fees, and then we were set. Another hour to process things and we were set – out’a there… on to Magdalena de Kino – our first Pueblo Mágico of the trip.
Magdalena de Kino
Magdalena de Kino was first founded (by the Spanish) in the 1680’s by Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino. Kino was one of the better known, altruistic missionaries of the Spanish Church. He helped the local Tohono O’odham indigenous people.
We happened on Magdalena during the Kino Festival – where people from all over, but mostly from Arizona and Northern Sonora come to celebrate, participate in cultural exchanges, including seminars, dances, processions, sporting events, music, and food. We were able to spend two days at and participate in the festivities.
Like many desert towns, the people come out during the early mornings until about noon and then go inside until it cools down around six pm. We, as tourists, found ourselves the first day walking around mostly empty and shuttered streets in the blistering heat until the evening – when thousands came out to take part in the festival.
San Carlos – Guaymas
Back to the coast. A short, and blistering hot drive from Madalena de Kino to San Carlos near Guaymas – on the coast. We were on the road for about three hours and rolled into San Carlos at noon, just in time for lunch. We headed to the beach where I took a refreshing dip in the ocean and chased, or was chased, by a flock of pelicans. 100’s of them. Apparently, there were schools of little fish in the waves and they were going after them.
There were also other birds fishing and when one would catch one, the others would chase it to try to steal the catch. Inevitably, some (many) of the little fish would be dropped and they would rain down around me where they would flop on the hot rocks and die.
San Carlos is just an overnight stop. We are trying to follow the 330 rule. No more than 330 miles AND finish the day’s driving by 3:30pm. Today we drove about 350km and finished at noon. Driving in Mexico is not relaxing, but it’s not a white knuckle experience either. You just need to be aware and alert.
Pizote Adventures 