Beautiful Guadalajara...Blood, Sweat and Fears, Live Life and Tequila Sunrises....

We went 1st class from Tepic to Guadalajara on an amazing bus. Taking the first bus from Tepic we could was this luxury coach!!! Now this is the way to travel. There were only 32 well spaced seats with individual TV screens that had movies, TV shows, music...AND internet!  There were male and separate female washrooms, coffee dispenser, pullout leg rests, reclining seats, sunshades, curtains, clean windows, cup holder... We'll have to do that again.




                                  Agave farms go on and on in this region ...

In Guadalajara....

We found a hotel right away one block from the center of the old town for 700 pesos ($60). It's an old colonial hotel, approx 200 years old and has a 3 story high courtyard that our balcony opens onto.



      Hotel La Rotonda - one block from the main plaza in the historical centro.



       Handpainted mural in the courtyard... with Shayne on our interior balcony.



 We oriented ourselves by taking a horse carriage ride around the old town which reminds us of how we often got around Cuba.





The Rotonda is a monument built in 1952 to honour the memory of distinguished
people from the state of Jalisco. This was one block from our hotel.

Later in the evening we attended a political rally for one of the mayoralty candidates.  Was pretty elaborate with a massive stage that took 2 days to build, speakers, music, video screens, fireworks and a very large drone that was hovering over the plaza the entire night!  Labour groups wore the same coloured t-shsirts to show their solidarity.  Luckily we met an English speaking local who explained what was going on in this rally and a little bit about Mexican politics.

Guadalajara is a beautiful city with elaborate, old churches at almost every corner. Parks, plazas are everywhere.



                                        Guadalahara Cathedral

There are traditional shop keepers in their stalls as well as large modern shops and outlets.  This is a large city where fashion conscious people are everywhere.  How the women walk around in high heeled shoes on cobblestoned streets is a feat in itself!!! A very friendly city, with lots of people out walking etc during the sunny, warm days and settling into parks n plazas cafes at night. We ended up spending 5 days wandering the historico centro, riding buses, horse and carriage, visiting, churches, art galleries, museums or sitting listening to street musicians. Far cry from the beach scene.

Random thoughts......

No one uses seatbelts except the driver, motorbikes carry up to 3-4 people & little kids with no helmets, fireworks control is non existent...traffic looks chaotic, but always seems to flow. Mexican families always seem happy, respectful with each other...organized chaos reigns in regards to music, parades, celebrations. It always seems to work out..    Guadalajara women are beautiful - all shapes, sizes. Confident, poised...amazing!

Tequila Sunrise........

One day we took a tequila  train tour called the Tequila Express...

A mariachi band welcomed us at the train station. A minimal security check and we boarded for the 2 hours down the track to a tequila producing Hacienda. Tequila  shots, Margaritas etc. along with a good breakfast sandwich flowed on the ride out. We actually drank more beer while on the walking tour than tequila- go figure! A large, joyous group of Columbians made the trip quite fun.

They repeated a song over an over, which essentially was a dance tune that encouraged hip swiveling and shaking your booty. They would repeatedly call out Mexican states or countries to stand up in the aisles and shake their booty. They esp liked how we swiveled and shook for 2 non-latinos!  The Columbians became our new best friends.  They definitely enjoyed the tequila.

After the Hacienda tour (the beer made it bearable for S!  we saw the entire process of how tequilla
is produced from the cutting of the agave, processing to the final product... in their newer production
plant.









                                                 Blue agave plant.



           The 'pineapple' of the plant is removed by hand with this cutting tool.



                   Each of these 'pineapples' weighs about 20 kilograms!!!!



                                           Ready for processing...



                            Agave chunks that is as sweet as honey...



                 The plant ... on a current slow down while we were there...



Next came the tour of the 200 year old factory all made out of bricks.











We enjoyed a great Mexican lunch followed by live entertainment. Here again, the locals on this tour completely enjoyed the music and dance. Just not an all-incl show for tourists.



The finale was an invitation for everyone to get up and dance.  We danced, (Team Azul)...
and without realizing, we had entered the Tequila Express dance competition.


Seems the judges liked our moves, as we moved onto the next round, and the next and the next until we were in the finals with 5 other couples.

The finals had each couple alone on the dance floor to strut their stuff.To paraphrase... "Win the crowd, win the prize!".....well, we did just that...

 

Once all couples had danced, the audience had to cheer for their favorite pair.  We won! Not bad for a flip flop, bare footed duo from the north country. Our Columbians friends helped!!! " Chika, chika, chika", they would yell out! They went wild when we grabbed each other's backsides during our dance. Haha! We felt like celebrities with all the hand shakes, high 5's and congratulations we received over the next few hours until we were back in town!!  Even the other finalists-couples loved us and most were locals or from southern spots. Our prize? ....24 cans of margaritas!  Not bad!  Once on the train we passed all the cans out to our new friends!!!  Win the crowd...  Pay it forward...Such fun!!!

Live Life....

That night, we rocked at a concert by Marc Anthony, latin american singer. Seemed to be abt 20,000 people of all ages and dress attending the outdoors 45 500 seat Omnilife Stadium. After spending hours online trying to buy tickets, we just decided the @#$%& with it and take a chance by just going to the stadium to buy tickets. We were in luck!  Finding the ticket booth in the dark, then figuring out where to go in dozens of snaking lines holding thousands of people. We could not find a single 'official' person to tell us which of these many lines we should join!!!  There were no signs either. We finally hooked up with two Mexicans who were also confused but going to the same section as we were...they were great!!  Concert started about 9:30 pm and ended after 11 pm. Marc Anthony's big song and finale....(google it on you tube) is his anthem song. We heard it Cuba and again throughout Mexico.

           Estadio Omnilife opened in 2010.  It is a multi-use stadium but was built primarily to provide a home for the Chivas soccer team.  It is the 4th largest stadium in Mexico. It has an open roof that was built to look like a volcano.  It's quite beautiful.

Welcome to the Jungle,.....

Last day in Guadalajara was spent at the famous Liberty Market that houses 2800 shops daily from 7am -8pm under a covered space of 40 000 sq meters on 3 floors!!! In other words, HUGE!!!!  It truly was a jungle here.  The senses get overwhelmed walking through the narrow passageways of every imaginable item.  Shayne bought a wallet with a little bargaining. Came across a street vendor selling roasted crickets that were crunchy like peanuts! Yum! Protein for the masses.



       Liberty Market plus yummy fresh roasted crickets.  Yes, we did eat them!!

Blood, Sweat and Fears....

Decided to take in a bullfight, as S had never been to one. Bullfights are an iconic part of Spanish/Mexican history. We can argue the merits about this blood sport - and whether it is a sport at all. However, it was fascinating to be part of this deeply woven cultural event.

The bullfighting stadium looked a little worse for wear than the Omnilife Stadium, but it was waaaay more interesting! It looked like one of the old stadiums from the movie Gladiator.



                       The main doors... the lineman preparing the rink.

We got to choose our seats in the sunny or shady section - the sunny section being cheaper. We bought the sunny section and paid about $15 each. Then, we bought cushions for $1.50 each to sit on the concrete seats.  Once seated we bought a 'grande cerveza' each for $5 total, since we were in the sunny section.



Front row seats right on top of the action, overlooking the spectacle, much like gladiator battles of the Roman days. Wow! Doesn't  get any better. Again, we seemed to be the only tourists present, off the grid and away from the coastal tourist enclaves. Little kids sat on parents' laps, old men whistled their displeasure at some action on the arena floor and the mariachi band played. 

Below us. the matadors stood, charging out to do their dance with the bull. It was a ballet of death - for the bull, and sometime the matador. In bright costumes, much like a court jester, the matadors preened around the arena.







                                See the bull in the lower left corner...



Horse and rider even took part. Sheathed in metal, much like a knight of old, the bull would charge the blindfolded horse and push it and its rider nto the inner wooden wall. Several times, it looked as if the bull would push right over the wall. Once the bull tired, sweaty and played out, the final moments ticked down. We even got sprayed by dust from a bull as he charged a matador in front of us!!

Staring down a 400kg bull up, close and personal is surely a test of nerves and quelling the fear. One swerve of the bull's head in passing, would have easily injured or gored the matador. The matadors ranged in age from late teens to men in their 50's. One matador was actually caught in the horns, tossed and in the ensuing melee was stomped on by the bull.  He was fine, eventually walking off the field.

Locals attended with family, outside the arena meals were served under tents. In between matches, clydesdales came out to drag the dead bulls away, and the grounds crew came out, like the infield crew at a baseball game to rake the dirt, shovel up the bloodied sand, rechalk the lines etc.





Each event was announced by the card guys, parading out to the center displaying the bull's name and weight! S appreciates the card girls that announce the next round of a boxing match way better. Haha!

Final score...6 bullfights, 6 dead bulls, 2 injured horses, 1 thrown/stomped matador!

That's it from our great days in Guadalajara!!! 

We're now heading east by bus again to the smaller colonial town of Guanajuato. 

Take care and send us a note from your corner of the world.  Hugs to all of you!

Yvonne y Shayne

Classic hits from the rainy side of Mexico include.. I Lost it at the Lavendaria, That Fishy Smell ain't your Feet, Raindrops Keep Falling on the Roof, and Duck and Cover! It's a long one...

Hello everyone!  Happy reading to everyone who''s jumped aboard our email list. We are working (slowly) to put our emails into a more blog like format. (Any blog sites that work easily from a tablet - send us the names...)....,on to the fun...

Our 5 days in Chacala had been truly charming. It is a slightly ramshackled, unfancy, tiny beach town - where locals outnumber the gringos. The beach is great.





 One can hike to an old cauldera (which, I think is an oxymoron - old/cauldera?) to find a
spectacular view of the town and coastline.



                      View of Chacala from cauldera.  Small and quaint!

And what beautiful sunsets...







 But that's about all. Chacala has several places to eat/drink and hang out. We've  met some wonderful travelers and locals that have made our time most memorable!

 The mood was set just days earlier when we got off the highway bus on our way to Chacala ...Mexican music played, a man burned rubbish and plastic ....we've missed that smell the past few weeks, along with a fruit/vegie roadside stand doing  brisk business. Instead of getting a collectivo for the last 9km or so to Chacala, some gringos stopped and told us to hop in. Nice!

                                              Downtown Chacala

The final  days in Chacala reminded us how quickly tropical rainstorms can appear. Along with the thunder and lightning, the monsoon downpour forced us to take shelter at a beach palapa and just wait it out until it passed or just walking back to our casa in the rain. One night we just had to brave it to get back to our place dripping wet,.....

Lost it at the Lavenderia.

The day we decide to take our laundry to a lavenderia, (the first time ever on a trip), an all-afternoon storm, along with a power outage struck. Clothes that should have been ready  by 5pm were going to be ready at 6, then 7pm and finally we're told to come back at 9pm. We head out to a local, little gringo house party to kill time. We return at 9pm, only to find the whole place shut. So, with our only damp clothes that we still wear, we return next morning and pick up our clean, sweet smelling clothes.

Chacala is built on a hill with cobblestone streets and a lot of red clay.



During rainstorms, all the water runs downhill and pools basically in one spot. The red clay becomes a goopy, sticky quagmire. Along with, and in the street run off, are all the usual and unknown suspects that gather in some toxic mess- gas, fish remains from the hosed down Pescadoria, the fragrant scent of sewer etc. Everyone walks around in flipflops, trying hopelessly to avoid sinking in the muck! Not to mention, it was quite a challenge to stay on your feet on the wet, slippery rocks in flip-flops or sandals, esp in the dark, using a flashlight with red water rushing down the streets!  Ha!

Our first casa/hotel was a cheap, empty 15-room place. We should have taken the hint.... Only 300 pesos, it didn't have hot water (was supposed to..) WiFi was sketchy, and the fresh fish store behind us scent (or sent??) us looking for a better sleep....We finally walked out and scored a great little casa run by a wonderful family. Quiet, clean, lots of hot water.....Casa Aurora only 400 pesos.  Very nice.

                                 Bougainvillea  seen everywhere!!!

On our last, rainy night in Chacala we hid out in a restaurant with friends from New Mexico and Chewelah, WA, listening and dancing to a Cuban band.  Was great fun!

We left Chacala on a wet, dreary, monsoon filled Super Bowl Sunday. Chacala was quickly turning into sticky, goopy mess more suitable for mud wrestling, than beach tanning. Our collectivo ride out of town started under the same dark cloud that had taken over most of this coastline, when a passing truck making its way through the narrow roads of Chacala managed to shear off the driver's side mirror. Our driver didn't miss a beat, as he just picked the broken mirror from the muck, threw it in the van and headed to Las Varas, our transfer spot for the bus to Aticama one hour north of Chacala. 

Las Varas proved to be a 2 hr plus wait. As has been the case during our travels in Mexico a guardian angel (Marciella) appeared from the gloom. Just getting us across the 6-lane intersection of highway 200 would have been enough, but over the next 2hrs, she made sure we were at the right bus stop, waved off cab drivers who tried to give a better deal, showed us where the best street food was to get a meal, and watched for our return from lunch as the bus stop had moved again. She even pointed out Yvonne to me as she came up the street after tracking down an ATM..(just in case I was worrying). She had zero English, and our Spanish was not much better, but she talked and talked to Yvonne in rapid fire. Yvonne found out all about her family, job and belief in helping people. Our bus finally arrived and, as it turned out, Marciella was taking it also. 

We arrived in a little beach town of Aticama...it looked so desolate, lonely and forlorn with the monsoon pounded down on it. As we stepped off the bus, one family looked at us as if we were beings from some distant planet. While it took some time to hook up for dinner with friends living in the area - we finally gave up waiting for WiFi or a taxi, found a roadside place to have a beer and watched the traffic passing by to see if our friends would drive in.



                                  Back view of this restaurant...

Finally, we just asked another expat if they knew them. Of course they did and they gave us a ride to their house as they lived just down the street.

With visions of going mad in the constant deluge and not much else to see in Aticama, other than watching the beach restaurants fire up their cook ovens using wood as fuel...(picture smoke mixed in with the rain)



 ...we moved up the coast the next morning to rainy San Blas.

Madness on the High Seas.... 

Interesting little town...San Blas could be called the Mexican Venice, as it really seems to be an island surrounded by water courses all heading to the ocean. After enduring another rainy day, the sun finally made an appearance in time for The San Blas Fiesta!! The festival honours a native priest who freed the locals from the invading Spaniards.

This annual event begins at around 3:30 when the local priest, parishioners and locals (plus a few tourists), gather in front of the 300 year old church and proceed with "native dressed" locals, through the streets towards the marina. They are carrying a 2 metre high statue of the native priest (actually looked like Jesus Christ) while a band played the same song over and over again, singers singing and fireworks going off. 

                       You can see the statue way in the back...


           Now the statue is nice an close to see with the band playing behind.

As the priest and his entourage board a shrimp boat the balance of the procession gets on an armada of boats and head out from a protected, sheltered channel into the open, choppy ocean.





                    The shrimp boat carrying its precious cargo...

.....These boats are generally overcrowded,  filled with mainly non-swimmers, little children, babies and no lifejackets........and they head out about 2 kms offshore to a giant, white (bird poop?) stained rock with a statue on the top which looks like it has been beheaded.


                                 We're heading straight to the rock!

,.......did I mention, accidents (which possibly could be many) wait to happen as they gather in the hundred or so boats to circle this giant bird pooped rock.  Of course, we managed to get a front row (as in bow) seat of the impending carnage, as we thought this would be too much fun to miss out on........

With the help of Hector (our new Mexican cousin), we scarf a free ride with a group of believers in a speed boat. The only thing I believed was that we had a good chance of swamping and ending up swimming around. In a boat more suited for lake fun, the 20 footer ended up with 12 of us on board. We managed to stall several times before even getting out of the channel.

The flotilla of boats looked more like the rescue at the Battle at Dunkirk (google that for more info). Boats of all sizes are decorated and all are taking people off the shore, from docks and madly charge out to join the religious flotilla...l'm sure many did pray for just that - the ability to float!

We get stuck in the bow, and take on most of the water directly that now courses over the bow and sloshes into the boat. I am sure we will go under as several waves break over us. Luckily the rain has stopped, the sun is out. What chaos out in the open water. We count our good fortune that we can swim and that there are dozens of boats, literally within in arms length to rescue us, in case things go down. Just laughing and happy to be in this chaos on the open ocean.

To add to the madness of this joyous event, someone has managed to climb the 20-30 meters tall rock and is looking to jump in. The boats/drivers sensing a spectacular finish to an already crazy day head closer to the rock. Shouts of "Jump! Jump!....we assume that was what was being yelled in Spanish.. along with..uno, dos, treize fill the air!Our driver sensing that now was a good time to retreat ...might have been the amount of bailing we were doing, or the smell coming from the engine...turns and points his boat back to shore.

                          We didn't wait to see if he actually did jump.

If possibly sinking wasn't enough fun, our driver decides that the idea of getting crushed by a much larger vessel should do the trick. We come up along side of the shrimp boat carrying the priests, nuns and big, wooden statue, and line up for a blessing for another prosperous/safe fishing season. The blessing from the priest almost is our end..(hey, at least we would have been blessed). As we struggle to come along side the much larger, heavier and more solid shrimp boat to be  doused with 'holy water' the waves push our front end into the side of the shrimp boat, our driver manages to avoid one disaster, only to have the stern end of our little, undersized and heavily overloaded boat smash off the back end of the shrimp boat coming close to the larger boat's wake in the rolling seas. We manage to avert a catastrophe on the high seas and return to shore slowly and safely...far ahead of the maddening crowd we've left behind! Needless to say, I wanted to buy Hector, our new Mexican cousin, a beer.

Duck and Cover....what we learned while watching (up close) a Mexican fireworks display!

Oh the madness! Oh the madness! On this same evening as the water fun.... thousands of people gather in the plaza in front of the church to watch a fireworks display. This is not just an ordinary display as most of us are familiar with, but an elaborate bit of engineering genius!! We watched earlier in the day as a small group of men begin to build a rickety, wooden structure that turned out to be about 15-20metres high when finished!!! Really! Held upright by 4 long ropes anchored to palm trees in the plaza the very  top has a firework filled wire butterfly shape. The entire tower was built from individual wooden box-like structures stacked on one another,  lifted higher to add another box underneath. And so it went up. The whole thing was tied and secured together with bailing rope. Fireworks designs protruding out on wooden poles go all the way up the structure.

Eventually, a signal was given to set it off...with hot cinders showering those closet to the action, screeching noise from the whirring fireworks and smoke drifting through the plaza the fun began.  In between setting off another and higher placed fireworks design, fireworks were launched from the church steeple across the street. With no crowd control barriers, and no officials warning everyone to stay back, the crowd enjoyed being sprayed by the mammoth size arc welding shower emitted from the fireworks. As things got higher and wilder, we kept looking to see when the tower would start to lean or fall. The climax came when the butterfly design at the very top of the tower was lit up. In addition, the church had a fireworks display down its front wall ablazing, while roman candles boomed from the steeple.

It will be hard to top that day - water and fire!  Amazing!!!  

Adios for now...we are heading inland to Guadalajara and region for the next while...  As always, let us know how you are doing in your corner of the world....Shayne/Yvonne