I am now in Guanajuato, Mexico. I was not originally planning to go to Guanajuato, but every Mexican that I hung out with told me that it was great place and I really should go there before heading to Mexico City. Since it is halfway between Guadalajara and Mexico City, it seemed like a good choice.
The bus ride from Guadalajara to Guanajuato was pleasant. A few mesas, a few valleys and canyons. There was a little confusion in Leon because I did not realize that I needed to change buses there.
While waiting for the second bus to show up, I chatted with a couple on the same bus. They had stayed in a hotel two doors down from me in Guadalajara. Someone slashed their luggage in their room and stole some (but not all) of their money. That is why I carry a Pak-Safe. It is a strong wire mesh that I wrap around my bag and then lock. My bag cannot be opened or slashed, and I try to secure it to something in the room like a bed frame or metal table. Of course, someone could steal my bag out of the bus cargo hold.
When the bus arrived in Guanajuato, I took a look at the town and was really disappointed. It turns out that I wasn't really seeing the city proper. The city is in a valley. When I got around the hill into the city proper, I was no longer disappointed. I was amazed.
The bus station is a few kilometers outside of town. This is one annoying little oddity about the cities I have been to so far in Mexico--the bus stations are not in the center of town like they are in many other places. You either have to take a taxi or a local bus to get into town.
I had decided on a place to stay before arriving in Guanajuato, but I decided to let the guy outside the tourist information office at the bus station tell me about other options. I decided to check out one of the options he suggested. My experience in the past has been that hotel touts try to sell you overpriced dumps, but I have, on occassion, gotten decent deals by listening to them. The suggested room supposedly normally went for 350 pesos but I would get it for 180. Being the shoulder season, such a discount would not be unheard of, but I had my doubts as to whether the room ever went for 350 pesos.
The most interesting thing about my conversation with this guy was the realization I had a few minutes into it. I realized that I was having a conversation in Spanish and was actually following most of it. Unfortunately, I couldn't understand a word of what almost everyone else said that day.
While riding into town, I got a call from Anthony in San Jose on my cell phone. I had picked up a Mexican SIM card for my phone in Guadalajara--100 pesos (US$9) for the card plus 50 pesos worth of air time. It was my first phone call in Mexico. It was short-lived since I had to get out and go to my hotel. We picked up the conversation later as I was wandering around town.
As soon as I got out of my taxi, another tout championed my cause of finding a hotel. He ushered me to the hotel the first tout had suggested--the Hotel Juarez. I looked at the room. I cannot imagine that anyone would pay 350 pesos for that place. I let the tout show me a couple of other places. The only one I would have considered was full.
Finally, I decided to just go to the place I originally intended to go--Casa del Tio. This meant walking across town (which was not that far) with my luggage. I put my rolling backpack on my back and started walking. Why is it that the only times that I get lost while hauling my luggage is when I am in a city full of hills? It was Darjeeling all over again. Eventually, I got my bearings and found the hostel. I got the only single room with a bathroom.
I dumped my stuff and walked around town. Guanjuato is one of the most beautiful cities that I have ever seen. It is full of immaculate little plazas connected by small streets surfaced with paving stones. These streets are lined with well-preserved colonial buildings in a wide array of colors. The most recognized building in town is the old basilica on a manicured plaza along a pedestrian street. There are several other well-preserved old churches, an attractively fronted university, a statue-lined old theater, a more modern theater, and many sidewalk cafes. All of this is in an area of probably less than one square mile.
Take a lot of the nicest parts of Paris, shrink them, put them in a small area, and replace the sometimes difficult Parisians with friendly Mexicans and you have something like Guanjuato. (Oh, and reduce the costs by about a factor of 10.)
My favorite passtime is to just walk in the maze of paved alleyways. I have yet to find one in the town center that is not immaculate. Even walking around the perimeter of town and dipping down side street I have not seen anything like a "bad" part of town.
Overlooking the town from the top of the southern hill is a huge statue. One can get there via the funicular railway or just walk up an alley (quite a workout.) I have walked up there twice so far. From there, one can see over the city. Being in a valley, there are many points in the city with such birds-eye views.
On my third day in town, I walked to the Academia Falcon to sign up for Spanish classes. It is a very laid-back school on the southeast side of town. It is about a 25 minute walk from my hotel in the center. For US$110 I can take 4 classes a day for a week. I may stay for a second week of classes.
Guanajuato is a university town as well as a tourist town. The arts seem to be a primary focus of study. Many times I have seen students with sketch pads in front of some of the grander buildings.
Although Guanjuato is definitely a tourist town--I'm sure the economy would collapse if the stream of tourists dried up--it is not touristy in a bad way. At least in this season, it does not feel exteremely touristy. It feels more like a college town. I don't know how this would change in the high season.
The main plaza is the Jardin de Union. It is not a big plaza, but is very nice. It is in the shape of an isoceles triangle. The sort side of the triangle is demarcated by the street Calle Juarez. Across the street is the grand old Teatro Juarez. One of the other legs of the triangle is lined with restaurants and their outdoor seating. The third leg is a row of shops and indoor restaurants. Within this outermost border is a wide tiled walkway lined with benches. Within the walkway is and unbroken triangle of trees whose tops are cut square so it looks like a giant hedge lifted off the ground. Within this border of trees is the innermost landscaped triangle, which contains a small fountain and an octagonal bandstand. Many evenings there are musicians performing in the bandstand or across the street in front of the theater. It is a great place to just park it on a bench and bask in the ambiance.
I'll be in Guanjuato for at least another week taking classes, so I will end this entry here and save the rest for later.
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