GUADALAJARA - MEXICO

27th - 30th April 2011



Guadalajara Plaza and Cathedral



The seven hour bus ride from Mazatlan to Guadalajara was relatively uneventful. Sitting across the aisle from me was a Dutchman, Jeroen, who had been instructing scuba diving at Mazatlan.This was his hobby and main interest in life which he has done worldwide, together with private pilot instruction in the Phillipines, or was it Indonesia. He makes his money on off-shore oil rigs. He said he enjoyed travelling around with his scuba kit, and a tent. He usually just found somewhere to pitch it, and that was his accomodation solved. He appeared never to have had a problem doing this but I think I would find it somewhat too spartan! ( I dread to think what poisonous creepy-crawlies live out in the Mexican wilderness along with the banditos ). He mentioned, as I also have so far noticed, it is rare to see another 'Gringo' on the buses. He got off at the town of Tepic which, as far as I could tell, was about 50 miles from the sea. A good run before diving perhaps.

Guadalajara, the second largest city in Mexico, is sprawling and low-rise consisting of several zones and districts. Some quite affluent, some not. It is at an altitude of 5000ft but still proved to be blazing hot. I had, again without booking, chosen to stay in the Central Historic district at the Hotel Morales. As a matter of interest, while in Mexico, I have been using an American travel-guide book called 'Fodor's'. It has proved extremely good; easy to read, informative and up to date. Their 'where to stay' and 'what to do' sections have saved me a lot of time and effort. Also, as yet, no hotel I have wandered into has been full. 

I found the city remarkably relaxed and friendly, relatively clean and with well maintained and quite grand public buildings, statues and monuments. The hotel Morales was magnificent in an old fashioned picturesque style, including an indoor courtyard. It was most comfortable, with excellent service and has a long and interesting history ( look it up! ). It cost not much more to stay there than in than the Green Tortoise hostel in San Francisco!

At this stage I think I can draw a fairly accurate comparison between US and Mexican prices! In Mexico the cost of accomodation is about 1/3rd of the US equivalent. Also, the price they quote you is, unlike that irksome American tradition where things are always 'added on', inclusive of taxes and any tips. Neither, again unlike America, do they unilaterally bump up the prices at weekends. Indeed, at all the places I have so far stayed in Mexico, they have offered a discount. The beer, and I think it is quite good lagery stuff, costs on average about $2 per bottle as opposed to the US average of about $6 ( plus the US barmen expect a dollar tip on top of that! ). So, you most certainly get better value for your money, and the facilities and service, although maybe not so slick as in the US, are good, friendly and helpful. Also they do not 'hustle' you too much into buying things. The Mexicans are very 'laid-back'.

I spent a lot of time and shoe-leather walking the streets. I only brought one pair of shoes with me and they are beginning to look a bit distressed. Also did an open-topped red double-decker ( London cast off? ) bus tour. This had an American audio-guide. Not up to the wild and incomparable style of Captain Tristan Shout ( of Seattle DUCK fame ), but adequate if at times out of sync with where we were, and given in a strong Texas drawl ( ...if y'awl lurk on the raat saad etc. ). Interestingly, English speakers are not much catered for outside the major hotels and business areas. I bought a Lonely Planet Mexican-Spanish phrasebook in La Paz ( along with the book on whales which I have yet to finish ). As with most phrasebooks it is virtually useless. If you have to look for a 'phrase', by the time you have found it the person you are trying to talk to has probably gone home, or retired. They also contain so many worthless 'phrases'. I open my book at random here, for example...''Where´s the best place to jog around here'' or another...''Your ego is out of control''. I mean, who on earth would ever need to say things like that. One day I might compile my own short 'Travellers' Dictionary', consisting of two pages, of essential words or expressions like 'when', 'where',  'too much', 'bugger off' etc. Quick to find and only things you really need to say. 

The city advertises a large zoo with, amongst other inmates, Polar bears. I sincerely hope they have been issued good tropical clothing and given serious haircuts. 

Left: Looking down one of the Historic Centre shopping streets.

Right: This old guy was sitting by the side of the street singing ( I think it was singing ). I'm not sure that he got much for his efforts but I admired his hat

Left: A Guadalajara taxi rank. Actually, the locals seemed to use these quite a lot

Right: Now this is more interesting than it might at first appear. The pedestrian traffic lights ( which, of course, nobody paid much attention to really ) showed a green man who initially 'walked`then as the time clocked down 'ran' and when it got to below 5 secs 'sprinted'. Then it went red. It amused me! I have a video of it which, sadly, I can't attach.

There were many, I thought, interesting statues of famous Mexican heroes ( although I never saw one of Herb Alpert, but of course he's still alive and, anyway, he's from Tijuana ), and large, sometimes weird, monuments. The Mexicans have a bad habit of constructing impressive monuments and then putting road signs, bill-boards, telephone wires, traffic lights etc. in front of them to spoil the view.

Left: A typical example. Guadalajara's answer to the Arch de Triomphe. Note the wires and traffic lights in front of it. Some monuments had advertising hoardings in front!

Right: Some contemporary 'art' but, whether you like it or not, I don't think it is enhanced by the flyover running past it. Or maybe it's meant to be like that.

Left: This monument is dedicated to the 6 children ( all between 10 and 15 years old ) who were killed, bravely helping to defend the city, when the Americans attacked in 1847. It is at the end of a street, Ave De Los Niños, which is full of good bars and restaurants.

Right: Some heroes of the Revolution. Two major Mexican 'events' which they celebrate, and name streets after, are the fight for Independence from Spain ( 1810 - 1821 ) and The Revolution ( 1910 - 1920 ). People like Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata ( of moustache fame ) featured in The Revolution.

Left: OK, just a photo of a traffic policeman on his motorbike. I tried to get a photo before he got on and drove away. I was too slow. The interesting feature is that the Guadalajara traffic cops are very smartly dressed and wear highly polished black riding boots plus spurs! You might just see his if you enlarge the pic.  Maybe their bikes run on oats. I´m surprised he didn't carry a whip. ( maybe they have been banned by the Mexican Policehorse Authority ).

I had to go on a tour of the Tequila distilleries in and around, surprise surprise, Tequila, which is about 50 miles north-west of Guadalajara. For some inexplicable reason this tour first took in the 'Basilico of something or other' in the District of Zapopan. Zapopan is otherwise only famous for it's shopping 'Malls' which were 'religiously' pointed out to us.
This Basilica ( right ) is one of those shrines where the very religious, to the point of superstitious, Mexicans take the halt and the lame in a vain hope that a miracle might cure them. This brings to mind the story of the crippled old man who was taken to such a shrine. They lifted him off his wheelchair into the shrine to pray for a miracle. They carried him out, he still could not walk, but was amazed to find his wheelchair had miraculously aquired two new tyres.

Left: A statue of the previous Pope with a Mexican pickpocket at this Basilica. ´Devotees´ had laid offerings of what to me looked like plastic beakers of milk on the ground in front. This is where Christianity meets Buddhism perhaps? Beyond me, I'm afraid.

Anyway, we continued on the important business to Tequila. I was the only non-Spanish speaker on the bus. Our charming lady guide, Anna, gave me individual assistance and translation. She was great fun!
The visit took us to the fields where they harvest the blue Agave ( not, stricktly speaking, a cactus but a member of the lily genus ). There were miles and miles of this plant ( it looks like a cactus and has, painful experience told me, extremely sharp needles and pointy leaves ). The name Tequila can only be given to the spirit made from this plant in a particular region ( similar, I suppose to Champagne, Cognac etc. ). It should not be confused with Mezcal, a similar drink made from a similar plant, which is famous for the worm in the bottle. The worm lives in the plant ( Maguey ).

Right: Anna, our guide, holding up a baby blue Agave. Behind is the Tequila Volcano. These plants are harvested when mature after about 7 years. The harvest can be all year round so it is an ongoing process of harvesting and planting off-shoots.

Left: One of the ´harvesters´; a skilled job. He explained the whole process and  demonstrated how to remove the leaves to expose just the heart of the plant, from which they obtained the juice to ferment then distil. We were all given a go with the various cutting tools. I nearly cut my foot off. The heart of the plant has the consistency and taste a bit like raw potato.
We were then taken to the premises of the Jose Cuervo distillery ( est 1770 ) in nearby Tequila. It is a very smart establishment run on the same lines as a Scottish whisky distillery, and with the same technical expertise and pride in their product, indeed reverence.

I was the only English speaker and was accorded a 'personal' guide. He was a charming American/Mexican from Michigan called Mark Bayardo who had worked for this company for 5 years, and he gave me a most interesting and instructive tour. I am now an 'expert' on how Tequila is made. They have the same distilling and ageing process ( in American or French oak barrels ) as at whisky distilleries and, similarly, the finished product can be a range of blended or pure Agave of various ages. Mark dismissed this business of drinking Tequila with salt and lime as an out of date habit. It originated from the early days when Tequila was a very rough drink indeed. The salt was taken to increase saliva in the mouth ( to dilute ) and after quickly drinking the stuff the lime was sucked to take away the awful taste. Today, good Tequila is delicious and should be sipped like a Scottish malt whisky. The salt and lime palaver is just a gimmick now and presumably encourages tourists to drink quickly and hence increase sales! Having said that, Mexicans do like salt and lime with a lot of drinks, including beer. A strange, maybe inherited, taste.  

Left and below: Various pics of the Cuervo distillery. A very slick and efficient operation by the look of things.

Right: The cut hearts of the blue Agave waiting to be be cooked before the fermentation process. They cook for about 30 hours. The resulting stuff is a brown colour and very sweet, like sugar cane.

Left: One of several bronzes scattered about the distillery. Plus rat.

Right: Mark, my excellent guide, in front of some ageing Tequila. We were given plenty to sample on the way round, from neat second distilled straight from the still, to various ages and blends.... and treated to complimentary Margaritas afterwards. Hic...!

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Right: A rather splendid distillery transport.

Back in Town I decided to move hotel. The Morales was great but, being a skinflint, I had found another place, Hotel Roma, which was offering decent rooms ( not as grand as the Morales ) for half the price and including breakfast! Equivalent to $30 US per night. I then set about tracking down a Mariachi band seeing as how none had come to attack me. I was told of a place within walking distance.

Left: The packed Casa Mariachi. I sat and waited for them to start their performance. Me and about 10 waiters. They did...........

......and they performed with great exuberance. Thankfully they did not ask me for any requests. I doubt if they would have known The Blaydon Races. I was madly trying to recall any of the great Herb Alpert's tunes, but couldn't.

Left: They were followed on stage by some 'dancers' who made loud whooping noises and stamped their feet. They reminded me, horribly, of that dreaded Irish 'Riverdance' routine. There is a dearth of Oirish Bears in Mexico. What a pity.

Right: At this place there was a wine list. I show you here, to make my point, the list of Tequilas. On this list there are 72 brands.They range in price from 21 pesos ( less than a $2 ) to 230 pesos ( $20 ) per shot. Enlarge and you might be able to read. I stuck to beer.

I went to bed on the night of 28th April realising that I would, sadly, be spared the Royal Wedding which would take place the next day from 4.00am our time. I went down for my complimentary breakfast ( including, of course, tortillas ) at 10.00am happily to read my book before a gentle walk when, would you believe it, the waiter proudly wheeled out a vast TV, switched it on and there was the start of a BBC repeat of the whole dang shooting match! ''For you señor, you like see''. I felt duty bound to watch.

Left: My photo of the Great Event.

Right: There is a very large covered ( San Juan de Dios ) market in the Old Town. For those familiar with the Ben Thon market in Saigon, this is about twice the size. It sells all sorts of markety things ( you know, fake bags and pirate DVDs etc. ) and the 'food floor' would, I suspect, fall foul of UK hygene regulations. One chap took exception to me taking a photo of the rat. I presume he thought it might lower the tone of the place a bit.

Left: They had some magnificent sombreros on display. If it wasn't for my packing restrictions, I would have bought a couple. They were cheap as chips.

Right: To give you an idea of the Guadalajara bus station. Some are like mini-airports with cafes and desks for the different bus companies. I have found them remarkably efficient ( so far ).

Left: The interior of one of the ETN buses. Each seat had its own 'entertainment' console. There was good air-con and the loo was clean, and even worked.

So that is more or less it from Guadalajara. I found the place most pleasant, good value and the locals laid-back, unspoilt and helpful. In general, so far, I have found the Mexican culture much less `hustle` than in the US. The price on the label is what you pay or, more often than not, you pay less ( and good haggling in the markets ). The waiters and barmen do not automatically expect a tip and are most grateful if you give one. On the other hand they do not have the slick infrastructure or the inventiveness ( to make money ) that exists in the USA.
For anyone who is in the slightest interested in reading this waffle, since the demise of my Very Expensive and Robustly Built ( VERB ) laptop computer in La Paz, it is taking me longer to write because I have to locate a hotel or inter-net cafe computer which I don't know how to work very well. There will be delays. At least it keeps me busy! I am hoping that my laptop might be resuscitated when I get to Mexico City. Perhaps I should have taken it to the `Basilico' shrine and done a bit of praying.

So!.... from me, and from them on the left, it's 'hats off' and ''avante avante'' .........onwards to the great metropolis of Mexico City.
Hasta la vista, baby!