Puerto Vallarta, Ajijic, Guanajuato

I’m having a crisis of time and space, I’m moving slower than I had planned and this is creating some conflict. On the one hand, I’m certainly enjoying spending “extra” days in some of the amazing towns/cities I've visited. It definitely gives me some time to recharge my batteries and enjoy a place instead of just blazing through. On the other hand, the drawback is that I may not actually get to South America which was a big part of what I wanted to do on this Sabbatical. I guess we will see what comes… “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” (John Lennon) or, La vida es lo que te pasa mientras estás ocupado haciendo otros planes (google translate)

Sunday March 9, Mazatlan to Puerto Vallarta: I didn’t do this one right… ok, do I ever do anything right? I got off to my usual late morning start and by the time I got to the Hotel in PV it was dusk. No time left for exploring and I was very tired. I've been using the lonely planet website to help me find a hotel in the next town, then I paste the address into my GPS software and plot the route. (Tech alert: I’ve been using a piece of software called Tyre to Travel. It’s GPS mapping software that is a simple “overlay” or “shell” on google maps. I paid 5 euros for the version without adverts and it works great! I highly recommend it.) The route from Mazatlan to PV was a long ride 300+ miles and it took all day. I started the day in Sinaloa drove through Nayarit and arrived in Jalisco. I rode by groves of Jackfruit trees, banana plants, and a pot farm? I didn't even stop to take pictures I was running so short on daylight hours. Puerto Vallarta dwarfs Mazatlan in scale, it's a huge tourist destination. On the way into the city I couldn't see the ocean because of the huge hotels between the road and the water. The Marlyn hotel was nice and a little quirky. Got some sand between my toes and took a few pics in the morning before I left. PV is a Big City and it’s full of tourists so I’m not sad about not sticking around. I love traveling and being a tourist but I don’t love being surrounded by tourists.

the Marlyn Hotel was at the corner of Mexico & Republic de Chile, interesting coincidence or fate?

Cobble stone streets were common in PV

The beach is just beautiful, it's no wonder why tourists come here

Monday March 10^th, to Laguna de Chapala & Ajijic (Ah-hee-heek): another longish day the saddle. From sea level to 5500ft into the mountains and clouds, passed agave fields and a tequila distillery.  As I was riding through the mountains I saw some interesting animal crossing signs: puma, rattlesnake, & bunny. After passing through the mountains I rode through open valleys with Cablleros 30 or more riding on the roadway. The City of Mascota looked beautiful and full of history but because of a late start in the morning, I just blazed on through... Back into the mountains and I came across many Mexicans on a pilgrimage, hiking to Talpa de Allende, It's part of the Easter tradition in this part of Mexico. When I arrived in Ajijic I met Yvonne from www.RideTheSierra.com and picked up the loaner GoPro camera from Mike Bell. What an amazing gift!  I ended the day at Hotel Casa Blanca in Ajijic. Beautiful! It's owned by Matt and Pamela McCardell from… Phoenix Az. www.casablancaajijic.com (another coincidence? "hi I'm Matt from Phoenix..." "Oh? Me too.") I had some nice tequila and cervesa and good conversation with Matt in the evening. Really good guy and such a cool little Hotel! Put this place on your list of destinations! Ajijic on the north shore of lake Chapala is an amazingly beautiful town that is very gringo friendly.

The the city of Mascota

my room at Hotel Casa Blanca

The view from the rooftop "mirador""

what you see from the street is just the wall and a door; inside are beautiful little courtyards and the hotel rooms and a bar.

Tuesday march 11, 2^nd day in Ajijic: Totally easy day today walked around town taking some photos and chatting with the Canadians at Hotel Casa Blanca. The little city is full of retirees and as a result the town is vibrant and lively with lots of nice restaurants, shops and galleries. I also spent some time doing file management on the computer :-/ getting the GoPro mounted on my helmet J getting software and manuals downloaded from the internet. Oh, and had a nice siesta in the afternoon… una siesta es muy bueno; me gusta mucho la siesta!

scenes from Ajijic

A park along the shore of lake Chapala in Ajijic; it even had a little skate park at the west end.

A native american woman selling wool rugs made by her family. She had a "coffee table" book about her people (Zapotec, I think) and in it was a photograph of her, operating a loom as a younger woman.

Wednesday March 10^th, to Guanajuato: I usually don’t take the toll highways but I made a mistake when I chose & mapped the route, so for the first time in my trip I drove the “cuotas”. The roads were very smooth and fast similar to a US interstate highway. On a moto, I was charge 22 pesos to enter and 12 pesos to exit each segment of the cuota route and I hit 3 today = 102 pesos/ <$8 USD not too bad but would have been double in a car.  The speeds were high which is always a little more tiring on the KLR. I put the GoPro to good use today and took some video from the bike while I was riding. I’m pretty sure it came out good but my little netbook doesn’t have the graphics or computing horsepower to deal with HD video playback. I don’t think I will be doing any video editing while I’m on the road. In some ways that’s a good thing. I’m here to explore Mexico not to spend my days on the computer. I shot a clip of passing by agave fields (there is lots of agriculture in this area). I also shot some video riding into the city of Guanajuato.  This city is spectacular! It was another silver mining city and was very wealthy. The mining was done horizontally into the hillsides and many of the mines became roadways under the city. There is a maze of tunnels running in all directions under Guanajuato. Luckily, the signage is good and I found the city center without any difficulties. I got some assistance from a tourist guide/docent and found a reasonably priced hotel, then got out there to be a tourista. The city is in a bowl with the city center at the bottom and the residences on the hillsides all around. There is a university here and a thriving tourist industry so the city is vibrant, colorful, young and full of music. This is another amazing part of Mexico; thank you, Daniel Chavez-Clemente for the great recommendation. I decided to do a little tour by bus, and it turned into something quite unexpected. Due to my lack of Español and their lack of Ingles, I didn’t get the historical tour I thought I would. The little bus tour had about a dozen folks on it and we went to several “museums”. The first stop was a museum of mummified corpses which was incredibly gruesome and fascinating, and then on to the Museum of the Lamented (it was a campy little haunted house, fun). We then continued up the hill to one of the early mines and actually got a little mining history along with an explanation of how dangerous the work was and all the nasty ways people died in the mines. The last museum was the Museum of Purgatory and had all of the torture devices from the basements of the nearby Spanish Catholic Church (also, incredibly gruesome and fascinating). What an odd experience…

Scenes from Guanajuato

In the evenings, there are roving concerts performed by musicians in these traditional costumes. You pay a small fee and follow them around the city as they perform. It's a cool experience because everyone dances and sings along.

Thursday March 13^th, 2^nd day in Guanajuato: Had another easy day today. I slept in, got a late breakfast, then wandered around town taking photos and generally trying to keep my jaw off the ground. This is a beautiful place, full of History and Culture. I’m no historian, so go to Wikipedia and read about it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guanajuato,_Guanajuato , then come here and experience it!

The plaza in front of the theater

Hidalgo Market

Mariachi in the plaza would play a song for you if you payed them a little. All the guys in blue were part of the same band and were all family, three generations. There were at least 3 other bands, too.