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Guanajuato, Mexico: A Cultural Vacation
Doug Bower - PVNN
 Not yet available in bookstores, a copy of Doug Bower's newest book,
A Walk Through México’s Crown Jewel: A Guanajuato Travelogue, can be
ordered online at Lulu.com.
Doug Bower, an American freelance writer and author living in Guanajuato,
shares excerpts from his latest book, "A Walk Through México’s Crown
Jewel: A Guanajuato Travelogue," which describes areas of interest to
American, English-speaking European, and Canadian travelers who have
grown weary of the typical Mexican vacation.
When Guanajuato-bound travelers arrive at the Mexico City airport, it
doesn't take them long to realize they should have flown into the
Guanajuato International Airport instead. There is nothing particularly
wrong with Mexico City's airport, as airports go.
The Aeropuerto de la Ciudad de Mexico, the country's and Latin America's
largest and most important airport, can serve up to 32 million travelers
per year under ideal conditions. And, as airports go, it even has hotels
in the airport, which I find attractive but would anticipate an
intolerable noise factor to consider.
However, once you've landed in Mexico City, found your baggage, and gone
through customs, you then have the unenviable task of finding out how to
get a bus to Guanajuato. I know Americans and Europeans who do this
routinely. But, routine is the operative word here. They are so
experienced that it doesn't faze them one bit to do this. These folks
tend to have a much higher degree of spoken fluency in Spanish than
first-timers into Mexico.
The thing is that flying into Mexico City is not only cheaper but also
much cheaper in some cases. You do have to add in the cost of a bus ride
and adding another four hours to your travel-weary bones. To fly into
Mexico's busiest airport can cost you considerably less than flying into
Guanajuato's airport, I checked with Priceline.com for USD prices on
12/01/2008:
New York to Mexico City - economy class: From $427 - $544 New York to
Leon, Guanajuato - economy class: From $598 - $755
Los Angeles to Mexico City - economy class: From $210 - $660 Los Angeles
to Leon, Guanajuato - economy class: $226 - $262
Miami to Mexico City - economy class: From $276 - $681 Miami to Leon,
Guanajuato - economy class: From $542 - $1197
Though cheaper, unless you are a mega-traveler and know your away around
a Spanish-speaking facility, it would lessen your stress to fly into
Guanajuato's airport, which is right outside of Leon, Guanajuato. Also,
this reduces the chance of being ripped off with the fake cabs and
drivers with their nefarious schemes that seem to so prevalent in the
nation's capitol.
After you've gone through the traveler's woe in Guanajuato's Airport,
you can take a cab directly into the city of Guanajuato for about $35.00
- $40.00. This is the alternative to renting a car and driving in
Mexico, which is something you do not want to do. Just think of the
worst city you've ever driven in back home and then multiply that to
infinity and beyond and you will come up with a nice picture of what it
is like to drive in Mexico.
Here's a Tip: Before leaving the airport, change your dollars to pesos.
The cab driver more than likely will not take dollars and you will need
pesos once you get to The-Land-of-Cash-Only city of Guanajuato. Credit
cards are still a novelty in Guanajuato and traveler's checks are so
last century. If you use your debit or credit card at a Mexican ATM, you
can get better rates.
What To Do and See
Guanajuato is history and culture. There are no fantasy rides, pirate
ships, or huge waterslides. It is not a re-engineered Mexican city to
attract cruise ship or Disneyland crowds. Guanajuato is a thriving and
living city of stories, both historical and modern, to charm you to your
soul or scare you out of your socks. Here are two of my favorites:
Mummy Museum – This is often a big hit, especially with the kids. It is
a little ghoulish and spooky. Your kids will want to see it over and
over again. They'll want to plan a picnic and maybe even camp out in the
place. I've done Las Momias thing once and that was enough! I exited the
museum looking for a nurse's station that would perhaps have a small cot
I could lay down on and be attended to with a cold cloth on my head and
maybe a little Tequila. But, alas.
The first mummy was dug up in 1865. Because of limited cemetery space,
bodies had to be exhumed to make room for more eternal residents. But,
to everyone's surprise, the bodies did not decay but rather mummified.
The chemical composition of the soil in combination with this mountain
desert town's dry climate created a natural mummification process. The
action of this process creates a monster-like cadaver worthy of
Hollywood's best horror flicks. Remember Nightmare on Elm Street's
Freddy Kruger? Well, you get the picture.
The mummies are housed in glass cases that preserve them and with slick
lighting and some sound effects. It is in a comfortable facility for
easy viewing. It is a huge draw with Mexican kids who seem to be there
most often on field-trip days. But the slick presentation wasn't always
so. A Mexican friend told me that the mummies used to be housed in the
basement of a work building next to the cemetery. They were bolted to
the walls of the basement with metal bands around their torsos. The
exhibit was accessible via a narrow, creaking spiral staircase that
descended into a darkened, mummy-filled basement lit with only about a
25-watt bulb hanging by a wire from a high ceiling.
Well, the frequent comings and goings by visitors created a fluctuating
climate (Guanajuato does have a rainy season) for the mummies as well as
vibrations that would sometimes shake loose an arm, maybe a leg, and all
too often a head would pop off at the most opportune time when there was
some child standing there watching great, great uncle José fall apart.
Children would screech in horror and women would swoon. The visual and
consequent mental effect had to be right out of a Buffy the Vampire
Slayer show! Trust me, your kids will love this.
Alhóndiga De Granaditas – Another potential hit with the kiddies is this
200-year-old granary built to look like a fortress to store seeds and
grains. It was here that the first Mega-Bloodied battle for Mexico's
Independence was fought. Not only was blood spilled in abundance but
also heads were lost as the result of this battle.
When word reached the city of Guanajuato that the rebels were on their
way, and in a very bad mood in their bid for freedom from Spanish rule,
the Spaniards ran for their lives to the Alhóndiga to hole up until
reinforcements came to the rescue. The rebel army, some 20,000 strong,
engaged the Spanish there and eventually overcame the opposition in a
violently bloody end. This is today a history and art museum, which
still bears the holes from the gunfire on the outside of the building.
An especially grisly reminder of the rebel's struggle for Independence
came a little later. The Spanish eventually hunted down the leaders of
the rebellion and not only executed them but relieved them of their
heads. They hung the heads, four of them, as an object lesson (a lesson
which didn't work, obviously) to those who would rebel against Spanish
rule, on the four corners of The Alhóndiga in small cages for the birds
to dispose of. The hooks are still there and are very visible from the
ground.
The building was eventually turned into a prison and housed prisoners
from 1864 until 1967. It was then converted into a museum and now hosts
a bookstore, gallery, and tours can be taken for a small fee.
El Pipila – Is a monument to an alleged hero of the battle at The
Alhóndiga in which Juan José de la Reyes, El Pipila, set the doors
ablaze allowing the rebels to break into the granary and take the
Spanish stronghold. The view of the city from this monument high over
the city as if standing sentry is worth a visit.
Other Sights
A host of other sights are available for those with extended vacation
time to see. Below are some that might just become some of your
favorites:
Churches
Basilica
Templo de la Compañía
Iglesia de San Francisco
Callejón del Beso
Museums
Don Quijote
Ex – Hacienda San Gabriel
Valencia
Mine Templo la Valenciana
Place to Stay
Here's a Vital Hotel Tip: If you plan on being able to actually sleep at
night during your trip to the city of Guanajuato, stay as far away from
the Historic Center as you can possibly afford. In the online travel
advice forums, I constantly hear of potential first-time visitors to
Guanajuato wanting to stay in hotel accommodations in the Historic
Center or El Centro. I get the appeal. They want to be where the action
is and want to be able to step out the front door of their hotel right
into the thick of it. They want to soak up all the charm of Colonial
Mexico they can, something I totally get, and don't want to use up
valuable charm-soaking time in the back of a cab.
The thing is that Guanajuato is a thriving and living Colonial Mexican
town and much of the locals' affairs from entertainment to things dark
and nefarious also take place all night long in El Centro and often
right outside your hotel window or door. The noise factor is almost
always underestimated by Gringo visitors. We come from a land of Noise
Ordinances with the weight of the law of the land behind the enforcement
of them. Mexico is not America and this will become painfully clear if
you try staying downtown for a good night's slumber. If it isn't the
all-night partying that keeps you awake, the church bells clanging will
be the recipe for a really bad morning when you haven't slept all night.
If you bring the kids, just think of them being up all night from the
noise. If earplugs aren't what you had in mind, then book your hotel
outside of The Historic Center.
Hotel Recommendations
Casa de Espíritus Alegres – La Ex-hacienda
La Trinidad No. 1, Colonia Marfil
Phone and fax: +52 (473) 733-1013
Email: info(at)casaspirit.com
Website:
CasaSpirit.com
Casa Estrella de la Valenciana
Callejón Jalisco #10 Valenciana
Phone: +52 (473) 732-1784
Email: info(at)mexicaninns.com
Website:
MexicanInns.com
Quinta Las Alondras – (Hotel & Spa)
Autopista Guanajuato-Silao Km 1
Phone and fax: +52 (473) 733-3030
Email: reservaciones(at)quintalasalondras.com.mx
Website:
QuintaLasAlondras.com.mx
Villa María Cristina
Paseo de la Presa de la Olla 76
Phone: +52 (473) 731-2182 Fax: +52 (473) 731-2185
Email: reservaciones(at)ral.com.mx
Website:
VillaMariaCristina.com.mx
Holiday Inn Express
Phone: +52 (473) 735-2000
Misión Guanajuato
Phone: +52 (473) 732-3980
Website:
HotelesMision.com (click on Guanajuato)
Paseo de la Presa
Phone: +52 (473) 731-0777, +52 (473) 731-0778 and +52 (473) 731-0779
Do Your Homework
Our first visit to Guanajuato was all the more pleasant as the result of
reading as much as we could before going. The result was that we weren't
lost trying to figure out what to do and the things we wanted to see.
So, I offer the following as sources of information Before You Go to
Guanajuato, Mexico, The Cradle of Mexican Independence.
GuanajuatoCapital.com/Atractivo
bivir.uacj.mx
GuanajuatoCapital.com/Tbarrera
mexperience.com
Doug Bower is the author of A Walk Through Mexico's Crown Jewel: A
Guanajuato Travelogue. Check out his website at:
Mexican-Living-Guanajuato.com
Doug Bower is a freelance writer and book author. His writing credits
include The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Houston Chronicle, The
Philadelphia Inquirer, Associated Content, Transitions Abroad,
International Living, Escape Artist, and The Front Porch Syndicate. He
is also a writer with EzineArticles.com where his articles have been
syndicated in more than 5,024 online publications.
Book Credits: The Plain Truth about Living in Mexico – Universal
Publishers Guanajuato, Mexico: Your Expat, Study Abroad, and Vacation
Survival Manual in the Land of Frogs — Universal Publishers, You Can
Learn Spanish No Matter Your Age or Disposition — LuLu Press, The V!VA
List Latin America: 333 Places and Experiences that People Love — (He is
a contributor to this work,) and A Walk Through Mexico's Crown Jewel: A
Guanajuato Travelogue - Unlimited Publishing
Guanajuato slide show photography by Bill Bell
SPORTS
Tiny toreador
Michelito, 10, king of the bullring
IT'S no bull. Tiny toreador Michelito is already a
star of the bullring, and was before he even turned 10. Michelito is
just like any other child who likes playing guitar, surfing the internet
and watching Spiderman, but at just 10 years old, he is also a star
bullfighter and has already killed 160 calves. ….More
Blanco's homecoming
is legendary
Cuauhtémoc Blanco's place among Mexico's all-time
greatest players is secure. His astounding goals and impressive
accomplishments for both club and country have set him apart from all
but a handful of his countrymen. But even for a legend, Blanco continues
to dazzle…..More
Toluca to play Cruz
Azul for Apertura title
Toluca will take on Cruz Azul in the Mexican Apertura
final after rallying to beat Santos 2-1 on Sunday with goals from Edgar
Duenas and Chilean striker Hector Mancilla…..More
Sunday Golf winners...three under par
Darts winners from Men's darts League Wednesday at Crazy Nellys
WEATHER
SAN Pancho Weather www.sanpanchoweather.com
Weather in Mexico
Currency
Eric Nice Plays every Thursday at
Mateja's
Mexico
Spends $1.5 Bln to Hedge Falling Oil Prices
Most Events are Clickable
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Death of José
María Morelos
(1815)
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Nochebuenas
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2009
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feast
of the Virgin of Guadalupe is Mexico's most important religious holiday.
On this day people from all over Mexico travel to the chapel on Tepayac
Hill in Mexico City or attend their local church to honor Mexico's
Patron Saint with parades and prayers. The site of the Basilica de
Guadalupe is where the mother of Jesus is said to have appeared in 1531
to a poor Aztec Indian Catholic convert, Juan Diego. As the legend goes,
Juan had a vision of a beautiful young woman surrounded by bright light,
who announced her identify as the Virgin Mary. She instructed Juan to go
to the Catholic bishop and ask that a church be built on the hill so she
could be close to her people. The skeptical bishop wanted proof of this
vision; he asked Juan to have the Virgin perform a miracle. Mary
appeared to Juan a second time and also provided him with a miracle. On
the freezing hillside there had appeared a bloom
of roses which she instructed Juan to gather and take to the bishop.
Juan did so by removing his poncho (or cape) and gathering the flowers
into it. Once again Juan came before the bishop, opening the poncho to
let the flowers fall out. But it was not the flowers that proved to be
the miracle. Instead, imprinted on Juan's poncho was an image of the
Virgin Mary, just as Juan had described her. This image is still
preserved on that poncho in the Basilica de Guadalupe. In 1810, this
very same image also became the symbol for Mexican independence when a
patriot-priest used it on his banner. 
