Made it to Mexico city

Crossing from north east to west via the basilica of the virgin of Guadalupe and a supermarket run. If London traffic actually moved this well we would have nothing to complain about - certainly nowhere near as bad as trying to get through the blackwall tunnel.

And contrary to popular belief Mexicans DO use their indicators. All the time. They don't actually mean anything - I think they just like the pretty flashing lights.

I've also been practising my Spanish but realised there is no word or phrase n Mexico that equates to "bus exhaust silencer"

Mountains to sea and back again

From Guadalajara we headed down to Ajijic on Lake Chapala.  At 50 miles  (80km) long and 11 miles  (18km) wide, it is Mexico's largest fresh water lake.

It was then time to cross the mountains again and head for the Pacific Coast, this time staying in the small town of Barra de Navidad.

We spent a couple of days there then hit the coast road again heading south east, our ultimate destination was Ixtapa  / Zihuatenejo. It was too long a drive for one day so we stopped in the village of San Juan de Alima. Its still low season here and we had the beach (and the hotel) almost to ourselves. Mark enjoyed bobbing around in the surf.

As we continued on our way along the winding coast road, the views were stunning. Miles upon miles of golden sandy beaches and azure sea interspersed with rocky headlands stretched out before us. Unfortunately too many trees along the roadside meant I couldn't take any decent photos.

We stayed in Ixtapa, another resort town full of expats and snowbirds. It was just around the headland from Zihuatenejo which is mentioned in the film The Shawshank Redemption. A few miles south of the main area was a lovely, almost deserted beach so we had a long walk along it to the rocks

Time to say goodbye to the Pacific for now and head back inland.

Uruapan  is at the western edge of the Purepechan Highlands and at 1,620m above sea level, it's the centre of Mexico's avacado growing region. There's a national park in the centre of town, Barranca del  Cupatitzio, which was amazing, with waterfalls everywhere. It's centred around the headwaters of the Cupatitzio River which emerges from an underground spring. This then carves a small ravine and the streams and springs form small waterfalls. It had the feel of a tropical rainforest similar to northern Queensland and we spent a lovely afternoon strolling through the park.

There was also a trout farm in the middle so that evening we decided to have fresh trout for dinner :-)

From Uruapan we visited our first ruins and pyramid at Tingambato. Its a small ancient Tarascan site including a pyramid, sacraficial altars and a ball court and is dated from about AD450 to 900

Next we visited the lovely town of Patzcuaro, with beautiful buildings and a really nice town square. The town was founded around the 1320's and is one of the 100 Historic World Treasure Cities by the United Nations.  It's also at 2,140m above sea level, so higher than Uruapan.  

The Stirrup Volcano is on the outskirts of town and Mark went for a hike up to the lookout then had an additional 455 large steps to get to the top. The view was fantastic. 

Patzcuaro is on the southern edge of the  lake of the same name. Janitzio is the largest island in the lake and has a 40 metre statue of the Mexican hero Jose Maria Morelos y Pavin that is at the top of the hill.

Next, on to Leon and the centre of Mexico's leather industry. Still at altitude, this time 1,800m but we're getting used to it. More old buildings and churches and  so much history, too much to go into here .

We've covered about 1,500kms over the last two weeks. Tomorrow we head to Guanajuato and all points beyond, ending up in Mexico City for Easter.

Before anyone asks...

Yes, we saw the aftermath of the latest unrest in Michoacan

https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/gang-reacts-violently-to-michoacan-arrest/

We were driving up the toll road from zihuatanejo to Uruapan and had to skirt round a number of burning vehicles on the verges of the road.

Do we feel threatened? Not in the least - this lot are still pussies compared to the IRA bombings we grew up with and the various extremists of recent years....

Halfway down Mexico

we've done just over 1500 miles from Tijuana and have about the same to go to Cancun which is the furthest east we can get in Mexico - equivalent to driving from the border all the way back up to Whistler  - but without the snow:-)

Of course we've actually driven further than that zig zagging inland and back to the coast a couple of times, and will continue to take the indirect route via Mexico city and Acapulco before heading to the gulf coast.

What we have learned so far, apart from some dodgy Spanish, is that having our own vehicle has made this journey so much more enjoyable and flexible than if we were backpacking. So, the decision has been made: we are keeping the Suzuki and taking it all the way to South America with us. We will decide what to do with it when we get to Argentina/Uruguay/Paraguay/Brazil, but the worst case is we just write it off - its not actually worth that much as a trade in or consignment back in the US, and costs and logistics of getting it back there are just not worth it.

So lets hope El Gordo Burrito has a few  thousand miles left in it.....

Mazatlan to Guadalajara (mainland - 2 1/2 weeks in)

The 13 hour crossing from La Paz to Mazatlan was very calm and our cabin was quite pleasant so we even got some sleep. The resort town was founded in 1531 and has sandy beaches of 21km along the malecon or boardwalk.

The pyramid-shaped hill to the right is Cerro del Creston and has a lighthouse on top

We enjoyed walking around the old town and seeing all the lovely architecture, including the towering Immaculate Conception basilica.

The best way to see Mazatlan is from El Faro Lighthouse on the top of Cerro del Creston. Its the highest lighthouse in the Americas and even though the hike is only about half a mile, the final part is more than 350 steep steps. It was worth it for the view from the top.

From Mazatlan we travelled to Durango, across the Sierra Madre mountains which are some of the highest in Mexico and extremely steep. We had planned on taking the relatively new toll road there, with its 115 bridges and 63 high altitude tunnels but a truck had caught fire on the Baluarte Bridge mid January, and now authorities are saying it's going to take 7 months to repair. Bearing in mind that the bridge has a vertical clearance of 1,300 feet from the riverbed and is 3,600 foot long, its the highest cable-stayed bridge in the world and one of the longest too.

 

(photo courtesy of  Road Traffic Technology)

Needless to say, we didn't get to see it or most of the new road and did the drive both ways on the old road, also known as Espinozo del Diablo or the Devil's backbone. I didn't know that it was one of the most dangerous roads in the world, until we got to Durango and Mark showed me the link below:

http://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/mexico/63-espinazo-del-diablo-mexico.html

The views along the way made the drive worthwhile

The city of Durango was founded by the Spanish in 1563 and the architecture is absolutely beautiful and characterised as 'eclectic with elements resembling Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and Florence'. With so many old buildings and a church on nearly every corner, the "Catedral Basilica de Durango" is in the heart of the city and is considered to be the most beautiful building in northern Mexico.

Next stop, the little town of El Rosario. The town is famous for the alter in the local church, which is made of gold. El Rosario was once the richest town in northwest Mexico because of its mining operations.

When we were in La Paz, our neighbours gave us a list of places to visit so we headed to the coastal town of San Blas. We hadn't investigated why we should visit, so it came as quite a surprise to discover that the port of San Blas was formerly founded on 22nd February 1768 and the town was celebrating its 250 year anniversary that day. That evening we sat in the town square with hundreds of local families and enjoyed singing, folk dancing and other festivities. It is also the port where Father Junipero Serra set sail for the Californias and founded 17 missions, the first one being in Loreto on Baja (which we also visited when we were there). In the late 18th century, San Blas was one of the busiest ports and ship building centres on the Pacific coast of the Americas, but the bay was too small and climate's humidity and torrential rains (bringing mosquitoes and sickness) meant it didn't last. A hillside fort was built in 1770 to defend the town's large sea trade with the Philippines, and behind it are the ruins of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, build in 1769.

On to Puerto Vallarta, a resort town on Mexico's Pacific coast. I found a nice little apartment up in the hills, only 5 minutes from the beach and old town. This was the view from our balcony

and one of the famous beaches

After a few days in PV, we headed inland to Guadalajara and the cultural centre of Mexico. I found a very large apartment in the historic centre, just a few blocks from the Cathedral, and it has been the perfect base for us to spend the week here. There are many squares, public parks, sculptures and of course, churches.

We did a day trip to Tequila (well, it would have been rude not to) and visited the Fortuna brewery on the way. We toured the Tres Mujeres (Three sisters) distillery, learnt all about how tequila is made (from the root of the agave plant) and did a little tasting. The aged tequila is more like a whiskey/bourbon and doesn't smell like jet fuel either. We had some free time to look around the town, so I left Mark absorbing the atmosphere in the town square, while I went off exploring.

I found the Jose Cuervo hacienda and just wandered in for a look and ended up in the tasting room talking in my limited Spanish to the old chap behind the bar, who was more than happy to pour a few samples for me :-)

I'm not sure what was happening here but these local flute players flung themselves off their pole and spun all the way down.

We have really enjoyed Guadalajara and I would be quite happy spending more time here but it is time to move on. Tomorrow we head to Lake Chapala then back to the coast and work our way down to Zihuatanejo