Ends of the Earth Expedition

Mexico continues to inspire and impress me, even after years of traveling within its borders.  There are of course places in Mexico that are more than a little rough around the edges, but when you find a gem, it can be absolutely spectacular.  Up to this point, my favorite cities in Mexico were Alamos in mainland, and La Paz in Baja.  Alamos is rich with history, and has a clean, quaint feel, further emphasized by the excellent Hacienda de los Santos, which is one of the most beautiful hotels I have even spent the night in.  And not because of an extreme degree of opulence (which I dislike), but a wonderful sense of classic and very comfortable elegance.  La Paz is a city rich with energy, with very little of the Cabo San Lucas plastic feel. La Paz has depth, and an excellent malecon, lined with great restaurants and hotels.  A decent stop on an overland route across Baja to San Evaristo and then down the coastal route into La Paz.

Well, by standard for what an exceptional Mexican city can be has just moved way up the scale with Guanajuato.  We camped just south of the city in an excellent campground called Bugamvilla (located on the road to San Miguel de Allende, at about KM 8.5).  The first night, we decided to pile everyone in the EarthRoamer Jeeps, which worked fine, but navigating Guanajuato takes some serious experience or planning.  Just finding a parking spot was intense, BUT, I have never had so much fun being lost.  The major routes through and around the city are also waterways during storms, and there are several routes that go entirely underground. You pop out in various locations and have a few options for turning down a street, etc. before descending into another tunnel - very cool.

The real charm of Guanajuato is the general academic and European feel of the place, which is due to a large, and beautiful university and a dozen or more language schools.  People of all ages come here to learn spanish, and the streets are filled with people of all nationality, color and attire.  We explored most of the city of foot, including the Museo de los Momias, which proved fascinating, but expectantly macabre. Fortunately, the tour of the Museo is short lived…