Journey To Mexico City

We left tequisquiapan early. Mexico is only a little more than two hrs. away, after consulting our map, we followed road mex. 57 and before long, there we were face to face with the "Distrito Federal" Federal District D.F. We pulled over to admire its' vastness, Mexico City sits in a valley, approximately 65 X 95 kilometers, all blanketed with dwellings as far as your eyes can see. From the most humble homes in the outskirt to a modern a modern metropolis in the center. D.F is surrounded by mountains and two snow capped Titan watching over the valley; Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. The mountains and the millions of cars along with a dirty industrial complexes are chiefly responsible for the smog that plagues the city.

Soon we approached the last "caseta de cobro" toll booth in Tepoezoetlan, before entering the D.F. We made arrangements with Angel, Because we didn't want to drive in Mexico city due to the heavy traffic, lack of respect for traffic regulation by "chilangos", citizen of D.F., and lack of familiarity with the sprawling metropolis. Angel is one of my uncles who has lived in el D.F. all of his life he kindly agreed to drive us around. This was the best way to get around, something I recommend to anyone driving in this city. I learned that many other tourist who bring their own cars hire local drivers to get around, the fee is about $300 pesos per day, money well spent. For me, it was very happy moment to greet some of my family member who also welcomed us to stay at their home. The first place Javier wanted to see was the "plaza de las tres culturas" Angel drove us straight to the plaza.On the trip there he provided us background information and the importance of the site; he explained that the plaza commemorates the three cultures, pre-Colombian and Spanish Colonial which gave birth to the present and proud Mestizo culture. He went on to express that the plaza in now better known for the atrocities which took place on October 2, 1968. In order to quell the ever mounting student demonstration taking place during the1968 Mexico Olympics. Police and government troops fired upon demonstrators and bystanders from the massive apartment complex, leaving many dead and injured. Mexico has never forgiven president Gustavo Dias Ordaz for this calamity.

Above left you see the plaque commemorating the plaza. Middle the Spanish culture right the
Indian culture.


This housing complex is where
the soldier and police were
when the shot at the demonstrators
in i968. The archaeological site is in the
foreground.

To the right is is a monument remembering the demonstrator who
were killed in 1968




Angel our host, driver, guide is waiting for us in the car. Apparently he is a taco chef of renowned reputation in his "colonia" He promised us a wonderful dinner.





Stay tuned for tacos

Journey to Zapopan

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One of the precautions one has to take when traveling by car in Mexico is to start looking for lodgings late in the afternoon because we need to keep in mind the distance between towns, we don't drive at night and you also need to find a hotel that also has "estacinamiento" parking in its' grounds. For obvious reasons we don't leave our car on the street at night.
The third day of our trek began gently, the sun was out and the whole town of San Ixtlan del Rio was busy the everyone seemed to be in a busy, you could see the "policias de transito" traffic cops stationed at every corner directing traffic and helping pedestrians, students of all ages on their way to school all in uniforms of various colors, I noticed that the traffic cops escorted the elderly across the intersections holding some of them by the hand. I have never seen so many police officers this busy in any town or city.
Finally we were on our way out of town, in our way to Guadalajara, but we had to return to the hotel it seems Javier left his favorite pillow, which he carries with him always because his wife made it for him, fortunately he found it. No sooner had we left the town when I realized that my voice recorder was missing so... we returned again to the hotel more about this later. but it seemed to us that this town didn't want us to leave.
As you are aware by now, my "compadre" my sons' godfather, Javier likes to make friends with people in every town. He is very sociable and friendly he enjoys talking about the towns history, folklore, culture and "carreteras" the roads. Last night a local citizen told him that the free road to Guadalajara was pretty good he said that he drove it on a regular basis and he recommends it. So we were on our way via the free road, I must confess to you that I was pretty skeptical but reluctantly agreed to try this road. Big mistake! Javier wanted to drive this morning another big mistake! I usually drive the morning portion. After about twenty kilometers of white knuckle driving, dangerous curves, a narrow road, Mexican trucks, pot holes my seat belt tighten and a few Hail Marys we saw an entrance to the toll road I noticed that Javier was wide awake, he too must have been talking to his maker because as we came up on a sign "carretera de quota" we headed straight for the on ramp to the toll road. We were so happy to get our "quota" ready and pay the toll. We no longer consider them pirates but your friends in a foreign land. They are necessary in a land with poor roads and no infrastructure. Javier faults that poor soul who recommended the road for our unforgettable experience on the free road. But I said, "eso nos pasa por pendejos" which means we are all responsible for our actions right?
After a few hrs. we were approaching Guadalajara, Jalisco, I thought we should visit Zapopan a municipality in the outskirts of Guadalajara, told him I had to pay a "manda" a debt to the "Vigen de Zapopan" at the church of our Lady of Zapopan. This church is the second most visited church in all of Mexico second only to the "Basilica De Guadalupe" in Mexico City.
Because I had been a student at university of Guadalajara for one summer ages ago, I thought I could drive straight to the church, was I wrong. When I was here it was a small town, not is sprawling city. It took us two hrs to find the church after asking directions of at least ten person including "policias de transito" the problems were the street repairs which close many avenues and you end up driving on narrow streets that never run perpendicular to anything, but we did find the church in the middle of a new "Centro Historico" somehow it seemed smaller in the old days you could see the towers for miles. Refusing to fight anymore traffic congestion's we decided to bypass Guadalajara and head on to Tequisquiapan.

Basilica of our lady of Zapopan

Javier informed me that, being a good trip planner, he had made arrangements to stay a his sister and brother in laws' vacation residence in 'Tequis' as it is locally called. "Tequis" is a blissful, picturesque, colonial town known for it fine cheese and wine as well as its thermal waters. The original citizens of long ago were the "Nahua" and "Chichimeca indians", now it is a playground and week-end retreat for the well to do from Mexico City. They drive up in two and a half hrs. searching for tranquility, solitude, peace of mind. Some come to play a few rounds of golf, others in search for the fountain of youth or to decompress from the ills and stress of the city. The only problem I see is that on weekends, specially long week-end this small town balloons to a few thousand people and cars and they are back to the stresses of a the city, well we were just fine here, it was the middle of the week and we had the town to ourselves if only for a short stay. Once we settled in a beautiful and comfortable condominium by the 16th hole, we easily found an outstanding taco grill they had a wide range of taco selections and quesadillas. I settled for their specialty "tacos de borrego" lamb tacos and " y una negra modelo" Mexicos' finest dark beer. My "compadre" had the same still filling hungry he ordered a "consome de borrego" lamb broth with garbanzo beans on the spicy side, naturally I had to try it also "estaba padre!" that's what they say around here when they really like something, a loose translation would be "it's daddy oh!", well after a fine meal Javier started chatting with the waiter asking his usual questions after a while we retired to a restful night.

stay tuned for Mexico City

Journey to San Ignacio Sinaloa.

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We returned to the repair garage and we found an unofficial exit and entrance to the toll road,
some enterprising citizens have found a way around the pirates of the road "las casetas de cobro" if you look closely you can find a number of this entrances and exits, this is a way of showing the "piratas" what happens when they bypass a town, we cautiously followed our new found road, wide enough for one car fortunately there wasn't too much traffic so we manged quite well. After about 15 kilometer we reached the town of San Ignacio, Sinaloa to our surprise it was the most beautiful town we had seen so far. We crossed the Piaxtla river and drove through the welcoming arch of the beautiful town, we drove straight to the plaza square I parked under the purple canopy of a tree while. As I walked around with a "raspado de tamarindo" tamarind flavored shaved iced in my hand, with out doubt this is the most relaxing atmosphere we've found so far. Javier armed with the last name of his in laws began questioning some of the citizens who were taking in the mid day sun. He found three homes that match the name and after the third one he found them. They were so pleased to see him that they gave us a tour of the entire town. The town was named San Ignacio de Layola by the Jesuit missionaries who did their best to covert the Piaxtla indians to the catholic religion. In 1748 gold mining was at its' prime the Spanish continued mining until it went dry. The present citizens are very proud of their picturesque town and are trying to keep it historically true to the classical colonial period. The town fathers had a majestic, gigantic monument of Jesus Christ on top of a hill with open arms watching over the town and its faithful citizens. Another of the town jewels is the Jesuit mission which was renovated into El hotel Anjolin.
After a wonderful meal we departed this restful place and we were quickly in our way to Tepic, we arrived late in the afternoon and not liking what we saw crowds, traffic congestion and more congestion we decided to go to the adjacent town, San Ixtlan de rio we walked around a bit in this non non-descript town, tasted the tacos "al pastor" not being impressed. We called it a night.





























top left: Welcome to San Ignacio
top right: view of the town
lower left: Statue of Christ looking over its' town
lower right view of the towns' church

Journey to Sonara

We woke up well rested and ready to tackle the road again. The hotel had complementary breakfast but it wouldn't start until 7:00am so we decided to get some hot "cafecito" at Javier's' favorite stores in Mexico "Oxxo" They are like the 7/11 convenience stores in the states except, according to Javier they carry some tasty tamales
So we departed from "Ciudad Obregon: at 6:00am heading south, no sooner had we left the city when I began to hear snoring from my passenger I glanced to the right and sure in of he was sound asleep, being a nice friend I didn't bother him. The reader should know that this is common trait with my amigo he is the only one we know, me and fishing friends, who can sleep standing up in fishing boat being battered around by the sea.
As we approached the town of Navajoa, "the house of prickly pears" about an hr. later, I woke him up because this town is renowned for it's exquisite regional Sonoran dishes such as "Chile pasado", "nopalitos con huevo", "chilaquiles en salsa chipotle", "cafe de la olla" and others. He told me that the frozen tamales he had at Oxxo were just fine. In my conversations with the local residents I found that Navajoa is also known as the pearl of the Mayo in honor of the Mayo Indians who have inhabited this land for thousands of years. So... we passed up on the culinary flair of Navajoa and continued on to Los Mochis, Sinaloa.
As we continued driving south on Mex15 we noticed that the topography began to slowly change from the harsh terrain of the desert to a more temperate climate and all the characteristic features of prosperous farm lands, rich agriculture and excellent soil with out a doubt we we entering Sinaloa. I woke Javier up again to ask him, "what does Bobby,a fishing buddy, say when he sees land like this?" He responded, "mira lo que se hace con poquita agua" He was really awake now he began looking for his camera and started shooting picture of the the fields covered with more hues of green than I had ever seen. Javier went on to mention that Bobby was wrong this kind of agricultural wealth doesn't come from little water but from modern technology, vast amount of water supplied from the Fuerte river, good weather and hard working people who have a spiritual closeness to this earth. We saw an abundance of beans, vegetables of all kinds, cornstalks easily reaching 10 feet, all varieties of fruits, healthy farm animals and heavy farming equipment. No doubt, he added, all this cornucopia is going to the US.
Javier recently acquired a son in law in the States, He takes the opportunity at this time and place to inform me that his son law's family... just happens to live in the town of San Ignacio, Sinaloa. Knowing Javier for over 30 years I waited, I knew what was coming, "If it's OK with you and... if you don't mind...it would only take couple of hrs..." Maybe, if you would like to see the town, we could stop and say hello. Now What is friend to say? well... let's go whats the address? I don't know we'll have to ask at the town once we get there, How do we get to it? Let's ask those "traileros" truckers, so he asked them "How do we get to San Ignacio?" They told him just keep going down the road a few kilometer and turn right at Torinos exit. We are in the toll road, the only way we could go was straight we drove for about half an hour no Torinos exit, but we did see an auto repair place called Torinos, "let's go back" he said "and ask at the torinos repair shop" We drove a few more kilometer until we could find a "retono" return sign. We turned around and then...

Journey Nogales to Ciudad Obregon

My compadre Javier and I, planned a car trip trough Mexico ending up in Tlacotalpan, a small town with the distinction of having been added to the list of World Heritage Sites to Humanity by UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Whether this distinction is warranted is for another discussion. We went there to take part in "El Encuentro de Jaraneros" a gathering of musicians and singers who specialize in music unique to southern Veracruz
Before embarking on our trek we insured that our suburban was in top condition from inspecting all of the usual parts, tires fluids hoses, belts, tools and taken extra parts such as a timing belt and radiator hoses. With all the required car documentation in had along with our passports, we headed straight to Nogales Arizona. Sin hrs later we stopped at the Mexican immigration office as we parked, we noticed an immigration official running towards us, immediately we thought here we go we parked in the wrong spot. To our pleasant suprised he opened the door and said"bienvenidos amigos" and walked us to the office where we found two other officers at the counter eagerly waiting for us they attended us promptly and curteously and with respect, for minute I thought they were going to offer us a cup of coffee. They even suggested that we avoid the money exchange offices along the street to go instead to the bank where the rate is better and its safer. we also purchase Mexican car insurance before leaving "Nogales", don't go further with out. we drove from the parking lot and a the exit we encountered the light button if the light come out red your car and baggage will be searched, if it's green you drive through, we got green, the official at the gated said "que tengan buen viaje amigos" and off we went.A short time later Javies said watch out for the "topes" traffic control bumps which alert you to slow down because you are coming up on a village or town also to watch out for pedestrians. As we look around Javier exclaimed look we are in "Caborca" this is our friend Anita's home town. The town was named after "La Concepcion de Nuestra Senora de Caborca", it is also know as "heroica Caborca" because it repelled some American land grabbers in 1875.
We continued our drive down pacific cost highway (mex.15) encountering the typical north west terrain hot dry and dusty sparsed vegetation with a few cactus and two wheeled roadrunners who seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere, suddenly we came up on another set of topes this time my co-pilot informed me that we are in "Suaqui Grande" l slowed down to orient myself yes I said I herd of this place my wife told me that as child she came here with her mother to visit her great grandfather a valiant man and renauned Indian fighter of the west.
Before we knew it we had left all the little towns behind and we were face to face with the most notorious adversaries in the Mexican roads the "casetas de cobro" get ready with your "cuota" fees it will range depending on where you are from 30 pesos to 200 pesos in our trip we spent more on toll roads that gasoline they are frequent and expansive but I would not recommend the free roads. As we pass the time complaining about the roads we arrive in the city of Hermosillo the capital of Sonora wishing not spend too much time here we headed straight for the historic part of town, our "modus operandi" when we want to pass through . The architecture is colonial the cathedral is named Catedral de la Asuncion, the main plaza was rather dull with harty plants and we were back in Mex.15 heading to Guaymas, a coastal village which I had visited many, many years ago I was anxious to relax by the sea with a few fish tacos and cold cervezitas ad after driving 13hrs. We could stay the for the night I deserve no less. My co-pilot also thought it was an excellent idea. It was late in the afternoon now as we reached the "bienvenidos ha Guaymas" arch in the highway, but where is the town? where is the sea? Javier answers "yo no se". All we could see was thousands of homes and condominiums on the hills, miles of cars driving up and down the avenues, tall building, business offices, car dealerships traffic lights in every corner, What happened to Guaymas? Javier said I guess it grew up. Well we headed to the "centro historico" it was under repairs, we found the sea full of commercial fishing boats we couldn't find fish tacos so we settled for "tacos al pastor" and a squirt, needless to say we were a little disappointed. As I was eating my tacos Javier was chatting with the local people who told him that "Ciudad Obregon" was just two hrs. away so we decided to go there to rest for the night instead. Two hour later we could see the city lights in the distance as we came closer we read the huge welcoming sign, prevalent in all cities and towns in Mexico, with huge artistic metal panels on either side depicting the city's logo a Yaqui deer "venado" dancer. This city is obviously proud of its' Yaqui Indian roots. We noticed that this is not your typical Mexican town, this is a modern city, relatively new with wide streets and boulevards , large hotels representing international chains, modern building, banks, corporations, fancy restaurants. We headed straight to the first hotel we saw a Qaulity Inn with all the amenities one is acustomed to as we checked in we heard the roaring of a crown coming from the ballroom so we went to see what the commotion was all about, we found that the boxing match between Antonio Margarito vs Sugar Shane Mosley for the world championship was being telecast on a 30ft. screen so we sat down to have the "cervezitas" we didn't have in Guaymas. Onece seated, I asked the boxing aficionado next to me "como va el pleito?" "muy mal" he replied, "le estan dando el la madre al pendejo de Margarito" "oh que lastima" I exclaimed. "Oh no eres Americano?" he asked "soy de Tijuana" I responded, not really, but knowing that Margarito is from that illustrious city of ill repute. Javier and I continued enjoying our "pacifico" brew in the company of many disappointed amigos who saw their champion go down in emberrasing defeat. On the other hand we were relaxing and happy that we covered lots of territory this long day. A good nights rest will help us gather our energy for tomorrow second leg of our trip.