Mexico Trips

I have put previous trips on another page. Click above

Mexico City 2007 or the Tale of the exploding bus! This was a lovely 4 day trip to Mexico city for the 100th anniversary of the Anezeh Temple Shriners Club. There was a ball planned, and lots of side trips to various popular tourist sites. Instead of flying and paying for a lot of taxi rides, the group of 20 had a luxury bus booked by the club. We used the bus to get around the city. That part worked out just fine. The problem was the tire that blew it's retread on the way there and the major blowout on the way back home. The first only added a few hours onto the six hour trip and required the purchase (thank God!) of a new spare. The second on the way home blew off pieces of the bus side molding and body panels and broke a brake line. That added major hours onto the trip and required that after we got the blessed spare on we limped slowly to a rest stop and waited for them to send another bus from Guad..six hour trip morphed into 12 hours! As always the Mexican knights of the road were there. The blowout occurred on a part of the cuota that didn't have much room to pull over. Almost as the bus came to a stop a big rig pulled in front of us with his flashers on. Two seconds later another pulled in behind. So the driver and his two helpers from the trucks were safe as they assessed the damage and changed the tire. They fixed our exploding bus as best they could.

Still not a bad adventure when you are with a bunch of nice compatible people. The Mexico city part was wonderful. If you go don't miss Chapultepec park. There you can take the train/tram up to the castle museum and see the place where the Ninoes Heroes jumped to their death. Every city in Mexico has a street named after them. For some imperialistic reason the U.S. army was attacking this castle/military school. As they were about to over run it six young men jumped to their deaths rather than be captured. It is now a museum with furniture from the period as well as carriages, gowns, jewelry and so on. The rooms are set up as if there were still people living there. The chandeliers, stained glass and murals are really incredible.

From there you can take the tram to the botanical gardens, the zoo and then cross the street to the world famous anthropological museum. You could spend days there. It is amazing when we assume that so many archeological sites are plundered that all these incredible artifacts are housed here in the museum.

We went to the Frieda Kahlo museum, and visited one of the Carranza townhouses. These are museums now; they were once homes of this illustrious family. Carranza family members include a Mexican president, several senators, the primary author of the Mexican constitution and the Mexican Lindberg, who flew all over the world. It was a treat for the museum curators as one of the visitors to the museum was Carmen Carranza , a member of our group . Her grandfather was the president, the senators and flyer were uncles and the author of the constitution was her great uncle. The beautiful period home was once the townhouse of her great uncle. You could see her family resemblance to him in the many pictures hung there.

We dined one night in a wonderful restaurant that was once part of an old convent. We visited the Shriners new hospital to hand out lovely blankets quilted by the Ajijic quilt guild. It is such a beautiful facility.

The ball was held in a sumptuous evento with a full wall pyramid that had a waterfall running down it. All in all a wonderful trip. If you go just remember the lousy air quality and bring your allergy meds. Also allow for the 8000 feet above sea level. Between the air and the altitude everyone got a bit worn out by the afternoon. And hopefully you won't be transported by an exploding bus!!

October -06 The Orchid Trip. This was a luxury trip. Starting off with a 30 passenger bus with only nine people in it! That left plenty of room for us to spread out and lots of room underneath for orchids and other stuff! First stop was a town near Rio Bravo. RB is a Mexico city wealthy people's weekend haven. It also sits on a lake, just not as large as ours! The town we stayed in Temascaltepec was close to the Rio Verde orchid nursery. A pretty town but at 8000 feet really cold at night! We went UP! to the nursery the next day and all bought orchids, and lots of orchid paraphernalia. This is what the area looks like. High cloud forest, more like Japan than someone's vision of Mexico. We dined one night at a country club in RB. Talk about lifestyles of the rich and famous. We HAD to eat there because midweek nothing much else in town was open.

From there we headed off to Metepac where the tree of life pottery is produced. You can not imagine the detail work in these sculptures. All the workshops we went to were just incredible. Here is the front of one of the shops. These are just some of the many pottery displays in the shops other than the intricately detailed tree of life pieces.

Now after shopping on to Cuernavaca and two orchid shows. We visited the shows and the more rabid orchid buyers also bought there! Plus we had two vendors come to us in the parking lot of the Hotel Aristos where we stayed.

After visiting the second show we went to the Barbara Hutton estate . This is now a luxury hotel /resort. Strange to see a place that again looks like someone dropped a bit of Japan down here in Mexico. All these beautiful roof details are lead! It was a lovely serene place with a kabuki theater and two great restaurants. For lunch we split up since some wanted Japanese food and some wanted more typical fare. I REALLY enjoyed my sushi.

We were on the road five days and I was pleased to discover that I can again do bus trips without the plated knee/leg and foot swelling up. I was pretty much OK throughout the trip. Of course there was room to stretch out, get up and move around and we were on and off the bus. Longest drive time was about 6 hours. We enjoyed seeing that part of Mexico but it only reinforced our thoughts about Ajijic being the place for us. Nice to visit but too high, too cold and very $$$$.

July 06- Shopping the Craft Towns: This was to both the well known and some lesser known crafts people and villages in Michoacan. These are all near the cities of Patzcuaro, Morelia and Uruapan. Suzy our friend and caravan leader has been visiting here and scouting out the many lesser known people for some time. She speaks excellent Spanish and is thinking of writing a book on this area. We went to all the towns in the tour books: Santa Clara de Cobre for copper, Tzintzuntzan which makes straw Christmas decorations. Capula which makes the skeleton men and ladies who decorate everyone' s Day of the dead altars, and Tocuaro for mask carving. We also went to Sanabria and Tzurimundi to visit special artisan factories run by very talented artists. At the workshop of Mario Lopez at right we saw beautiful furniture that looks like expensive rattan but isn't. In his factory right there they craft the heavy metal frames. Then he sends them to the homes of local helpers who cover the frames with woven reeds from the lake. Here in the shop you can see the finished products. The tables, chairs and many other items are very sturdy and very beautiful. Harry perched there quite comfortable while we all shopped till we dropped. Once we sell the equipale on the terrace we want to replace it with this furniture. It was really unique and pretty. And no where near the cost of imported rattan although much better made! If it seems strange to see Harry in a long sleeved shirt in late July remember this area is even higher than Ajijic. And there was some front out on the Pacific that week. We were all in layers of clothes each day with rain off and on the whole four days we were there.

The other shop run by Maria Cristina makes furniture, lamps, frames and mirrors using old barn wood and embossed copper and aluminum. We have a new coffee table for the living room on order from her. The workmanship was very fine. All the furniture there was exquisite. The lamp shades are even made there. They all have the harp inserts and are made from leather or pierced copper. While you can find many of these things in Guadalajara in Telacapaque the markups are just huge. Some as much as 400% . Much more fun to plan an excursion to the beautiful Patzcuaro area and buy it from the artisans themselves. After the others headed home we went on to see friends in San Miguel de Allende. We spent the night with Rob & Cindy and then went to shop in our favorite Delores Hidalgo the next day. We bought some more Talavera pots for the terrace. Cindy had scouted out some other stores that we went to visit. We saw a gorgeous pair of BIG pots at one. they would have looked lovely with our newly painted walls but they were sold and there were no others there like them.. Oh well the thrill of the hunt. Maybe next time!

January 2005- Pelicans!! The annual return of the white pelicans to the south side of the lake is not just a nice photo op. The pelicans' return and ever increasing numbers are a sign of the health of the lake. They are very susceptible to pollution and did not come back for several years.

We went to today to see the pelicans. The village of Petatan is on the south side of the lake on this little peninsula. It is into Michoacan. You look down on it as you turn off the highway and it looks like a NOB fishing village on the Atlantic. The lake on this side is right up to the road in many places.

This is where the fisherman catch the charale or little lake fish and also where the big white pelicans come to stay in the winter. The fisherman feed them the guts etc after cleaning each day so you can see why such a large flock hangs around. They are really beautiful and huge with a wing span of 5 feet or more. The cool part is seeing the whole flock in the water. They turn and move in unison like a bunch of synchronized swimmers. It is equally cool to watch them take off and land. The get almost to the water and then stick their big orange feet out and swoosh in, like a water skier.

After our photo session we went off to have lunch there in the village. There is this nice restaurant that sits right on the water. A great place with a grande fried shrimp platter lunch for like $4.50. Good day

December 2004- Off to the Beach Thanksgiving was such a zoo after all the busyness and guests, it was sooo nice to go relax for a week at the beach. Even though I lived at sea level in a beach resort area for thirty years I feel very different when we go to the beach here. The east coast beaches like the east coast topography are FLAT. The beach there doesn't look like this! It is hard to get used to the sight of mountains running up to the beach. Manzanillo and the surrounding towns are just an easy three hour drive by cuota from Ajijic. If you decide to go there check out this website for rentals, tours etc. gomanzanillio.com Susan who webmaster's the site also runs the local dive and snorkel shop. She has GREAT snorkel trips.

The water in this area is composed of two major bays with a peninsula in the middle. So looking down on it, it looks like a backwards three. Las Hadas hotel where the movie 10 was filmed is on the central peninsula. The two bays are Manzanillo bay and Santiago bay. We found Santiago bay seemed to be more protected and had the least rough surf, and no undertow. It is a beautiful clean and deserted beach. I swam every day morning and night. There are places to rent umbrellas and chairs, at the end of the bay there are a gaggle of wonderful fish shacks. We ate several times at Marildo's recommended by Susan's website. The fresh grilled dorado, red snapper and clams there were wonderful.

This December it was warm and sultry but not oppressively hot. We had a week stashed in time share bank that we needed to use or lose. We got a three bedroom villa in Isla Dorado. They cluster four homes around their own pool. A five minute walk through the compound puts you one the beach. Isla Dorado complex is part of the Club Santiago resort. The place is huge with a golf course, hotel, tennis complex, plus a bunch of private homes for rent or sale all along the beachfront. It was in the town of Santiago, just north of Manzanillo Just drive to the end of the cuota, turn left and you are at the gate! We swam and snorkeled, loafed by the pool and drove off to explore to nearby towns of Barra de Navidad, Melaque, La Manzanilla, Costa Allegre, and the nearby Las Brisas area. The other towns were kind of small and funky. We didn't manage to hit all the local restaurants but we did buy fresh lobster and eat it out. If I decide to go to the beach again I will go back to this area, much cleaner and nicer than Puerto Vallarta and a closer easier ride!

November 2004 Morelia

This was a spur of the moment trip. There was an orchid show in Morelia and we just decided to go see it. There was a bus trip there with one of the orchid groups but due to swelling foot syndrome, I don't do bus if I can help it! Besides it is an easy drive on the cuotas and Harry likes taking the car out for 95+ mph spins. As it was the orchid group was staying in the same hotel and we got invited along to many of their scheduled events.

We visited the orchid show at the city's park. It had a bunch of impressive buildings and permanent displays of the archeological history of the area.

The hotel was right in the center of town on the square. It was an old restored hacienda with an incredible Tiffany ceiling in the main lobby. There was a classical pianist there every day from 5-9 PM and another in the restaurant for all meals. Very civilized. After we saw the orchid show and I of course made some purchases from the vendors, we checked out the rest of a beautiful city.

Imagine sugar fiends an entire tianguis devoted to sweets!! It was not yet day of the dead and I got some great new sugar skulls for the altar. We were staying in the heart of the historic district and beautiful buildings were everywhere. It was lovely clean and pretty city. If you want to go visit the Patzcuoro area it is a great base. Lots of good hotels and really good restaurants. From there you can go to all the craft towns or see the butterflies in January or February. We went to many of the craft towns on Sunday. The copper town had lovely things and we got two copper vases with colored enamel inlays for the foyer wall niches. Patzcuoro itself was so packed we made three trips all around it looking for parking and gave up! We plan on going back in Jan. or Feb. to see the butterflies and we will try it again. So many friends have said it is an awesome shopping town. There is lots to do and see in this area so if you plan to visit I would allow two or three days.

If I had to live in a city I just might choose lovely Morelia.

October 2004 Tapalpa- After our wonderful rainy season it is time to hit the roads and look at the wild flowers. This year they were really spectacular. Tapalpa is south on the Colima highway about one and a half hours from Ajijic. It has a local attraction called the standing stones. Yes they look like Stonehenge but the rain and wind and erosion put them there not man! They can be reached up a treacherous road. Dirt wash board especially after our three months of heavy rains. The jeep loved it!

This stone formation is in the middle of a cow pasture! And no ..no one charges you to go in and the cows mostly leave you alone!

Here are some of the flowers seen along the highways and back roads on the way up

Pink cosmos. blue morning glory, helianthus, the small sunflower, and tithonia the orange small one

The yellow globe below and the orange and yellow flower are un-named! I don't know what they are, just pretty

After all that site seeing we met friends in the town of Tapalpa for lunch at the Girasol restaurant. Coincidence that the place was named after the sunflower! ;-)

June 2004- Tala, and Teuchitlan-

This was a wonderful day trip from Ajijic. We used the map from Tony Burton's book "Western Mexico- A Travelers Treasury" as a starter but we must thank Marilyn and Gaetan Gilbert for their wonderful directions as well. Tala is off the highway that goes the back way to Guadalajara, through Jocotopec. In Tala we first stop at Producto Ilys distillery. Prodilys@starmedia.com.mx Nope this is NOT a place that makes booze. It is a distillery that makes perfume essences, and medicines from organically grown flowers and herbs. Alfredo Quintero, the owner showed us through the gardens and even climbed up into the ylang ylang tree to pick us a flower so we could smell it. He has perfumes, skin creams, shampoos and medicines all made there. After we tried on scents and shopped Alfredo, in the way of all polite Mexicans, led us to the town's museum which has many pre Hispanic Indian artifacts as well as an actual shaft tomb, a burial tomb found all over the area. From Tala we went to Tuechitlan to lunch by a lovely small lake. The large red restaurant called Monte Carlo sits on the water providing a beautiful view of the lake and the many waterfowl also lunching there. We dined upstairs and had a huge white butterfly flitting around us as we ate. After lunch we followed Marilyn and Gaetan's directions through Teuchitlan to the ruin site where archaeologists are unearthing the huge altar and temple mounds that run for 16miles along the ridge of this area. There are great views of the lake from up there.

February 2004-Oaxaca, Puebla, Chiapas, Vera Cruz-

According to the travel agency, this was supposed to be a 10 or 11 day trip via "deluxe" bus and plane. As we got closer to the Feb. 16th departure date suddenly things changed. I guess you need to remember with ALL the local agencies that things promised when you book can change depending on how many people sign up for the trip. We were supposed to leave for Oaxca on Monday. Friday before departure we started hearing that we were going to have to fly, not take the bus. We called the travel agency and they said yes, there would be no bus " there were reports of busses being stopped and robbed on the road near Mexico city." So for our own safety we would have to fly! An internet search, a check with the U.S. embassy and the English language Guadalajara Reporter could find no reports of these "robberies. " What we did find out was that not a lot of people signed up for the bus option. We asked them when they were going to tell us about all this and they said "probably they would have called on Saturday! Bagging the bus took three days and several cities off the trip, and we would have to pay more money for the air fare portion. The " bus" people, Harry and I and Skip and Jack decided to work out something else.

For the extra money now needed for the plane we would fly to Oaxaca and stay there for two days, then we would take the over night bus to Tuxtla and meet up with the flying part of the group there. It worked out, the overnight bus WAS deluxe and comfortable. We took a cab to the hotel where the entire group was staying and since we got there at 6:00 Am we just went back to sleep and met the tour guide and the bus at 11:00 and went to the airport to meet the rest of the group. We then preceded with the rest of the trip. By working out the different details we were able to get most of what we had originally booked. Still as a warning to all of you, I have heard now after the fact, that what happened to us is not all that uncommon. I am not sure how you can protect yourself form having the travel agency change things after you have booked and paid!!

The "deluxe bus," since the entire group was only 14 became a van. No bathroom, not terribly comfortable seats and as you can see pretty close quarters! However both the guide and the driver were very good and the itinerary was packed with good sights and places.

Oaxca is packed with old churches, museums and Monte Alban the pre-columbian site just outside of town. The hotel we stayed in was right on the square. The indigenous Indians were having some sort of rally there so there were lots of music, and a ton of crafts vendors. It was COLD. We spent both days there bundled up in layers. All of this area is famous for beautiful weavings and embroidery work. You can see some of it in the last photo on the right. That photo at the Oaxca market was of an escrito, a man who writes or types letters for a fee, some times for people who are illiterate. He had an escrito sign on his rather elaborate iron kiosk but Harry didn't get it all in! The pictures below are of the cathedral, the hotel and the square with a marimba band from above . When we took the marimba shot we were eating upstairs at a good restaurant called Casa de Abuela. Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Once we met up with the rest of the group they dropped luggage at the hotel in Tuxtla and we were off to tour a dammed river gorge by boat. Remember we are now way south near the Guatemala border so much more tropical. We donned our life jackets and went out on a tour boat with a guide. The trip was about two hours and the scenery and critters were pretty spectacular. We saw crocs, pelicans, monkeys, and the Christmas tree formation that makes an incredible waterfall during the rainy season.

Tuxtla was a modern, clean city and like many of the other towns we visited on the trip it had a central marimba park. Here each night the townspeople meet. There is a marimba band and everyone dances!

From Tuxtla we were off to the town of San Cristobal, This was a beautiful old colonial town in Chiapas. The hotel we stayed in there was very picturesque. The entire state of Chiapas had political unrest several years ago. Most of the population are Indian tribes, descended from the Mayans. Photos in many of the villages we visited are forbidden. It was like being inside a National Geographic photo spread to see them walking along the road or waiting for a bus wearing these beautiful colored costumes. Their every day native dress is just incredible. There are shops along the road selling the black native pottery and all the beautiful clothing. We also stopped at a weaver's home and there we were allowed to take pictures. Since we were flying back we were all limited to souvenirs that were small, soft, non breakable things! I would have loved one of those pottery dove planters but the clay isn't hard fired and it was of course too big!!

To those of us used to Jalisco's rainy and dry seasons the presence here of year round rushing rivers took some getting used to. You are so used to looking at a dry arroyo or a river bed barely filled with water. We spent the next couple of days viewing aquamarine lakes and waterfalls.

Our next stop was the town of Palenque. This is the jumping off place to view the ruins of Palenque. This is high jungle country. It is very near the border of Guatemala. The Mexican government has done a lot of work on this site and it is much more accessible than it used to be! Even here there are beautiful streams and waterfalls.

On the way to Vera Cruz, (we are now going from 6000 feet down to sea level!!) we stopped at this incredible private hacienda for lunch. The food was good the scenery great and they had a climate controlled private museum! Art work and air conditioning.. what a concept!!

We arrived in Vera Cruz on the last night of carnival and our good fortune continued. Our hotel was right on the parade rote and all our rooms with balconies were on that side!! Vera Cruz looked like what I imagine old Havana looks like. It has a large population of Cuban immigrants who migrated there before Castro took power. They have beaches, a wonderful museum, old forts and lighthouses.

From Vera Cruz we flew to Mexico City and from there to Guadalajara and home.