Touring Guanajuato Jan 16th to 19th

From Tequila we drove across the new bypass south of Guadalajara on our way to Guanajuato.  It saved us a lot of time.  We arrived early in the afternoon which gave us plenty of time to check into our rooms and then head out for a walk.

We stayed at the Hotel Posada Santa Fe, taking advantage of their special of 3 nights for the price of 2 which included a hot breakfast each morning.  The suites were lovely as pictured below.

beautiful stained glass in our shower

We walked over to the university and walked up the 82 steps to the original entrance.

our walk down

a small chapel we spotted from the top of the university steps

checking out the chapel

Next we walked over to the funicular to ride up to the statue Pipila for a panoramic view of the city.

Looking down into the base station

Pete, Jolene, Mike and Pipila

El Pipila, a mine worker, was the hero of the revolution to end slavery and oppression. His heroic actions allowed the rebels to storm the Grainery, the bastion occupied by the Spaniards. Pipila is his nickname, meaning "little turkey", because he had a long neck and walked like a turkey.

A beautiful little city surrounded by mountains

The following day we arranged for an English guide to take us in his vehicle on a tour of Guanajuato.  We toured from 10:15 am to 5:30 pm.  We took in many sites. Among them: a drive throught the historic downtown area, Museum of the Mummies, Museo Ex-Hacienda San Gabriel de Barrera, Museo Casa Diego Rivera, the church and mine in La Valencia plus a drive along the Panoramic road surrounding the city. We drove through an area of very large homes, spotting an unusual one among the many.

Rayas Mine looks like a fortress.

From the city centre, the Rayas mine looks like a castle or fortress, but is really a rock wall that provides a flat working area for the mine on top. This mine originates in 1550 and still is in operation today. The significance of Guanajuato is that it once produced about one third of the worlds output of silver.

Of course, the outstanding feature of Guanajuato is it's tunnel system. If you don't know your way around, you will get totally lost. The picture below is one of the original tunnels which was once a tunnel to divert flood water coming from the mountains. The tunnel was converted to a roadway and now the diversion is buried below the roadway. The first tunnel dates back to the early 1800s using the local mining technologies. Tunneling began in earnest in 1960 to ease traffic congestion in the narrow streets of the old city.

Tunnel Intersection...an easy way to get lost

Don Quijote and Sancho Panza, as his squire

Our lunch stop was at the Mexico Lindo y Sabroso across from the Government Palace. Bev enjoyed one of their specialty dishes Chiles en Nogada.

An example of some unique architecture

On Thursday we spent the day walking around Guanajuato on our own.  We visited the Museum of Guanajuato and saw some very interesting photo-like paintings of local people, done long before photography was available. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant off the usual tourist path. Yummy.

We also visited several artisan shops.  We picked up a beautiful fused glass bowl by Juan Vargas.  Check out his website at www.juanvargasglassart.com.