We didn't really have a plan about our trip together, we just threw some ideas out there, went with the flow and had amazing experiences along the way. We started our trip in Guadalajara which is a great city, but monstrous. There we spent about a day and half roaming the streets, having a good time finding the quirky side of the city.
Fountain and the basilica in Guadalajara
Pedestrian avenue
We found this baby walking the streets and popping our heads into an open hanger full of limousines. This was once an airplane but now shuttles parties around the streets of Guadalajara. Somehow we were able to work our way in for a tour of the hanger and were even invited to have a seat in the airplane limo
Flora and I having a taste of the good life in the airplane limo
Convertible Ferrari limo surrounded by a hanger full of posh limousines
Girl playing in the spray of a fountain
Me talking to a dead guy on a bench
Flora kissing a bronze Mariachi playing the guitar
Close up of the mariachi statue
Me and my large ears
Bronze sculpture
Huge market in Guadalajara
While Flora and I were waiting to meet Chris, a friend of mine who is living in Guadalajara, we decided to have a coffee under the protective cover of a huge umbrella in the park. As it began to rain we had fun watching people scurry to around and felt pretty good about ourselves finding cover just before the rain. Soon the rain really started to come down, the temperature dropped, it began to hail, and the wind blew so hard that it was now raining sideways; we were completely soaked in a matter of minutes. All we could do is hold on to each other and shiver together as the rain pelleted all around us. Despite being completely drenched and freezing we had a good laugh about it and then watched people deal with the flooded streets, while we walked around in our sandals.
Flora and I completely soaked, but still trying to avoid the slowing rain along with the rest of the city
Guys trying to jump over the river of water in the streets after the storm
Traffic was a mess after the storm, but soon enough we met up with Chris and he drove us to a small town outside of Guadalajara called Telaquepaque. There we walked around the festive streets and had dinner and drinks in a place with great ambiance and loads of mariachis roaming around. Flora and I decided to stay in the town for the night since it was on our way out of the Guadalajara metropolis. We enjoyed Guadalajara but we decided to leave the city for the adventures of the open road and the beautiful landscape of the Mexican countryside. The next day we had a look around town then hit the road.
White parade banners of Talaquepaque over a fountain and quiet plaza the next morning
El Parian a building full of restaurants and bars that look onto a courtyard with Mariachis roaming around. In the morning there isn't much happening, but it looks nice.
Flora kissing another mariachi, I think he has a thing for them
Coconuts for sale in one of the street stands
Flora grudgingly trying on a “lucha libre” (professional wrestling) mask for sale in one of the street stalls
From Talaquepacque we took a bus to the small town of Arandas which is in the agave producing region of Mexico, where tequila is made. It looked like a nice town but we didn't spend much time there; even though it was getting late in the day we decided to hitch-hike out of town and see what came of it. We weren't sure what to expect, but we figured something would work out, and if it didn't we would camp out in the country or make our way back to Arrandas for the night. It was a gamble, but it worked out beautifully; from the edge of town we were picked up right away by a nice family who happened to be driving to the amazing ranch that they run. Of course they invited us to camp out on the ranch and they were more than happy to show the place off to us. Then, as we made it to their place the family that owns the ranch pulled in behind us and they also invited us to their place on the other side of the ranch where we ate tacos and drank tequila with them. We all had a great time and they even gave us a couple of blankets to use for the cold night. Flora and I just kept shaking our heads and laughing at the situation we found ourselves in.
Flora showing off her lovely hitch-hiking moves
Flora with our new friends, Rosa and Jose de Jesus, on the ranch that they run
Field of blue agaves on the ranch, used for making tequila
Jose de Jesus and Rosa showing off the ranch
Camping out on the ranch
The next morning Flora and I hiked down to the creek that runs through the ranch and on our way back Jose and Rosa invited us to have breakfast with their family. Afterwards we walked the ranch with Jose and his son Luis to the edge of the property from where you could see the small town of Jesus Maria, our next destination. On our walk we saw the garden, animals grazing, and more fields of blue agave; I also helped Jose to repair a stone wall that had been knocked over. After our walk Flora and I went over to visit with the family that owns the ranch. They invited to stay another night but we decided to move on and they insisted on driving us to Jesus Maria. They all were so great to us and really went out of there way to make us feel at home. We walked away shaking heads about how great the people in Mexico are.
Hiking down to the creek the next morning
Flora, Jose, and his son doing their best Beatles impression as they walk through the garden
Jose and his son feeding a radish to one of the horses
One of the horses
Sheep on the pasture
Cows grazing
Rows of blue agave
Helping Jose to repair a stone wall which had been knocked over
Jr. picking what we hoped were edible flowers for flora and I to eat
Flora and I with the family that owns the ranch
In Jesus Maria we decided to stay for the night at the only hotel in town. It was a nice town and good to have our own place with a bed and shower. The woman who ran the hotel, Rosario, was terrific. When we asked if there were any tours of tequila distilleries in the area she volunteered to set something up with the “Campo Azul” tequila distillery right outside of town. She called and set it up for the next day, then gave us some good ideas for things to see around town. We walked some of the town, but spent most of the afternoon hiking to a nice waterfall and hanging out by the creek. When we got back we had a couple beers on the roof of the hotel and watched a beautiful sunset over the town.
Entering the small town of Jesus Maria
Hiking out of town towards the river
Corn field outside of Jesus Maria
Flora at the top of a waterfall outside of town
Sunset from the roof of the only hotel in Jesus Maria
Horse drive-through service at a smoothy stand in town
The next day as we were leaving the hotel to make our way to the “Campo Azul” distillery, Rosario walked in with every intention to drive us there, such a great lady. At the distillery she introduced us to one of the managers of the distillery, Carlo, and he proceeded to give us a terrific two-hour tour of the facilities and the tequila making process. “Camp Azul” is a fairly new brand to the tequila market, but it has made significant inroads to compete with well established brands. Carlo impressed upon us the strict controls put on the tequila industry and the the even stricter controls that “Campo Azul” placed upon itself. With such a high level of quality control “Campo Azul” has already proven itself as premier brand.
The tour was incredibly informative and interesting. We learned that Tequila could only be produced within Mexico to be called “tequila”. Of the more than 400 hundred types of agaves that exist only the blue agave is used to make tequila and each plant needs grow more than 7 years before it is mature enough to be harvested for tequila. The head of mature blue agave can weigh between 80 and 300 pounds with the average size head producing around ten bottles of tequila each. The best and smoothest tequila is made of pure agave and aged, while most of the tequilas with a biting characteristic are mixed with up to 49% of other sugars and not aged. The tour was quite elaborate but I will simplify the process and explain it through the photos below. If you would like a more thorough account of the tequila making process you should check out the great website below.
http://www.ianchadwick.com/tequila/production.htm
Agave field at the “Campo Azul” tequila distillery outside of Jesus Maria
Carlo giving Flora and I a tour of the tequila distillery
Huge pile of blue agave heads with Flora and Carlo in the distance
Workers cutting the blue agave heads into quarters
Ax slicing through a blue agave head
Pile of quartered agave heads waiting to go to the oven and eventually become tequila
Walking into the distillery
Oven full of roasted agave quarters
Conveyor belt ready to take the goods from the oven
Pipes going up, I'm not really sure what they do
Looking down at the factory and the machines that grind and press the roasted agave heads
Looking over to the other side
Standing on the second floor platform with Carlo explaining the fermenting process to Flora and me. Each of the 24 vats holds more than 7,000 gallons of agave juice that will eventually become tequila
7,000 gallon vat of fermenting agave juice
Huge stills that finally create what can be called Tequila
Quality control, my favorite part of the distillery so far
Oak casks of aging tequila before bottling
Boxes of empty bottles waiting to be filled
Empty bottles in front of the filling machine
Workers filling bottles
Recently filled bottles of tequila
Looking down to the packaging area
At the end of the tour we had a taste of the final product, the 100% agave Campo Azul añejo (extra aged). It was smooth drink and not a bad way to finish off the morning. We offered Carlo something for the terrific tour but he outright refused, and on top of that he gave us each a bottle of there top shelve tequila and drove us back to town. We had to shake our heads again at the warmth and generosity of the people here.
Carlo, Flora, and I sampling the final product
One of the top shelf bottles of “Campo Azul” tequilla that was given to us, set in front of a blue agave
Carlo standing in front of an agave field holding the two bottles of tequila that were given to us
After our tour of the “Campo Azul” distillery we were back on the road again, hitch-hiking our way to the mountain village of Matzamitla. In another stellar example of generosity we got our first ride from a woman who passed us going the opposite direction. She was nice enough turn around and volunteer to drop us off at the next town. We didn't want to bother her for a ride since she wasn't going our way, but she insisted. So Flora rode in the cab of the truck with our new friend and I rode in the back with the woman's nephew who was visiting from the states. In the course of our day we had eight rides that took us through the beautiful country side and a number of small towns until we finally reached the mountain village and cool pine forests of Matzamitla.
Back on the road again with new friends from Jesus Maria.
Beautiful views along the way of agave fields climbing the slopes of the hilly landscape
Hitch-hiking through the countryside
Beautiful valley of blue agaves
Unfinished house in the highlands near Matzamitla; seen from the side of the road as we were waiting for another ride
We stayed a couple of days in Matzamiltla hiking through the pine forest to a waterfall, enjoying the fire place in our bungalow, and even goofing around at a traveling carnival in town.
Church in Matzamitla at night
Hiking through pine forests around Matzamitla to get to a waterfall outside of the town
Wooden horse in the pine forest
Waterfall outside of Matzamitla
Flora drinking from the waterfall
Flora and me in front of the waterfall
Flora supporting the local economy playing a ridiculous game for even more ridiculous prizes
Kiddy train at the carnival
Whirling ride
Flora playing on the kiddy cars
From Matazamitla we continued on making our way towards the coast. We had another great day hitch-hiking and met lots of great people along the way. On our second ride we met a great guy who ended up taking us on a detour along the back roads coming down from the mountains and even insisted on buying us beers and tacos at a roadside stand. Got to love Mexico!
Flora and I hitch-hiking, listening to music and watching the world go by.
Driving on the dirt roads of the countryside
Passing a tall stand of trees
Eating tacos and having a couple of beers with our new friend
Beautiful valley of corn with wooded hills in the distance
From where he dropped us off we caught another ride with a water truck that was going to a ranch at the base of a volcano. Once we got there we realized that it was too late in the day to make it up to the volcano, and it was completely covered in clouds anyway. We decided to skip the volcano and keep moving towards the coast. We caught a few more rides making our way towards the next big city with a hotel, Colima.
Me hitching on top of a water tank heading towards the volcano
Flora hitching on the same water tank which was destined for a ranch near the volcano
On our last ride of the day we met Pancho and Maria, who picked us up in there car just before it began to rain. They were heading to Colima to have dinner and stay with Maria's mother. We told them about our plan to find a hotel in Colima and sure enough they invited us to stay for the night. That sounded like a pretty good idea to us so we agreed and we were on our way.
In the course of our ride together we had the usual questions about where we had been, what we did for a living, and how long we had been together. The last one was always a little tricky. On their end they began telling us about their family and their new business working with health products. They seemed pretty proud of their work and they wanted to show us their office in Colima before going to the house; that sounded fine to us. Soon Flora and I, dirty and dusty from hitch-hiking all day, were sitting in a conference room, surrounded by herbal heath products, listening to Maria explain the health benefits of the “Hebalife” line of products and the financial benefits we would receive if we convinced others to join the program. As Maria began to elaborate on the pyramid scheme with the help of a dry erase marker and a white board Flora and I almost lost it. Flora kept looking at me but I couldn't look at her without busting up. We played along and eventually Flora and I made it out of the room with our starter tote bag of “herbalife“ sales information. Immeadiately we went across the street to get a snack, and as soon as we made it to the shop we exploded into laughter. Who would have guessed we would have been suckered into a direct marketing pyramid scheme after hitch-hiking all day!
Flora and I were a little leery how the rest of the night would go, but thankfully they let off the hook and we all had a good time together. The whole family was friendly and dinner was also nice. They were so kind to make up a bed for us and take us in for the night. Another great experience with great people in Mexico.
Eating with Pancho and his family
Pancho trying on my backpack for size the next morning
From Colima Flora and I took it easy on the last leg of our trip to the beach, and decided to take the bus. We stayed in Melaque which is a town south of Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Coast. Melaque is situated on the northern end of a bay called “Bahia de Navidad.” There is another, slightly ritzier town on the other end of the bay called “Barra de Navidad.” We spent our remaining days together relaxing on the beach and visiting both towns on the bay.
Palm tree landscape of the coast
Umbrellas on the beach in Melaque
Flora and me on the beach!
It was raining when we arrived to Melaque and it was a little bit of pain finding a decent place to stay at a decent price, but we finally worked it out and had a great time together enjoying the next three days of sunshine. In Melaque we of course enjoyed the beach and the waves, which weren't huge, but big enough for the local surfers to manage. Other than the surf competition that we saw nothing much out of the ordinary happened while we were in Melaque. We just had a great time hanging out on the beach, eating fresh seafood, drinking beers and margaritas, swimming in the ocean, making breakfast in the morning, enjoying rocky climbs to see the sunset, and just relaxing.
Boats docked in the Laguna in Barra de Navidad
Laguna side of the beach in Barra de Navidad
Waves and surfers crashing the beaches of Melaque
Surfers waiting for a good wave
Running to catch a wave
Skimming along the sand towards the surf
Catching a good wave
Surfer flying through the air and holding on to his board
Young girl watching the surf competition
We had a lot of fun together and it was sad to see Flora go, but she was soon due back in England for a wedding. Or so she said. Secretly I think the excitement of the “herbalife” product line got to her, and she is now furiously peddling herbal health care products throughout the U.K., slowly alienating her friends and family as she incessantly rattles on extoling the virtues of echinatia and ginkgo biloba at weddings, baby showers, and family reunions. Ahhh Flora - thanks for the great trip together.
Flora and me enjoying a beautiful sunset
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1 comment:
I started out being really bored by this post but later found it to be interesting and informative. I'd like to travel with Bernnie thru Mexico with him as my guide. Turk
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