Rest Day At Last!
Trip Start
Aug 16, 2003
1
60
92
Trip End
Apr 21, 2004
Torreon and Zacatecas,
Mexico
Wednesday, February 4, 2004
Upon arriving at the bus terminal in Torreon we had the choice of catching a taxi into the centre of town about 6km away, or simply staying at the hotel we spotted near the bus station. Due to the fact that it was already 9pm (we crossed a time zone on the way) and we were continuing our journey southwards the next morning, we settled on the latter option and decided to forego our opportunity to explore the city. After a quick snack we had a fairly early night, huddling under the flimsy covers to keep warm
At The Top of Cerro de la Bufa
.We eventually managed to give up the sanctuary of our bed the next morning, about an hour after Dan had put the fire on to warm up the room to a reasonable temperature. Then once we'd bought a few snacks for the journey, we were back on board another bus - this time en route to Zacatecas.
Unfortunately we both finished our books on this trip and are fast running out of English reading material! So we had to settle for watching 'The Runaway Bride' - the first film of the journey that wasn't in Spanish. Having wound our way up into the mountains, we pulled into Zacatecas around 6pm. We transferred on to a local bus for the town centre and pretty much guessed where to get off (having already earmarked the hotel we wanted to stay at - courtesy of our trusty guidebook). Luckily we weren`t too far off the mark and didn't have to walk far before we spotted the Maria Conchita Hotel.
Whilst I thought our room was okay (certainly better than the rooms we spent the first few nights in Mexico in), Dan really didn't like it because it had no natural light. So we didn't waste too much time before going straight back out and having a wander into the town centre of Zacatecas
Looking Down On Zacatecas
. After a meal at one of the many restaurants to choose from, we came back and had a fairly early night.We were awoken around 3am to the sound of a television blaring in the room opposite ours. Attempting to get the occupants to turn it down slightly, Dan knocked (and then banged) on their door - no answer. There was no-one at reception to complain to and even phoning the offending room had absolutely no effect (we could hear the phone ringing but no-one answered). An hour later, and desperate for some peace, Dan sneaked down the corridor to the fuse box, where he 'accidentally' tripped one of the switches...silence at last!
It was a great feeling to wake up the following morning and know that we didn't have to catch a bus - we had the whole day to do as we pleased - bliss! After a long lie in, we walked into the central plaza and had coffee and cake at the highly recommended Cafe y Neveria Acropylis. We wandered up and down the main street, Avenue Hidalgo, taking photos of many of the historic buildings as we went. Then we began climbing the winding streets up towards the entrance of the 'Mina El Eden' (the old mine for which Zacatecas is famed). I'm not sure if it was an effect of the high altitude (approx 2,500m) or simply the result of too much beer and junk food over the last few months, but both Dan and I struggled more than usual as we negotiated the steep inclines
Peeking Into A Courtyard
!Glad to have made it to the entrance, we took a guided tour of the mine, where up until the 1950s gold, silver, copper, zinc and iron were all mined for. Despite not being able to understand a lot of our guide´s commentary, we still found it quite interesting and were pleasantly surprised at what we could pick up!
A short walk up the hill led us to the 'Teleferico' (cable car) which we took up the Cerro de la Bufa (the rock-topped hill that dominates Zacatecas to the northeast). Once we had taken in the great views of the city, we embarked on another exhausting, although short, walk further up to see the equestrian statues of the victors of the battle of Zacatecas that line the top of the hill. By the time we'd wound our way back down the hill via a series of twisting and turning back streets, we were both tired and starving.
Feeling refreshed after a much-needed late lunch, we continued our walk around the city. We strolled through a few of the parks (which are more like a small collection of trees and shrubs within a concrete 'plaza') as opposed to the grassy lawns that we are used to, although they still provide a shady respite from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets. We ended our 'tour' with a look at the old aquaduct which stretches across the south of the city.
We both thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Zacatecas - it was such a welcome relief to have a day off from travelling and we agreed that it was the prettiest place we had visited so far in Mexico.
Andrea and Dan
