Guanajuato, Mexico

South of Zacatecas we arrived in Guanajuato, a small town tucked back into a canyon in the colonial heartland. You arrive in Guanajuato through a series of tunnels originally constructed to divert a river, and since the river has now been diverted with real pipes, the tunnels have been improved to accommodate traffic. It's surreal driving through a winding tunnel with no day light in sight. Guanajuato is not particularly car friendly with it's steep alleys and one way streets so we parked immediately and found a place to stay with parking. We squeezed the bus into the underground garage with about 1/4 inch vertical room to spare (remember the lean, green machine has retro racks and a spare on top) and hit the streets.

a guanajuato alley

Guanajuato is famous for several reasons. First, there was a famous rebellion that started Mexico's independence efforts; Second, it's where the four leaders of said rebellion's heads were hung in metal baskets off the side of a prominent public building for ten years following their capture and execution (now kids play soccer in the adjacent square; Third , it houses the "Museo de Momia" a museum of mummified locals; and last but not least it was the birthplace of Diego Rivera famed artist and part-time husband of Frida Kahlo.

b top of the town 1

We set out to explore the winding pathways and staircases to find ourselves at the town summit next to a monument for a fallen war hero. I don't remember his name but he strapped stone to his back to deflect the Spaniard's bullets and lead the charge in the aforementioned victory. Nobody is sure whether he lived or died, but a hero nonetheless. This monument provided the best vantage point for pictures of the town.

We are pleased to announce the pleasant discovery of Mexican chocolate. Very sweet and mixed with cinnamon, this stuff is addictive! This sort of makes up for the atrocious wine we've been served with the promise of "muy bueno". We wandered the town, eating chocolate until we hit the main theatre area where we discovered that Guanajuato also has the roaming band thing only they play string instruments dressed in Shakespearean garb. We followed one up an alley, caught a bit of their show, ate more chocolate, and called it a night...or so we thought. It turns out that our room was upstairs from a disco and this was Saturday night. With our earplugs firmly implanted, we drifted off to sleep with a soundtrack of mixed disco & industrial music.

c top of the town 2

Day two. Opting against an organized tour, we headed for the Museo de Momias. Guanajuato's mineral rich soil and dry air have the combined effect of mummifying corpses. Some years ago, the cemetery full, bodies were exhumed and this was discovered. What do you do when great grandma is dug up and found to be a mummy? What else, put her on display! Why not? Instead of visiting a stone and talking to the air, you can sit face to face with the real deal AND get the last word! (Although she makes a very nasty face at you the whole time...) This isn't just limited to grandma though...infants, pregnant women, people buried alive? Yes, anyone who is nicely mummified would seem to be fair game. What's really fun is there are photos of some of the models from their "living" days so you can play match game with the mummies and their pictures! Seriously though, this was by far the creepiest, most unnerving thing I've ever seen. There are photos of couples holding their dead babies and the mummified baby is sitting in front of you. This culture definitely has a weird obsession with death. I know what you're thinking - why did they go to this museum??? Don't judge us, if you ever find yourself here, you'll go too.

d top of the town 3

We toured the Diego Rivera (must have been on drugs to paint some of his stuff) house and museum. The house was his birthplace. However, Guanajuato is quite conservative and since Diego and Frida entertained Trotsky for a time, he was completely ignored for many years. Finally, Guanajuato realized the rest of the world recognized his art and opened up the house and a museum. We also went the Alhondiga to brush up on our revolutionary history, ate more chocolate and went to bed to have nightmares about mummies. (Actually, Paul had nightmares about mummies. Laura slept like a log!)

PS: After three separate attempts, we'll need to upload the pics later, this cafe's connection keeps crashing! So stay tuned for the mummy pictures. Strangely, after all the beautiful pictures of Mexico we have posted, those will be the images you remember most!

e Guanajuato Staircase

f Evening Downtown

g Classic Theatre

h Mummy

i mummy baby

j mummy a.k.a. bride of chucky