Sanjit and I said goodbye to Jennifer, Tati, and Rubén at around 8:30 this morning at the Estación Centrál in Cuernavaca. Thirty minutes later, we boarded a bus that took us to Mèxico City, where we arrived at 10:30. Shortly after arrival I helped Sanjit get a ticket for San Miguel de Allende. He plans to spend the next few days there, while I go to Guanajuato.
The two cities are about 1.5 hours apart by bus, and given that the route to Guanajuato goes through San Miguel, we were surprised and disappointed to find out that we could not travel together on the same bus. The bus line we'd bought tickets with, ETN, apparently has mostly direct , non-stop routes. In any case, my bus left for Guanajuato at 11:15, and I arrived there at 4:15.
Upon arrival, I took a taxi to La Casa Dante, where I'd made reservations for two nights. Odldy enough, on this particular ride I had my first bad taxi experience in México. Up until today I'd met only interesting, engaging taxi drivers, but today's guy was a real idiot. He tried to rip me off, and only after a 10 minute argument did he let up. Worst of all, I got so worked up (I had a couple choice words for him in Spanish), that I ended up forgetting my hat in his taxi. Aghhhhh.
Anyways, I checked in at La Casa Dante by 5pm. I was welcomed by Dante himself, the 24 year-old son of the owner (Irena), whose name the hospice bears. He was accompanied by his younger brother Rodolfo. Both of them were extremely friendly, offering me a seat, and something cold to drink. Dante and I ended up having a 30 minute conversation about my travel experiences in Mexico. He also gave me a map of the city, and pointed out some sightseeing highlights. I have a feeling I'm going to really enjoy my stay not only at Dante's, but Guanajuato.
After checking into my room, I plunked myself on the bed, and just lay there. Below is a picture of the city, taken from my bedroom window.
The two cities are about 1.5 hours apart by bus, and given that the route to Guanajuato goes through San Miguel, we were surprised and disappointed to find out that we could not travel together on the same bus. The bus line we'd bought tickets with, ETN, apparently has mostly direct , non-stop routes. In any case, my bus left for Guanajuato at 11:15, and I arrived there at 4:15.
Upon arrival, I took a taxi to La Casa Dante, where I'd made reservations for two nights. Odldy enough, on this particular ride I had my first bad taxi experience in México. Up until today I'd met only interesting, engaging taxi drivers, but today's guy was a real idiot. He tried to rip me off, and only after a 10 minute argument did he let up. Worst of all, I got so worked up (I had a couple choice words for him in Spanish), that I ended up forgetting my hat in his taxi. Aghhhhh.
Anyways, I checked in at La Casa Dante by 5pm. I was welcomed by Dante himself, the 24 year-old son of the owner (Irena), whose name the hospice bears. He was accompanied by his younger brother Rodolfo. Both of them were extremely friendly, offering me a seat, and something cold to drink. Dante and I ended up having a 30 minute conversation about my travel experiences in Mexico. He also gave me a map of the city, and pointed out some sightseeing highlights. I have a feeling I'm going to really enjoy my stay not only at Dante's, but Guanajuato.
After checking into my room, I plunked myself on the bed, and just lay there. Below is a picture of the city, taken from my bedroom window.
I napped until close to 8pm, and when I woke up it was dark and I was hungry, so I washed up, got dressed, got my camera and my city map and went out to get a quick view of the city and some food. Below is a picture of La Casa Dante, shortly after 8pm.
Guanajuato is quite a hilly city, very similar to San Francisco. The hostel I stayed at was on a Callejón (back alley) halfway up a large hill, and it was about 100 steps (down) to the main street. On the way down, I encountered some neighbourhood kids. First, a group of girls, then, a group of boys. The girls were cute and friendly, and they asked me to take a picture of them. The boys, well, they made fun of me, gringo that I am. The picture of the boys gives a good idea of the steep descent down the stairs to the main street.
Once I got down to Paseo Madero street, I took a left, went through Parque Allende, and made my way downtown on El Ropero. On the way, I came across the Templo de San Francisco.
As I got closer to downtown I began to see why Guanajuato came so well-recommended as a place to visit. The place was vibrant, the streets packed, full of people, full of life.
Once downtown, I passed the Teatro Juárez (right) and made my way to the beautiful basilica, Nuestra Señora de Guanajuato. I was once again impressed by the richness of the culture here.
Eventually I found La Esquina, a restaurant Dante had earlier described as Argentinean. Well, it wasn't quite that, but it did have an Argentinean appetizer, empanadas, which I ordered without hesitation. And they actually tasted pretty good too! I ate 4 in total: 2 with carne (meat), and 2 with jamón y queso (ham and cheese).
It was a nice night, not too hot, just comfortable. I ate my dinner outside, at a table facing the courtyard, where a father was teaching his son how to kick a pelota (ball). It was a quiet night too at La Esquina; even though the streets were packed, this particular square surrounded by restaurants was quiet.
After dinner I slowly made my way home. I am tired. I've seen lots over the past 10 days, and I think slowly all this sightseeing is wearing me out. Also, as this was the first day of traveling alone, it was a bit of an adjustment. During some parts of the day - on the bus, for example - I felt lonely, and wanted company. At other times, such as walking through town on my way to dinner, I was happy to be alone.
Oh and one last thing: upon my return to Dante's, there was a scorpion on my bedroom wall. It was in plain, visible sight. It was above my bed headboard, a bit to the left. Friends in both México City and Cuernavaca had warned me of the possibility of encountering one at some point on the trip, but aside from the dead "trophee" scorpion on Rubén and Tati's wall I hadn't seen a live one. Well tonight that changed.
I admit that at first I panicked and wasn't sure how to deal with it, it was late at night already and the hosts were asleep. But then I decided it had to be done. The scorpion had to go. I went outside of my bedroom into the hallway and picked up an old Time magazine, walked up to the wall, and smacked it, once, hard. That did the trick. Then I picked up the squished creature with some toilet paper and flushed it down the toilet. Finally, I cleaned up the back page of the magazine and put it back with the other magazines. This time though, I didn't put it on top, I put it somewhere in the middle of the pack.
After dinner I slowly made my way home. I am tired. I've seen lots over the past 10 days, and I think slowly all this sightseeing is wearing me out. Also, as this was the first day of traveling alone, it was a bit of an adjustment. During some parts of the day - on the bus, for example - I felt lonely, and wanted company. At other times, such as walking through town on my way to dinner, I was happy to be alone.
Oh and one last thing: upon my return to Dante's, there was a scorpion on my bedroom wall. It was in plain, visible sight. It was above my bed headboard, a bit to the left. Friends in both México City and Cuernavaca had warned me of the possibility of encountering one at some point on the trip, but aside from the dead "trophee" scorpion on Rubén and Tati's wall I hadn't seen a live one. Well tonight that changed.
I admit that at first I panicked and wasn't sure how to deal with it, it was late at night already and the hosts were asleep. But then I decided it had to be done. The scorpion had to go. I went outside of my bedroom into the hallway and picked up an old Time magazine, walked up to the wall, and smacked it, once, hard. That did the trick. Then I picked up the squished creature with some toilet paper and flushed it down the toilet. Finally, I cleaned up the back page of the magazine and put it back with the other magazines. This time though, I didn't put it on top, I put it somewhere in the middle of the pack.
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