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The day’s events in Zacatecas took their toll on us and we made an early evening of it all. Well, it was that or the 3 to 4 local mescals that did us in. We awoke fairly early and walked up the cobbled streets to El Indio Alegre, (the happy Indian) and had yet another sub-par breakfast. The beans were funky, the coffee was Sanka and the water was shut off, possibly intentionally. No worries. We walked back to the hotel, packed up and set the controls for Guadalajara.
July 2nd (Zach’s birthday. Did you call him?) We made it out of Zacatecas without an incorrect turn, although we questioned our navigation skills when we found ourselves deep into a barrio that is not exactly on the “Places to See” map. The route we took was the “free” road and it was a winding, majestic beauty. There is an incredible waterfall just north east of Guadalajara that we could see easily from 3 or so miles away while we were meandering about an adjacent mountain. The splendor of the drive was abruptly halted when “poof”, we were in the throws of Guadalajara traffic. One lane became six. Our tranquil jaunt morphed into cars, dust, horns and mayhem. I had to quickly find my inner “every man for himself” mode of driving. Luckily I had updated our good ol’ Garmin, (Christmas ’09 present thanks to Mr & Mrs C). Sure, I have a smart phone. Sure, it has GPS. But at this point in our trip it is only good for music and pictures. I paid international data rates once, when I was young(er) and stupid(er). The Garmin, which we affectionately named “Gabby”, got us through the Guadalajara abyss. She couldn’t do anything about the cars, dust, horns and mayhem but she sure got us to where we wanted to go; Chapala, south of Guadalajara. The “abyss” traffic lasted quite a while, virtually all the way to Chapala. Average speed at this point; 5kph. In fact, Chapala was rather crowded until we got off the main drag. One block in and suddenly all was well.
We took a chance and rang the bell at the Lake Chapala Inn. There we were greeted by Juanita; exceptional English, a sweet little abuelita. She showed us the one room that they had available… with a view. Yeah, we’ll take it, y manana tambien.
The Guadalajara portion of the drive took it’s toll on us and this place was the perfect sedative to calm what ails you. Sharon’s “Mexico Voice” returned.
July 3rd. To our surprise, in the morning we were presented with an exceptional breakfast, prepared by Juanita herself. Fresh orange juice, fresh fruit, eggs that freshly left a not-too-distant hen and real coffee.
Post breakfast we went for a drive west along the lake, through Ajijic and into a little town named Jocotepec. We visited Ajijic about nine years ago and, well, it’s basically a retirement community for Ex-Pats. Jocotepec was more our speed. After maneuvering the “Old Mexico” method of traffic control, where suddenly you find yourself driving the wrong direction on a one-way trail, we parked the Element and walked to the main square. I contemplated ordering “Birra” (goat soup, sort of) but instead settled for dos cervezas. Basically, we just walked around and soaked it all in.Once again,
it’s s
iesta time, but we do have our eyes out for a good dinner. We’ll see, but things are looking good.
