Mexico Travel Report

I just got back from a trek through Michoacan and a bit of Guerrero.. here
are some notes:

13/3 - Flew from Montreal to Mexico City to Zihuatanejo.

I'd already bought the Montreal-Mexico City ticket when I decided I wanted
some time on the beach. I chose Zihua over everything else because the
original motivation behind the trip had been to explore Michoacan so I
wanted something close. Bus from Mexico City to Zihua is approx 9 hours and
the flight with AeroMexico was 1 hour so I took it, despite it being about
twice the price (~400 MXN by bus versus 100 CAD by plane).

Stayed at a place called Angela's Hostel and Hotel which is essentially a
small hotel with a kitchen that has one guest room converted into a dorm
with 5 beds. They've recently moved so anyone who's guide book is older than
1 month will want to look up their new co-ordinates on Calle Mango just next
to the market.

One bunk in the dorm was 90 MXN per night. Angela's husband, who helps run
the place, is a Canadian named Gregg so there's no problem using English
there.

14/3 and 15/3 - Lay around on the beach

First day I took a bus and a boat out to Ixtapa Island, which has 4 beaches,
some for snorkeling, some for scuba others for swimming, etc. The snorkeling
wasn't that great and was supposed to cost 120 MXN but the guy readily
lowered his price to 80. There were a few vendors but none too intrusive.

Next day I walked down to Playa Madera, sat around, went in the water a few
times, and had a few beers. This beach is more accessible and nicer than
Isla Ixtapa (from where I was staying at any rate).

16/3 - Travel to Uruapan.

After poking around Zihua for a bit (there's really no reason to go here if
not for the beaches), buying some souvenirs and having a seafood lunch, I
hopped on a bus to go to Uruapan. My bus ticket on a first class bus ran me
245 MXN.

I got there around 8pm and went straight to my hotel, the Posada Morelos,
where a room with a shared bathroom cost 60 MXN per night and the zocalo can
be reached on foot in 5 minutes. I found a pretty good taqueria just down
the street where, after finishing my tacos, the guy working there sat down
and chatted with me for a good hour (dunno how well this would have worked
were I not able to hold a conversation in Spanish).

17/3 - Up the Volcano (Paricutin)

I started out early, grabbing some pancakes and hot chocolate from a street
vendor at the zocalo before trekking out to a Pemex just north of a
roundabout just north of park at the west of the city. From there I split a
cab with some locals and paid 20 MXN to get to Angahuan which is a Purepecha
village where you can easily find guides and horses for the 32 km trek to
the base of the volcano. I suspect that mine ripped me off (I paid 600 MXN
for the guide and both of our horses) but I'd been looking forward to this
more than anything else I'd researched, so I went anyway.

My impressions of Uruapan were that it seems quite run down with an almost
complete lack of anyone who's not Mexican but that's not necessarily a bad
thing depending on your perspective. Upside was that it was incredibly
cheap.

18/3 - Patcuaro/Tingambato

I packed up early and headed for Patzcuaro on a 37 MXN bus ticket, where I
based myself at the Posada La Rosa, which cost me 100 MXN per night for a
more luxurious version of the same accommodations I'd had in Uruapan. By
"more luxurious" I mean that the paint wasn't chipping off the walls, the
bed wasn't a single, and the bare lightbulb was screwed into a fixture
rather than dangling from a wire. It's on the west side of the Plaza
Bocanegra just below the market which is a great place for cheap eats. The
plaza itself is currently boarded up; they're doing some serious renovations
to it.

After checking in and exploring town a bit, I backtracked to Tingambato to
see the ruins. Getting off the bus at the side of the highway, I heard the
familiar "Que onda, guero?!" and saw four Mexicans piling out of a red VW
bug, one of them approaching me with a beer in hand. I drank that one with
them and then made plans to do some more drinking after the ruins.

Tingambato was worth a couple hours and was quite picturesque. Afterward I
headed back for my newfound friend's place where we finished off half a
bottle of tequila before I headed back to the highway to catch the bus with
a considerable buzz going.

After getting back and grabbing a bite to eat, I headed for the zocalo where
I caught a free concert and met a cute local girl with whom I spent the rest
of the evening chatting

19/3 - Ihuatzio and Tzintzuntzan

Both are accessible via the local buses which run between 4 and 8 pesos.
Both are worth the visit though I have to disagree with my LP, which says
that Ihuatzio is the nicer of the two. Perhaps if you judge solely based on
the ruins but Tzintzuntzan is on something of a plateau which affords some
incredible views of nearby Lake Patzcuaro. There's also a neat little market
just off the main road and in front of a church in Tzintzuntzan though I
found nicer handicrafts at some of the stores along the road leading up to
the ruins.

That night I wandered into a bar along the south side of the zocalo only
because they'd some live music at the time. Ended up talking to two very
drunk Mexican guys in their 40's, one of whom insisted on pantomiming every
sport from basketball to the matadores in the corridas. Though the music was
good here too the previous night was more enjoyable...

20/3 - Patzcuaro and Tocuaro

After finally having a bit more of a chance to explore Patzcuaro itself in
the morning, I headed again to the lake again, this time to the southwest
for a town named Tocuaro which despite not even having a population of 1000,
has a few of the best mask makers in the entire country. Luckily I did a bit
of online research - my Lonely Planet, which is close to 7 years old now,
suggests looking up Juan Horta but it turns out that he passed away after
suffering a heart attack three months ago. His widow was still selling off
his remaining masks but I was glad to have heard the news ahead of time
rather than knocking on his door and asking to visit with him.

I ended up not buying any of his... as is the case with most other art
forms, it seems the price rises once the artist dies. Perhaps I don't know
exactly what to look for but some of his were close to twice as expensive as
similar masks offered by the other people in town.

Instead I bought a full-sized mask (approx 30 cm tall) from Felipe Horta
(1000 MXN) and two smaller masks (approx 10 cm tall) from Gustavo Horta (50
MXN each). Both, as well as Juan's widow all sell masks out of their homes.
There is no mask store in Tocuaro nor is there an ATM.

After that, I took off for Morelia on a 2nd class bus for 30 MXN. I stayed
at the Hostal Allende which was a similar setup to Angela's in Zihuatanejo
though it cost 110 MXN per night.

21/3 - Morelia

I'd gone to Morelia based on all the travelers I've met in the past who've
told me good things about it and on the guide books which echoed the popular
opinion. I was disappointed. Standing at the zocalo and looking around
Burger Kings outnumber taco stands. The city feels more Americanized than
any other place I've visited in Mexico and I've probably seen a good third
of the country.

22/3 - Mexico City

The next day I opted to cut my time short, heading to the bus terminal and
changing my ticket for an earlier departure. The ticket was 290 MXN with ETN
which is Mexico's super-duper-deluxe bus line which has seats that makes you
feel like you're in the business class section of an airplane rather than a
bus.

I'm going to end this travelogue here because, despite only having left
Mexico City on 27/3, I've a good number of friends there who I hadn't seen
in a while, so I spent my time there hanging out with them rather than doing
the typical touristy things.

Richard