Leaving lake Chapala

Off the beaten path in Mexico

Three days spent here went by way too fast and it was time to leave. Ajijic already felt like place that we know very well and it was little sad that we had to leave. But, at the same time we were excited about all the new places we are planning to see today.

 A Champagne Vacation On a Beer Budget

Our Mexican journey – Part 3.

A Series of Personal Experiences (Nov 28 – Dec 15, 2008)

Hola!

This time Vera and I are journeying Mexico’s central part, far away from the popular tourist zones; well, kind of. We are visiting the biggest lake in Mexico, Lake Chapala. From the central Mexico we are going to travel to western coast and tourist places like Manzanillo and Puerto Vallarta. We thought that we should investigate this part of Mexico, and unlike most other tourists opt to venture far beyond the all inclusive resorts.

Three days spent here went by way too fast and it was time to leave. Ajijic already felt like place that we know very well and it was little sad that we had to leave. But, at the same time we were excited about all the new places we are planning to see today.

Ajijic – San Andres Catholic Church

There is only one road heading out of the village to the west. We took the periferico around town until we got to highway 23, which leads to the town of Chapala which is east and town of Jocotepec to the west. We turned west, towards Jocotepec. As we buzzed down the road, I thought about my latest scheme to outwit the traffic cops. Whenever a cop stops you, they always ask for your driver’s license. If you hand it over to them, you are screwed. They will not give it back until you give them some money (they unscrew your license plates if you park illegally).

I made copy of my driver’s license with the scanner on my computer back in Edmonton. I printed out several full color copies and laminated them in plastic. My plan is to cheerfully hand out copies to the police. I highly doubt they will know the difference. When they refuse to give me back my “license”, I’ll even more cheerfully tell them to keep it. I have this fantasy where a cop asks for my license, and I ask him, “How many do you want?” But that would be just a little too obvious, so I’ll just give them only one of my custom made “licenses”. Now, after the trip, I can say that I was never stopped by police or anyone else; therefore I was never in position to use my fake license.

Ajijic entrance from the east (La Chapala)

Lake Chapala – Manzanillo drive

We drove down the road toward Jocotepec. It’s a nice road with some really beautiful houses along it (we had looked at one house in Ajijic where the asking price was over two hundred thousand dollars – ­ not pesos, U.S. dollars that is!). We passed a gate that had a sign, which read, “Villa Nova”. Translation: “House of no go” – probably the home of a US or Canadian retiree.

We passed a number of small ‘pueblos’. At one point we had to stop, to allow heard of cows cross the road. This is real Mexico. This immediately brought back some memories of my childhood trips to ‘Zagorje’ (Croatia) with my dad, 40 years ago. That was the last time I could see cows crossing the highway.

After a short drive we reached Jocotepec, found our way thru the town and soon after we were on the very nice stretch of wide road heading towards the toll highway ‘Guadalajara – Colima’. Once we reached the turnout for the toll road, we purposely missed the exit and stayed on the ‘libre’ road, which followed the toll road all the way to Colima and Manzanillo – our destination for today.

No matter what they tell you, our experience is that driving in Mexico is no different than driving on any roads in other countries. Besides, why should it be any different? Mexico has very nice highways which are usually toll roads (cuota, in Spanish), and you have to pay to use them. The toll for this stretch is $46.00 pesos, or about US$6.00. A portion of the toll road is two lanes, but still a time-saver. There is an additional $40.00 pesos (US$5.18) toll at the end of the toll road in Manzanillo and a toll of $17.00 pesos (US$2.20) if you wish to take the bypass around Manzanillo.

Anyway, we didn’t use toll road. Mexico’s ‘libra’ roads are also in very good condition, but you have to be aware of the ‘topes’ (speed bumps) which are placed everywhere to effectively slow you down where it’s needed. It’s really easy to scrape the bottom of your car if you aren’t really careful. Usually, speed bumps are located only in towns or when driving thru the villages. Some are well marked, but some are not… be aware!

We followed the road through the towns of Acatlan and Zacoalco De Torres all the way to Guzman. They all look the same… the buildings on both sides of the road were right up to the highway. There was a sidewalk, but there was no room to park a car. Consequently, people parked their cars and trucks in the road while they went shopping. Not only that, but they parked them on which ever side the store was on, which meant that half the cars were parked facing the wrong way. Traffic had to snake through this mess as best as it could… and most of the streets were cobbled.

The only bad roads we encountered were the roads through some of the towns. Almost every town we went thru, had a cobble stoned streets and they are in very bad shape. But since there are ‘topes’ every where to slow you down, you are already going slowly and these bad roads are not issue except for your car. That’s the reason why Mexican cars are so run down and look much older than what they probable are. I bet Mexicans have to replace their brakes every 20,000 km.

This route is quite scenic though requires much concentration due to the twists and turns. There are some interesting side trips along the way. I do not believe it is dangerous other than the curves in the mountains.  The drive is interesting, crossing prairies and mountain passes deep gorges and salt water lagoons. The sight of a picturesque Mexican village reflected in the lake is very pleasing to the eye!

Mexico – typical ‘libre’ road

Further along the highway as we were getting closer to Colima, we spotted two big volcanoes. The taller one, Volcán Nevado de Colima which is not active and the Volcan de Fuego which is still very active.

View on the volcanoes from our road…

The volcanoes carry name Colima, but they are both located in the State of Jalisco. The Nevado, at well over 14,000 feet, is long-extinct volcano and Mexico’s seventh highest peak. As we began to approach The Nevado and skirt it to the east, another mountain came into our view a little farther in the distance. As we were driving by, at one moment we saw the active volcano sending some poofs of white cloud in the air. This is the “Volcán de Fuego de Colima” which reaches to more than 13,000 feet. This is still an active volcano. The Volcán de Colima began erupting millions of years ago and continues today. Since the arrival of the Spanish there have been approximately 30 eruptions, which make it one of the most active volcanoes in world. Colima means “god of fire who rules”, hence the name of the city and state.

Volcán de Fuego de Colima 

Driving from Ajijic to Colima took about 3 hours on a beautiful scenic road. Watch out for animals, slow or broken down vehicles, or objects in the road. On this short trip, you should see all of the above at least once!

If you come across a road block and see a lot of official-looking, military-type guys with guns, don’t be afraid. They’re army or police who help make our roads safe. They are there to check for drugs and guns, and if you don’t have any, don’t worry. They might ask to see your papers, or they may ask you to get out of your vehicle. Smile, do as they say, and you’ll be on your way soon enough. By the way, on this trip we didn’t see them at all.

COLIMA 

On our way to Manzanillo, after about 3 hours of driving, we passed by the city of Colima. Colima is located 225 kilometers (140 miles) south of Guadalajara in the Mexican state of the same name. While the altitude of Colima, at approximately 1,500 feet above sea level, is substantially less than that of Guadalajara, it remains high enough so that the temperatures in the warm months are much more pleasant than in the nearby costal towns.

Colima is a medium-sized city with a population of approximately 160,000 people. It has pleasant tree-lined streets and many comfortable residential areas. While some foreigners do reside there, it has not become a haven for retirees like Guadalajara. The city has a full range of tourist services with many pleasant hotels and several good restaurants.

The region around Colima is famous for the clay dog figures sculpted by the nahuatl culture settled in the area. Just half an hour from the City of Colima is the Ticuzitan lagoon, and from the city you reach within 15 minutes the Coahuayana River, with its heavy flowing and lush vegetation a nice attraction for all visitors. 

Colima is still a 50 minute drive from Manzanillo via an express highway. The tollway, which costs about $5.50, has some incredibly beautiful scenery.

Our time was limited because we wanted to reach Manzanillo before dark, so we stopped at the city main square. Our first impressions were how clean this city is. We noticed right away this was white collar city, with lots of government jobs, because this is a capital city of Colima state.

Zona Magica

In Colima there are many interesting places that tourists can visit. Some of those are archeological sites, disco bars, old restaurants and towns. But there are many others where all visitors can go and enjoy the wonders of nature, because in those places nature is the show. 

Colima is a rare state because in its territory strange effects of nature happen: from the fireworks of El Volcan to the famous “ola verde” (green wave) of Cuyutlán Beach and even UFO legends. One of the stranger attractions of nature is called the “Magic Zone.”

Geographically its location is north of Colima.  Some kilometers before Suchitán, it’s easy to identify it because it has a sign pointing to the site.  It’s important to say that without the sign it’s impossible to know that a strange event happens there; you will see why.

The Magic Zone looks like an inclined hill like many others, but for a 300-meter stretch of road, round objects (including water) move uphill rather than downhill.  This oddity makes this zone a very interesting place for tourists and also for scientists who would like to explain this strange event.

Some say that behind this fabulous, unusual and strange weirdness lies a simple explanation: an optical effect.  It happens because our sight cheats us, they say, making us think for some reason that there is a hill, when actually there isn’t.  According to them, it isn’t magic, its pure physics. But others are not so sure, and claim strange magnetic properties or witchcraft is at work.

Unlike other tourist places, the Magic Zone can be visited in all seasons of the year.  If this is not enough, this place has beautiful fauna and flora, surrounded by pines and cold weather plants.  

Another advantage of this attraction is that there are restaurants nearby that cook traditional Mexican food. So if you are near Colima, don’t forget to explore this beautiful and strange magic zone.  

We left Colima in the afternoon, after having lunch on the main city plaza. Drive from Colima to Manzanillo took only another hour or so, and the road of our choice again was ‘libre’ road. We had plenty of time and I wanted to explore some more. But, once we left volcanos and mountains behind, there was nothing much to be seen as we were approaching Manzanillo. Maybe the only place worth to be mentioned is a pueblo ‘Ciudad de Armeria’ which had all the amenities of a small town; main plaza, beautiful church and thousands of street vendors lined up on both sides of the main road.

We reached the main Manzanillo highway in no time, and were looking for a place to stay for next few days. Our pick for Manzanillo was a small B&B La Posada in Las Brisas on the outskirts of Manzanillo. A bright pink hotel that was easy to spot. But this will be another story.

To be continued…

Hasta Luego!