Great trip!
I hope you are coming to Ecuador to visit your friend.
If you do so make sure you come to visit the Amazone.

I would like to give you guys a free room or camping spot
here in my cabana to make you feel welkom
in south america.
(just sent me a message when you are here)
Good travels.

__________________

The friend we were going to visit in Ecuador is actually here in Guadalajara now, so we'll be seeing her soon enough. Thanks for your kind offer, I will certainly let you know when we hit Ecuador.

Having some problems with the digital camera right now, so the next update will be a little late. We're spending Christmas here in Guadalajara. ¡Feliz Navidad!

Well done on such a small cc bike, bit diff from my 1400 nitrous nina,
Steve

So your friend Salvador sent you to a comfy love hotel (i.e., motel) in Parral, following which you stumbled unknowingly onto one of the world's premier motorcycling roads, Espina del diablo. That's hilarious. You're the perfect contrast to all those posting here and elsewhere who believe that the essential ingredient for any journey is endless research and parsing of possibilities long before any departure.

Keep it up!

Mark

Yea, the motto for this trip is definitely "minimal planning". We didn't even have a map for the first 2,000 miles of Mexico, just a print-out of the google maps Mexico image. Our host in Union De Tula gave us a Mexico atlas, but Michelle insists I not look at it. She's lucky, so I'll bank on that. Doesn't really matter where we end up anyway.

We check out of our Mazatlan hotel and look for breakfast. Above all the street level vendors in the central market there are second story restaurants. Very cheap, 15 pesos for breakfast, which was delicious and filling. Definitely a good find if you're on a budget. Too bad we didn't find it earlier. Also had "cafe con leche", which is coffee made without any water, just coffee and milk. Very tasty. We also sent postcards to the folks back home, which was a little time consuming, so we got a late start. We camped near Tepic, off a little farm road. Very noisy with the trucks engine braking down that area, we didn't sleep well. The farm workers started going down the road when we were packing up. They were confused and-or amused by the spectacle.

We stopped in Tepic to eat our breakfast of fruit, bread and butter we had bought the night before. There was a great little park not too far into town, very picturesque.





We were now on the "Ruta De Tequila" according to the highway signs. Tequila is made from the blue agave plant, looks like a blue cactus, and there were enormous fields covering the hills and along the highway.


Also a weird field of black rocks. Didn't look like the other brush-fire fields we'd seen.


Very hilly, simple but beautiful.


We ate in Tequila, famous for it's many tequila factories. We were going to take the tour, but our waitress said it was 250pesos per person, which was out of our budget, so we skipped it. We did buy a very overpriced bottle for our friend we were meeting in the next week. It was 160 pesos, which is similar to the price in the US. I didn't realize that tequila is only a fraction of the price here in Mexico. A few weeks later I would be shocked to see 750ml bottles of apparently decent tequila going for around $3.20USD.

Just before Tequila, the camera took a soft little tumble into the sand. So no pictures of Tequila, but I did get it going again on the last day we were in Guadalajara, so I could take some pictures.

We get to Guadalajara just in time for rush hour. We had no idea where we were going, no idea where any hotels were, no idea how crazy Guadalajara traffic was. I liked it. Motorcycles cut through traffic, pop onto sidewalks, go the wrong way down one-ways. I was burdened with extra wide saddlebags, so I wasn't as nimble as other bikes, but we got around. After over an hour of riding around cluelessly we randomly found a couple of hotels on a strip that were actually decently priced. We chose "Hotel Astur", About $20usd per night, but it was clean and we could park the bike in our room. Little did we know, but we were actually in the Historical District, right in the middle of the city, walking distance to the Libertad market, several museums, tons of shopping, and countless cathedrals and plazas. Very lucky, we were so tired we would have taken anything. Our faces were a blackened from all the soot in the air.

(If you're going to Guadalajara: Calle Independcia Sur was the road with Hotel Astur, we found less expensive hotels around the block on Juarez)

We only had 97 pesos left, and the money changers were closed. We ate dinner in La Libertad market. Tortas, potato chips with salsa, a coke, and cerveza for the both of us = 96 pesos ($8usd). Gotta love it.

Next day we change money again, not so good this time, as expected. We get 11.70 pesos to the dollar (compared to 12.5 in El Paso, TX). We spend the day walking around and updating the blogs at a ciber. We both love Mexican food but decide to do something different, and get pizza slices on the street

While we're waiting in line there is an attempted kidnapping. A man grabs a 6yo boy who is eating pizza with his mom and brothers, the kid freaks out and gets free, runs to his mother, who is panicking now as well. She rushes all of her children into the pizza shop doorway. Everyone around was pointing at the man. I had no idea what was going on at that point, but Michelle says she saw the man kick the boy as he struggled free and that he walked right around us, as if he was still intent on nabbing the kid. He split, and the police were called. I doubt they caught the guy, he easily vanished into the crowd. Michelle's older brother was almost kidnapped in Guadalajara when he was a baby. Luckily there was a policeman around the corner and kidnapper ditched him to not get caught.

We spent the rest of the day getting lost walking around Guadalajara. We went to the market, which was very cool.


Chille rellenos, with canzome and the most delicious tortillas I've ever had, $2us.

Lots of plazas, cathedrals. Very beautiful part of the city.






Next day we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art. It was the day before Christmas, so we didn't expect anything to be open. We were surprised to find it would be open for another 2 hours. (Bring your school ID, half off for students, 70 pesos regularly). Incredible building, and the work housed inside was fantastic. The first chamber (old Cathedral) is covered by 57 murals by Jose Clemente Orozco. Probably my favorite of what we saw. The main dome has a huge painting entitled "El Hombe De Fuego", which is breathtaking.

(not my photo)
We saw as much as we could before they closed.

Museum from the outside, later that day.


Guadalajara definitely has a "big city" feel. Different than any of the other places we've been to in Mexico. Feels more modern, or perhaps more Americanized. Wonderful to visit though, perhaps my favorite part of Mexico yet.

Michelle's best friend is Karla Luna. Karla's family is from a little town called Union Del Tula, about 2 hours Southwest of Guadalajara. This year they were having a huge family reunion, first in 25 years, and we were invited to stop by for the tail end of the festivities. We packed our bags and left early, only taking an hour to find our way out of Guadalajara (good luck finding street signs in Mexico).

We ate Tacos Dorados on our way. Note: Tacos Dorados are fried tacos. Sometimes they have toothpicks still in them from when they were held together for frying. I didn't realize this initially, and I'm probably still digesting one or two.

We find Karla at the Cathedral with her family. It wasn't difficult to find the Cathedral, it's the tallest building, and there is only one for the whole town.There are a good 80 to 100 family members at the church.

Those are all part of the Luna family. They are celebrating her cousin Alex's first communion.
Karla and Alex:

The Cathedral interior:


We head to Karla's grandmother's house to change into clean clothes for the upcoming fiesta. It's a beautiful, clean, bright house with incredible hand-painted tiles, each one a little bit different.

During my time here I wear borrowed "Cubavera" shirts, very comfortable and fashionable here.

We head to Alex's communion fiesta. The hosts all sit at one table, the youth at another huge table, and the adults at their own tables. Everything is fully catered, with free cervezas, plates of tacos and cucumber with chile and lime for appetizers, birrea (beef dish local to the area) with rice, beans and tortillas for entre. We are treated to a VERY LOUD brass band. Everything is very loud here. The party is huge. Dancing, moonwalk for the kids, drinking, eating.

We jump out for a minute with Karla to see her family's villa. This is a little ranch house outside of town, with a room for each of the 8 sub-families that make up the Luna family. It is built on an old 19th century hacidenda, and there are remenants everywhere.



"Villa Luna"


Inside, the villa is beautiful. Lovely little gated courtyard.



Behind the villa there is a huge stable holding a good 20 prized dancing horses, worth up to $50,000usd each. Two of Karla's uncles ride and train them. Too dark for pictures.

We return to the communion party and eat churros rellenos. Later that night, we hit the town with the rest of the youth. At the first bar I learn that the moon (la luna) is the women's restroom, the sun (el sol) is the men's bathroom. My bad.

The next bar could easily been any bar in the US, minus the occasional accordion over the speakers. We danced, drank and had fun till closing time. Karla's little sister also showed up, who is 16yo but looks no more than 14. Carding isn't enforced like it is in the states.

Next day we wake up late and head to grandma's house for breakfast. Menudo (tripe soup), southern style with no hominy). Delicious. We come back and wash clothes.


... and hitch a ride to another party. This time at Villa Luna, with mariachis. We go in the back of an uncle's truck.

(Union de Tula is named for Union de T.V.L.A, the initials of the four founders)


This party is great as well. Again, fully catered. This time with sheep and chicken cooked over an open flame. Delicious.

We are also treated to a horse dancing performance.

Karla's uncle brings a horse into the courtyard and it trots around in step for a few songs. The whole family crowds around and takes pictures. Afterwards parents line up to have their children's pictures taken with the horse and rider.

Horsemanship is a big deal here. The next day we saw a young woman arrive at the Cathedral for her quincera in a flamboyant blue dress on a huge black horse. After the ceremony she rode away and her father danced along side with another horse.

That night we went to the plaza. We drank "calientitos", a delicious hot drink of boiled fruit, and ate Mexican hotdogs (wrapped in bacon, with chile and katsup). We also observed the tradition of "la vuelta" (turn). The plaza is a big square. Various food vendors lining the edges, with trees and a big gazebo in the middle. Young single women walk clockwise around the square, young single men walk counterclockwise slightly outside them. If a man fancies a woman, he'll stop and ask her if she wants to walk around with him. Couples walk counterclockwise with the men. This is how courtship happens in Union De Tula. Karla's pa*rents met this way decades ago, and still walk around the plaza to this day. Young and old participate. I found it very charming.
1349

The next morning Karla left back to the US to return to her work as a nutritionist. We spent one more day with her family. We went to the Cathedral and were blessed by the priest, who rubbed oil on our open palms. Karla's dad spent the afternoon chatting with various people in the plaza. He is very outgoing and has many friends here. We at posole (menudo made with pork instead of beef) and retired for the night.

Union Del Tula is the opposite of Guadalajara. Though I love Guadalajara, you can't deny it's filthy, with massive amounts of poverty plainly visible and a somewhat lawless feel. Union Del Tula feels like a very small town, though apparently it has 28,000 residents. For the first time I was instructed not to park my motorcycle on the sidewalk. There were people sweeping the streets and the main center. It was very clean, very traditional. People take pride in their city and their traditions. I never felt ill at ease here, never suspected I was being ripped off because I was a tourist.

Many thanks to the Luna family for allowing us the opportunity to participate in their reunion festivities. It's one thing to view a culture from the outside, as an observer. It's quite another to be able to participate and be immersed in the culture. It was an incredible experience, both in Union De Tula with the Luna family, and in Chihuahua with Michelle's family. Living within the culture was a fascinating experience, and I will never forget the hospitality I was shown.