Thanks Richard - an interesting trip.
"Richard" wrote in message
news:eugv9h$okp$1@dns3.cae.ca...
>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 yesterday, 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
>
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