SKALLIWAG Colonial & Northern Mexico Trips

September 30 to November 15 2004

Note: We drove our pickup truck throughout central Mexico and had no problems with the roads, the parking at hotels, or with available gas.  We used the Lonely Planets Guide to Mexico to guide us to budget hotels and good restaurants.  We stayed in the historic district or near by so we could walk the city to see the sights. 

Zacatecas

Route:  From Los Mochis to Mazatlan to Durango, to Zacatecas, Guanajuato, and San Miguel Allende.  Heading north to San Luis Potosi, Matejuala, and Real de Catorce.  Border crossing into Texas at Nuevo Loredo.  After 15 days visiting family in Texas Hill Country, we recrossed the border at Eagle Pass and drove to Monclovo and visited Cuatrocienegas.  To return to the west coast of the mainland, we drove to Torreon, back to Durango and on to Mazatlan, and up the coast to Topolobampo to catch the ferry to LaPaz.

Using the travel guidebook, we estimated drive time by using the bus travel distances and times.  We stayed on this schedule but discovered we needed to add 1-1.5 hours to travel time if we were crossing a city, or passing through a city.  Signage in Mexico is just not good!

We spent about $800 total for the autopistas, the toll highways….they were less traveled and many times got us around a city.  We traveled mostly with 18 wheelers and found the Mexican truck drivers to be helpful, cautious and not crazy drivers!   We did not drive at night.

Sights:  We used the travel guide book to direct us and it was great.  We discovered three amazing places off the beaten path that this report will highlight….If you are in the vicinity of these places you must go.

Hotels:

Durango:  Hotel Ana Isabel was recommended but was full so we stayed at their sister Hotel Bouganvilla for $250p.

Zacatecas:  Hotel Colon on Lopez Mateo.  $270

Guanajuato:  Hotel Murillo. $370p night but during Cervantino Festival price was$650p and included breakfast.  The hotel prices double during the Festival.

San Miguel de Allende:  Posada de Las Monjas (Nuns). 01 415 152 0171.  Old convent.  $450p per night..  Good restaurant in hotel.

Mineral de Pozos: Casa Montana, check out weekend specials at casamontanahotel.com.

Matejuala:  Hotel Maria Ester.  $240p  Good restaurant in hotel.

Real de Catorce:  Hotel de Abundancia….$380p..old bank, rustic with stone walls and very cool décor.  Excellent restaurant in hotel.

Cuatrocienegas:  Hotel Plaza $530np night including breakfasts.

Restaurants:

Zacatecas:  Restaurant Cazadores, don’t eat at Pancho Villa Restaurant on Plazuela Goitia, Wendy’s Taqueria near Garcia Plaza, Acropolis Restaurant

Guanajuato:  Tratoria restaurant excellent, lots of small Mexican restaurants in town….most were very good and not expensive.

San Miguel de Allende:  Rincon Espanol on Correo, Villa de Pancho is very cheap.  Many low end and high end restaurants to choose from here.

Mineral de Pozos:  Hotel Montana has great ambiance and food.

Matejuela: Restaurant Santa Fe….great tacos, and lots of locals here.

Real de Catorce:  Molumba on corner has wonderful Argentinian food.  Buy a jar of cabaches , marinated cactus flowers.

Cuatrocienegas:  El Doc restaurant and La Casona in hotel.

Zacatecas

Three Gems of our Travels

Cuatrocienegas:  Population 9190  Elevation 750m. 

Located about 7 hours from San Antonio TX and in the Chihuahua desert, this biological preserve is an amazing network of underground springs and rivers which form crystalline pozos or pools, white sand dunes and warm water swimming.  The water has undeniable clarity and is the home of many rare turtles and fish.  Take your bicycles and snorkel gear (you cannot rent it here) and spend a day cycling through the flat valley to over 200 pozos.  There is a visitor center south of town from which you can get maps. Guides can be hired in town.  Visit the museo and casa de la cultura with a guide who speaks some English as you will get a better understanding of the history and biology of the area.

Real de Catorce:  Population 920 Elevation 2756m.

Located on the fringes of the Sierra Madre Oriental, this is a ghost town of a mining center that is being reborn.  To travel here is not easy as you take a cobblestone road up the mountain for over 1.5 hours. Then there is a two km one-way tunnel to pass through to get to the town.  Traffic is controlled by walkie talkies but there could be a wait.  The town is steep and the streets are cobblestone so you need good walking shoes.  There are many ruins and abandoned mines to be explored.  We arrived the day after a 15 day pilgrimage to St. Francis of Assisi so the town was crowded with camping peregrinos, trash and make shift tiendas in the streets.  Nevertheless, we loved the quaintness of this sleepy village and found good food and very different hotels, all clean and friendly.  Just plan to visit before or a couple weeks after the pilgrimage.  Many of the restaurants were closed.  We heard there was great Italian food here!

Mineral de Pozos: Population 130 Elevation 2305 m.

Located 45 min. from San Miguel (but it takes 3 buses to get here), this old mining town is positioning itself to be a getaway for San Miguel residents. There are two nice hotels with views and restaurants here.  Take a tour guide  who can drive you through the rolling hills to see the over 300 ruined mines (silver, copper, quartz).  There are abandoned mine baron homes and a couple little music shops with pre-Hispanic instruments made by the locals.  Ask if there is a “concert” of the local group, which uses rainmakers, deer skin drums and hand carved whistles and flutes.  Visit the little Civic Association shop to buy polished stones and hand made crafts.  It benefits the newly formed mine preservation group.                          Photos Double Eagle