Day 189: Guanajuato – Mexico – Dec 23rd

Luckily it’s a Sunday, as we had to take the subway with our backpacks to the bus station, which is no easy task even without our packs because of the massive amounts of people that take the metro. The bus station is super organized, but it was definitely holiday season now as the place was PACKED. We moshed our way through and picked up our student tickets we purchased online. Hooray for still looking like students!

After our travels through rural China and Nepal, we have low expectations of the bus service here….but oh my were we totally off. After going through about two luggage searches and security pat downs before reaching the bus, we were given luggage tags for our bags and a snack bag with a choice of drinks! The seats were SO comfy, with enough space to outstretch your arms and legs, with a seat recliner that goes almost flat!!! They even have not one, but TWO bathrooms (male + female), with fancy looking doors to keep the unpleasantness out. Anyone that’s taken a Greyhound with a useable toilet knows those stalls are disssssgusting. The only downside was that, we didn’t know they’d provide food so we brought our own lunch =P

Arriving in the tiny streets of Guanajuato in a taxi, we were flagged down by a guy in a dress shirt yelling our names. Turns out, our hostel was actually the old home of a young local who went abroad to do ‘stuff’. Instead of taking us to the hostel right away, he actually took us to this local bar to chat over a beer, on the house! Awesome! The hostel was cheaper than others as the place is still under renovations but our room is pretty sweet. And we were the only guests, so we got the whole place to ourselves! It sounds nice, but at night it gets a bit creepy as the place reminds me of those abandoned homes in zombie movies, complete with dusty bookshelves and old bottles of liquor on the wall….

Randomly walking along the street we managed to find this amazing restaurant close to our hostel for lunch. It was extremely good, almost on par with some of the best food we’ve had in Toronto! Thinking the whole town had awesome food, we visited a place recommended by the New York Times. Worst meal so far in Mexico, and we’ve had some pretty sketchy foods coming out of metal pots at the street corner. Totally ruined our high praise of the Times.

The town though, is just amazing. Wandering around the cobble stone streets, it almost feels like we’re treading through a quaint town in Europe. With ZERO straight roads, this place was built around a silver mine, and some of the roads are actually underground tunnels!! It’s really interesting, except when you get lost… which is very easy. With colourful architecture, several main squares and lots of happy people around it gives the place an awesome aura. It’s one of those magical places where you’re wandering, and you have this urge for ice cream, and voila, an old man with his antique ice cream truck is around the corner. We sat down several times, just watching people go by and soaking in the atmosphere, and listening to the church bells ringing from afar.

After dinner, we walked out the restaurant and somehow we were greeted with a group of musicians singing and playing instruments, all dressed in medieval attire! Behind them, was a mob of tourists following the music, and we joined in the fun and listened to them sing, until they led the group to the stairs leading up to the local university, at which point the performance turned into a speech/play in Spanish, and we were totally lost so we left. At night, the town looks just as amazing being lit brightly all over.