Guanajuato

Guanajuato (guana-what-o) means frog (guanax) mountain (juato). To the native peoples of the region a frog was a symbol of fertility and the river that ran thru this valley made it a fertile place to live. The city is built on the sides of the the mountain and into the valley. It has 14 tunnels running under it. Most are manmade due to increased population and the need for roads, but some tunnels are old river beds. The city is very colorful -- houses are all colors of red, pink, purple, green, yellow or orange.

Our first stop was at a very unusual museum of mummies. Due the to hot, dry climate people buried in crypts do not decompose but dry up very quickly. Years ago when they were buried they had 5 years to pay for their burial site. If they did not pay the body was exhumed and some of those are on display in this museum. Very Ghastly!

The next stop was a silver mine from the turn of the century when most of the work was still done by hand. We then toured a very beautiful theatre called Teatro Juaraz and located in the center of town. The downtown area is really neat. There are about 23 churches (and 100 bars!). With all the tunnels and narrow streets there are lots of pedestrian only walkways. We also got to see a panoramic view of the city that just took your breath away with its beautiful colors.

On the way back to the campground, the bus stopped by the side of the road so that we could buy strawberries. Man, these are the best I've ever had!! Even green they are sweet!

Tonight was our farewell dinner where we laughed at all our misadventures.