Ixtlahuacán de los Membrillos

Quite a tricky name to say this one.  I have been referring to this little town as Itchy Itchy Marbles for quite some time.  I actually think that is a good name for the town although it doesn't come close to the real name all that much.

Part of the metropolitan area of the city of Guadalajara, this is a SMALL town and it really feels like it is a million miles from the Chapultepec in the city centre on a Saturday night.

Again ignoring the puzzled looks of my students and Mexican friends in the city we took a day trip to explore what the city has to offer...

Membrillos in the title is the Spanish word for Quinze fruit, the city proudly makes a great range of products from the fruit including sweets and Ponche (slightly alcoholic and yummy fruit drink) which of course I just had to buy.  The town has a large main square with its town hall at one end.  The interesting thing with this building is the fact that the murals are located on the facade rather than the inside (the inside here looked very much like someone's garden with very little detail - if any at all)

I nearly died

Upon wandering around the streets it is very soon before you realise that there really isn't much to this town at all other than residential properties and some strange abandoned looking public seating areas - oh and HUGE barking dogs that jump onto roofs and scare the hell out of you.

Behind the city on one of the huge hills that make the town as picturesque and country as it can be is a small chapel with a ridiculous amount of steps leading up to it.  Our mission was clear!
After walking up and down the same streets and asking locals how the hell you get to the step.  People kept saying to go the opposite direction of the previous and at first we thought we were stuck in some strange farce.   We eventually realized that it was a small gap in a wire fence with KEEP OFF PRIVATE LAND signs either signs.  Well obviously that is where it was!

Little town of Itchy Itchy Marbles

The climb up to the chapel was quite tough for me.  In the mid afternoon heat and suffering from a bad case of upset stomachs for the previous week, I persevered the 170 odd steps and reached the small (and rather underwhelming) chapel on the side of the mountain.  The breeze and the view from up was spectacular and you could see all over the little town and its neighbour next door.  Awesome little day trip that is for sure.

Food options are limited in the town and the bustly taco stands were completely locked up by the time we returned from the chapel in the early afternoon.  We found a really amazing burger stand on the plaza and they were super cheap too!  Hurrah!

Additionally two things I found rather odd.

The first was this picture in the square of a dog cleaning up.

The second was this picture of what looks like a Jesus that has been beheaded next to the main church of the town.

Otro pueblo dentro del Zona Metrópolitana de Guadalajara es Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos. El pueblo se puede observar del lado derecho de la carretera camino a Chapala. Un arco y un mercado de dulces típicos hechos de membrillos anuncian la entrada al lugar.

Tomamos un autobús de la central de camiones de Guadalajara y después de un recorrido de una hora llegamos al centro de Ixtlahuacan. A pesar de ser parte de la Ciudad de Guadalajara, aún se puede apreciar que es un pequeño pueblo.

Fuente escondida,

En realidad no hay mucho por hacer. Decidimos ir a explorar y me sorprendió lo limpio y tranquilo del pueblo. Después de un rato decidimos ir a la capilla que se encuentra en lo alto de un cerro, así que caminamos entre callesitas, teniando el cerro como guía.
Nos topamos con un pequeño parque abandonado, pero aún así en buen estado, donde se podían apreciar grandes árboles con ramas que casi todaban el suelo y lo que alguna vez fue una fuente.
Después de caminar sin dar con el camino, preguntamos a una persona que pasaba, que por suerte iba a la capilla, así que nos mostró el camino. Es dificil encontrar las escaleras a la capilla pues se encuentran en una propiedad privada con letreros de "No entrar" y se tiene que pasar por una reja de alambre de pues para poder llegar.

Son 170 escalones para llegar a la capilla. Tuvimos que deternos a descansar en varias ocasiones, pues el sol y el calor hacían más pesada la subida.
Cuando por fin llegamos a la cima nos dimos cuenta que valió la pena. La capilla tiene una vista hermosa, se podía apreciar todo Ixtlahuacán y las montañas a lo lejos.

Regresamos al centro del pueblo y compramos cajeta de membrillo y ponche de la misma fruta en na pequeña tienda improvisada en la casa de una familia. No pudimos encontrar algún lugar para comer, pero por suerte había un puesto de hamburguesas y papas a la francesa.

Sayula, Jalisco

115 miles south of city of Guadalajara lies the small town of Sayula.  Mostly a sleepy little place with a calm and relaxing main central plaza with attractive yellow covered alcove buildings hiding cafes, bars and wide range of little shops. Sayula isn't going to blow your socks off if I am honest.



But is worth a detour if you are on your way to Ciudad Guzman or further south to Colima if you have the time.

There is a pretty church here located on the corner of the main plaza which houses its own little courtyard which is well worth a look if you are in the city.




The town is additionally famous for a couple of reasons.

A) The ghost of Sayula

A legend involves a merchant man who met a phantom at the gate of the city who offfered him anything he could wish for if he made a pact with him.  From what I have gathered of the story is that the ghost had more in mind and apparently forced himself on the man sexually.  As you do. So, therefore around the town (pretty much everywhere) there are statues and strange mock ups of a ghost with a very large appendage peeking from under the white sheet.  Cue lots of strange photos of people with it on their visit.  We found a replica of the ghost in a small bar on the main plaza.  This really is quite a bizarre thing to find in a little town.

B) Knives

Sayula is home to a world famous Ojeda knife factory and shop where you can see some truly beautiful knives with jaw dropping prices to match.  I can't say that I am a knife enthusiast by any stretch of the imagination but these were indeed very very beautiful and many large and sword-like items of display.  The factory itself is nearby and you can visit and see the knife making process, however it was not open when we visited.

C) Cajeta - The city is famous for its production of cajeta - a thick caramel like syrup which is made from sweetened caramalised milk.  It is available across the country but is particularly famous from this city and can be bought from street sellers pretty much on every street in pretty wooden boxes.

If visiting by bus from Guadalajara I would recommend taking the bus from Primera Plus, this bus is better as they give you allocated seats which is a good thing I promise you.  On our return journey I suddenly got rather ill and the company we used Sur sell as many tickets as they possibly can and it means that you often are all huddled together standing in the aisle and with a dodgy stomach and no toilet this is not a good thing.  TRUST ME!

Al sur de la ciudad de Guadalajara se encuentra el pueblo de Sayula. Para llegar se toma un autobús en la Central de Camiones del Centro de Guadalajara.

El autobús nos dejó justo en el centro del pueblo. Caminamos por los alrededores  en un día demasiado soleado.

No hay mucho por hacer en el pueblo. Fuimos a un café que estaba en el plaza central, después paseamos por la Iglesia y fuimos a visitar la tienda de cuchillos Ojeda, que tiene fama internacional. Es un negocio familiar que se dedica a la creación de objetos punzocortantes como cuchillos, navajas entre otros. Es interesante entrar a la tienda y ver todos los diseños.

El pueblo no tiene muchos lugares para comer así que terminamos comiendo en una pequeña fonda.

Es muy famosa en Sayula, la historia del ánima de Sayula. La historia no la conozco bien, pero parece que era un hombre que se hizo pasar por fantasma y engañó a un despistado que caminaba en la noche. Hicieron un trato a cambio de dinero.

Pero el trato era un favor sexual. Así que esta leyenda se presta a bromas y vaciladas. Es común ver por el pueblo pequeñas figuras de fantasmas sosteniendo una bolsa de dinero y de hecho, fuimos a un bar que tenía un "fantasma" (una sábana blanca con silueta de hombre) de dos metros de altura, que al momento de jalar la bolsa de dinero que sostiene, una figura fálica se levanta. Es algo divertido para ser honestos.

 

La cajeta también es algo muy característica del lugar, y se puede encontrar en todos lados. En la estación de autobuses fue donde compramos la nuestra.

Es altamente recomendable comprar boleto de autobús con asiento numerado, de otra manera el autobús se llena de sobremanera, como si fuera camión urbano.

Nosotros llegamos a tiempo a esperar al autobús, pero en cuanto se estacionó, las personas corren a subirse. No hay fila ni orden. Así que por el mismo precio que los que van sentados, uno puede ir por horas parado en el regreso a Guadalajara. 

Jocotepec, Jalisco

Jocotepec is a small town situated on the shores of Mexico's largest lake, Chapala. Much is said about the neighbouring towns of Ajijic and Chapala with its mix of small town Mexican traditions and retired American and Canadian inhabitants and their cafes, stores, restaurants and bars.

Jocotepec is the most traditional Mexican feeling town out of those I have visited around the lake and feels a world away from the new age styles of Ajijic. The town felt sleepy for some of our visit, the burning afternoon heat had forced many to retire to their houses and the square after the slightly bustlier introduction a few hours previous. The town is famous for its Birria (a dish from Jalisco which is like a stew traditionally made with goat meat - and is delicious) and a local company - apparently so popular they have taken over most of the restaurant spaces in the square supplied it for us.  

Parroquia Señor del Monte

There are two churches in the town. The largest Parroquia Señor del Monte has a pretty construction with many irregular shaped pieces.  Love the little square with the awesome tall palms around it here. There are some striking and beautiful murals outside the church at the back of the square and from here you get some nice views overlooking the other church and the town.

Awesome murals of the lake

There are some striking and beautiful murals outside the church at the back of the square (El señor guaje) and from here you get some nice views overlooking the other church and the town.

View from the doorway of El señor guaje over the main town square

Further out of town (around 20-30mins walk) along the malecon (lakeside walkways) and the lakeside there are some beautiful and tranquil gardens with some bizarre and awesome sculptures around.  The day we went was rather hot so was a good excuse to have a Michelada (sounds rank - beer, tomato juice, Worcesterhsire sauce, chilli and heaps of lime and salt) and little fried fish.  YUMZ!  There is a small line of shops all specializing in this stuff which is great.  

Sweaty Julian by Chapala Lake - the largest in Mexico! 

Along the walk down to the malecon we saw something fall from the sky.  It looked like a turtle and we thought "It really can't be a turtle".  But yes of course it was.  Poor thing had fallen off a balcony and on to the ground where it awoke unpurtrubed and continued walking around....hahaha.  

De la Antigua Central de autobuses de Guadalajara se puede tomar un camión a Jocotepec. El recorrido es de una hora y media y el costo del pasaje es 52 pesos.

Jocotepec es un pueblo pequeño junto a la laguna de Chapala. En lo que se conoce como Riviera de Chapala. El centro del pueblo esta renovado y tiene un kiosko rodeado de árboles y bancas para sentarse a disfrutar algo de comer de los puestos cercanos.

Juego mécanicos en el centro de Jocotepec.

Malecón de Jocotepec

El templo principal es amplio y tiene jardines con macetas en forma extrañas con árboles adentro. Enfrente hay una pequeña capilla con un cristo de 2 metros que se llama El Señor Del Guaje. (Guaje es el nombre del árbol con el que esta hecho el Cristo), justo a fuera se encuentran unos murales con ilustraciones de escenas de la conquista. 

En el Centro se puede pueden encontrar puestos de cacahuates, elotes, nieves de garrada, birria, juguetes, tacos, y más cosas para comer.

El restaurante de El Tartamudo es el más tradicional del lugar. sirviendo birria desde hace más de 50 años, ahí comimos birria muy buena. 

A 20 minutos caminando desde el centro del pueblo por la avenida principal se puede llegar al malecón. Es un buen lugar para caminar, descansar bajo un árbol o ver el lago y las aves que viven en el. A unos pasos hay una zona para sentarse y comer nieve, tomar micheladas o charales (pescaditos fritos)

Es un buen lugar para conocer y ver lo distinto que son los pueblos de la Riviera aún se encuentren a diez minutos de distancia uno de otros. 

Jerez and Guadalupe, Zacatecas

 JEREZ

I had the extra time to travel in the city so I stayed a couple of days longer and ventured to the nearby town of Jerez, a small and cute little place around an hours bus ride away. It's a traditional Mexican town with its central plaza and gardens surrounded by some very interesting striking buildings.




It is very sleepy and a short wander around its streets finds an active market and wandering locals looking for food and drink. I found a restaurant called El Camaron Loco (The crazy prawn / shrimp!) which served amazing tortas and had a strange mix of stuff all over the walls).


I also heard a very strange conversation in Spanglish in the square with a man talking to a friend asking if his other friends were in or ot of prison at that moment. Very strange. The trip was complete!

GUADALUPE

I knew that I would be getting lost at some point on this trip. I had been doing so so so well. I had been getting on and off of buses quickly effeciently and without problems. So it figures that the easiest of all them would cause the most problems! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Gudalupe is a town that is right on the doorstep of Zacatecas and should take 20mins to get there. It took me an hour and a bit.

I got the bus in the wrong direction and then had a very scenic 30 minute ride through the suburbs of the city and through heaps of strange neighbourhoods and industrial sites. It then looped back through the city and onto Guadalupe, where the driver didn't enter the city proper and I continued so I could view the same deserted suburbs and industrial sites of Guadalupe. Eventually I got off near a highway inhabited by dogs and chickens and walked to civilisation before having to catch another bus into the town centre. YAY!

At last I found the city centre!  WOO!

Deserted corridors at the ex-convento

The centre of Guadalupe is well worth visiting for the stunning covento de Guadalupe. It houses the city musuem which is beautiful in its grounds and also the art it displays. Nearly all focusing on religious imagery, the paintings here are stunning and the corridors and exhibition rooms are eerily quiet as you wander around. The place is really quite creepy and a random window smashing shut as I was looking at paintings of Jesus' crucifixtion did not help matters further. The old library here is especially impressive with old books flowing in every direction. 

I also had incredible Menudo (soup with tripe and spices – when its good its good and when its bad its nasty) here with heaps of occompaniments. YUM YUM YUM!

Getting back was very simple indeed! Hurrah and thank goodness for that!   

Tlaquepaque, Jalisco

One of eight towns which are part of the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, San Pedro Tlaquepaque or Tlaquepaque as it much more commonly known has a really different feel than the other parts of the city. Slightly sleepy in places, it attracts a whole host of foreign tourists (often more than other parts) attracted to the town for its wide range of quality handicrafts and art galleries. This is a great place to find things to decorate your house, clothes to wear and quirky furniture too.

Set around a lovely fountained square called Hidalgo Park which is the centre of which the hubub of the city expands around. There are two churches off this square the beautiful Santuario de Nuestra Senora de la Soledad, which was under construction in 1742 but wasn't completed until 1878! It has a beautiful interior of carved stone altars, draped sheets and wooden balconies complementing the upper balcony areas. After being to so many churches in this country. This one seems like a refreshing change. The virgin statue which is the focal point of the church here is Mary dressed in her grieving black gown. The second church here is the Parroquia de San Pedro which feels like a more modern church with colourful stained glass windows dotted around and a side section where there are pictures of martyrs of Mexico.

El Parian

One of the central points of the city is the El Parian. It is a huge covered square with a central kiosk (band stand) in the centre. Restaurants and bars adorn the sides and from here you can get a great view of the live mariachi bands which play here regularly. The restaurants and bars here can be quite expensive, so we didn't go here on this trip (but will do next time for sure!) 

We enjoyed Tlaquepulque which specialises in the pre-hispanic drink of Pulque which is love or hate concoction which has the texture of frothy milk but is fermented sap of the maguey plant (agave plant - the plant where Tequila comes from) They have a great range of flavours along with grasshoppers and guacomole snacks, which were fantastic! I recommend it here. They also have a good range of locally produced beers from the city.  

Queue for Nieves de Garrafa

Another stop that is worth making for sure is the Nieves de Garrafa Chapalita.  This ice cream store is famous across the city and on a hot day (like the one we visited on) it was rammed with people queuing for their share of the stuff.  They have great interesting flavours too like beer, red wine, rompope - alongside all the traditional flavours you would expect from an ice cream place.  AMAZING!

Tlaquepaque also has a great range of interesting and quirky musuems which are well worth a look. The massive Centro Cultural El Refugio is a maze of little rooms off beautiful courtyards and open spaces. It is used as a cultural centre with a variety of live performances, educational programs and seminars throughout the year. When we were here there was a family festival and it was full of puppet shows, workshops and band practices. At night they host a haunted tour which looks amazing and apparently is not for the faint of heart... I am going soon!  

Part of the Guadalajara Me
Distance from Guadalajara: 7km
Travel there by Blue Turist bus going south on Alcade (in front of the cathedral), Guadalajara.


Tlaquepaque es uno de los ocho municipios que conforman la Zona Metropolitana de Guadalajara. San Pedro Tlaquepaque o Tlaquepaque, como se le conoce comúnmente, es un punto de referencia
para la cultura y tradiciones tapatías. Posee una amplia variedad de atractivos turísticos como museos y galerías de arte, al igual que infinidad de artesanías de artistas locales.

La fuente de la pila seca anuncia la entrada al centro de Tlaquepaque, es una de las fuentes más antiguas de la ciudad. Enfrente se encuentra un centro administrativo y la estatua a San Pedro Apóstol, patrono del municipio.

A solo unos metros comienza la calle Independencia, que es un andador que contiene tiendas, galerías, restaurantes, bares, esculturas y un ambiente festivo y vibrante. Está lleno de colores, comida típica, personas y arte. El andador lleva al Jardín Hidalgo que es el área central de Tlaquepaque. Esta rodeado por dos Iglesias, la primera es el Santuario de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, que tardó más de cien años en ser terminada. A unos pasos se encuentra la Parroquia de San Pedro.

En esa misma área se encuentra el Parían que es un punto obligado a visitar. Es una cantina enorme donde se puede ver y escuchar mariachi mientras uno toma una cazuela, que es una bebida con tequila y frutos cítricos. Muy recomendable.

En la calle Independencia se encuentra el Museo Regional de Cerámica de Tlaquepaque (Fundado en 1954) donde se puede apreciar artesanos trabajando y una exhibición de artesanías. Hay actividades para niños. Ahí mismo probamos agua fresca de Hierbabuena y Acelgas. !Muy refrescante!

A unas calles se encuentra el Centro Cultural el Refugio.  Es un edificio que data de 1865. En la actualidad alberga diferentes exhibiciones y en las noches recorridos con guías contando las leyendas del lugar. Este es un lugar recomendable para visitar teniendo en cuenta las exposiciones.

Justo a un lado, se encuentra el Museo Pantaleón Panduro del Premio Nacional de Cerámica, que cuenta con diversas salas con exhibiciones que cambian constantemente. No pudimos ver ninguna exhibición porque se encontraba en remodelación.

La Casa del Artesano, es una exhibición de artesanías locales. Se pueden comprar gran variedad de objetos con precios directos del artesano.

Hay muchas opciones para comer:

El Mercado municipal tiene gran variedad de antojitos mexicanos.

Cenaduría Los Merequetengues, que esta a unas calles del centro, ofrece, además de antojitos mexicanos, dos platillos propios "Cafiaspirinas" y "Calderetas". Los primeros son sopes del tamaño de una moneda de diez pesos y el segundo es pozole en tarro de barro con tostada hecha trizas a dentro. Esta segunda opción puede ser muy picante.

Nevería Chapalita, ofrece gran, pero en realidad, gran variedad de sabores de nieve de garrafa. La fila para ordenar puede llegar a durar diez minutos, pero vale la pena la espera.

Tlaquepulque es un pequeño bar que se especializa en pulque natural y curado. Muy buena opción para empezar la noche. Además que ofrecen alimentos como crepas, comida china y aguacate con chapulines. Una combinación ecléctica.

Gavilán Cantina, es un pequeño bar donde se puede tomar una rica cerveza o michelada.

Distancia desde Guadalajara: 7 km.

Se puede llegar ahí tomando transporte público en dirección al rus de Avenida Alcalde. Enfrente de la Catedral de Guadalajara.

Tonalá, Jalisco

Main church in Tonala

Lovely side street scene

Awesome painted apartment blocks as you enter the town

Busy street stalls in the town centre

I think that the little town of Tonala has a bad reputation that is not fully deserved. Nestled next to the touristic and well manicured Tlaquepaque, Tonala seems dusty, dirty and chaotic in comparison. After previously visiting once on a market day (Thursdays and Sundays) I was hopeful to actually be able to see a calmer and more beautiful town than previously. The market stalls take over the whole town and it is trickier to see the buildings and architecture on these days. Additionally there are hundreds more people making the whole venture one for the determined and brave.

Templo del Santuario del Segrado Corazon

I am not a big shopper so really the time to visit for me was on a day where the market was not happening. At first you can really see a strong difference from the other areas of the city. The suburbs seem rougher and less moneyed than other parts, although with many beautiful murals painted on the housing blocks as you enter the town.

The main square was calm and pretty, a range of little taco and food stands surrounding the main plaza with a large amount of benches for locals to relax and chat in the shade. The main square hosts a beautiful and quite unique looking church called Templo del Santuario del Sagrado Corazon with its pointed arch features and multi spired roof – not sure I have seen one like this in my travels in Mexico before and really makes a change from the standard Mexican style churches which are all around in the country.

Cerro de la Reina church

A short walk uphill from the main square is the lovely Cerro de la Reina – The Queen's Hill. Named after an indigenous queen who once lived on top of the hill. From here you can see great views over the city and surrounding area and also can admire the petite hermitage church which was built over the place that was home to an indigenous queen. A wedding was taking place here when we visited and it looked incredibly perfect for such an occasion.

Two small museums are well worth a look while you are here. The Museo Nacional de la Ceramica – explores the beautiful ceramic work of Mexico and of the local area, the building itself is worth visiting for with its odd alcoves and window frames often depicting fish and suns. Around 10 mins away on foot is the Tonallan Musuem which has two main sections – an indoor one with temporary exhibitions about different areas of the state (when we visited it was about Sayula) and an outside ceramic section which housed giant spinning tops with a variety of painted scenes and patterns. Both museums were also free! Hurrah!

Window detail at Museo Nacional de la Ceramica

Food wise – Tonala doesn't seem to offer a great range of restaurants and food establishments that are so well established in neighbouring Tlaquepaque, but we ate good food in front of the City Hall with a view of all the people hurrying around and later had good seafood with hugely friendly waiters at El grajo.

All in all, I would definitely recommend visiting Tonala – a wide range of galleries, ceramic and furniture shops await for those that are interested. Many of these have open workshops so you can see the goods being created. I didn't see these so much on this visit so I think this could be more apparent on market days. For a more relaxed stroll around the town I would recommend visiting on a Saturday where the market is absent.  

Tonalá se encuentra a una hora en autobús del centro de la Guadalajara. No tiene fama de atraer turismo en días distintos al Jueves y al Domingo, que es cuando se encuentra el mercado de artesanías a lo largo de la avenida principal. El mercado es muy recomendable para conocer el trabajo de artistas locales con precios directos del artesano.

La plaza principal es un lugar muy tranquilo. Se encuentra rodeado de iglesias, puestos de comida, del mercado municipal, así como del Ayuntamiento.

A unos diez minutos caminando de la plaza principal se encuentra el Cerro de la Reina, Lugar de referencia para Tonalá. El cerro tiene ese nombre porque una reina indígena vivió ahí cuando llegaron los españoles y se puede apreciar monumentos en su honor en el cerro como en la plaza principal.

Cerro de la Reina.

En el cerro se ecuentra una pequeña parroquia y se puede apreciar más a profundidad lo enorme que es la ciudad.

Tonalá tiene dos museos. El primero es el Museo Nacional de Cerámica, que cuenta con una exhibición de artesanías locales y de otros estados pasando por diversos estilos de creación.
El segundo es el Museo Tonallán, este museo es más pequeño y cuenta con exhibiciones temporales acerca de diversos municipios del estado. En esa ocasión era acerca de Sayula.
Los dos museos son de entrada gratuita.

No hay muchas opciones para comer, así que decidimos ir a un restaurante de mariscos que parecía muy popular. La comida y la atención es muy buena.

Tonalá puede resultar muy distinto a otras partes de la ciudad, pero es recomendable ir un fin de semana en la mañana a conocer un poco más de Jalisco y su cultura. 

San Francisco Tesistán, Jalisco

San Francisco Tesistan is a place that I have become obsessed with.  Just outside on the main road near my house there is sign for this place and as I have seen signs for it I have wondered actually what the place would be like.  Add to this that my housemate managed to get lost and ended up there on the way to the local Oxxo (convenience store) there was a real intrigue about this place for some reason.

Not part of the city of Guadalajara's metropolitan area, Tesistan sits just outside of it.  Tesistan is very famous for its corn.  They have a massive festival of corn every year and I think it is the cultural highlight of the little town. There is even a statue of corn in the minuscule
main square!  I was so excited about coming to this town - despite the looks of disapproval and shock from my students on why I would want to visit it.

The church has one of the most intriguing courtyards that I have seen in Mexico.  The trees look ghostly against the deserted and silent church in the background.  It made me feel like it would be a great location for a zombie movie and half expected the walking dead to appear from somewhere.  In actuality it was just a local man with a guitar that greeted us (well and a big Jesus statue with his arms stretched out) as we explored the church area.

Another thing I love about these small towns is that they have tuc-tucs as a mode of transport.  The town itself is small enough to get about by motorbike with seats attached!  Hurrah!  The town is great to wander around with torta (rolls stuffed with yummy food) stands and aging deserted cantinas with plastic tables and chairs and a bustly centre with peopel running around doing their shopping and chores.  We found an awesome (and soooo clean) place that served seafood tostadas (big fat crisps - like pappadoms) and we managed to have squid and cerviche lunch with an ice cold beer!  AMAZING!


As this is corn town, it wouldn't be right to leave without trying one of the local corn cakes which was sold to me by a woman who was asleep most of the time we visited but managed to wake up in time to sell me a few cakes before presumably returning to her slumber in the heat of the afternoon.  Love it.





Ya hacía un tiempo que teníamos curiosidad de ir a Tesistán. En alguna ocasión una amiga se perdió buscando un oxxo y !terminó en Tesistán!. Así que decidimos ir por nuestra cuenta a visitar el lugar..

Tesistán es un pueblo que ha sido "comido" por el crecimiento de la ciudad de Guadalajara. Se encuentra a 30 minutos del centro de Zapopan en autobús. Uno tiene la sensación de dejar la ciudad al momento de ir camino para allá.

Tesistán es muy famoso por el elote. Cada año se lleva a cabo la Feria del Elote donde se puede
encontrar comida típica hecha de elote así como actividades artísticas y recreativas para la familia. Inclusive hay una carrera conmemorativa.

El autobús nos dejó justo en el centro de Tesistán. Nuestro primer punto a visitar fue el templo que tiene un atrio muy largo con árboles enormes. Justo a la entrada hay una estatua de Jesús con sus brazos extendidos y que sirve perfecto para una fotografía de recuerdo.

Después del templo, caminamos por las calles que rodean a la plaza principal y pudimos ver puestos de comida ambulantes, personas haciendo sus quehaceres diarios, niños jugando o comiendo un helado.

Nos encontramos con un restaurante de mariscos muy bueno justo a un lado del templo. Comimos tostadas de ceviche y pulpo, pero el restaurante tiene gran variedad de platillos.

No había muchas cosas por hacer, así que terminamos de explorar Tesistán muy rápido. Nos
dirigimos a tomar el autobús de regreso y nos encontramos con una tiendita de pan de elote que estaba en la cochera de una casa particular. La señora que vendía el pan estaba dormida en una silla cuando llegamos, la tuvimos que despertar para que nos pudiera vender, y muy amablemente nos atendió.