Guanajuato

From Guadalajara, it was a five-hour ride by ETN bus to the city of Guanajuato, the capital of the state of the same name. The city is located about 370 km northwest of Mexico City, at an altitude of 1,996 m above sea level. The city with colonial architecture has a prosperous history thanks to the amount of silver found here by the Spanish in the sixteenth century. Guanajuato has traffic tunnels under the city that were originally built to channel excess water out of the city. 

I stayed in a hotel at the central Plaza de la Paz, which includes the yellow cathedral that defines the cityscape. From here I walked through the winding streets and narrow cobblestone alleys (callejones). Notable buildings include the white building of the university, the Mercado Hidalgo in a building once built as a train station and the beautiful Juarez theater.

I visited the mummy museum, which exhibits hundreds of mummies. By cable car I went to the statue of city hero Pipila. From here I had a wonderful view of the city. In the (cold) evenings, I was entertained by the Callejoneadas. I followed these groups of traditionally dressed musicians (estudiantinos) who make traditional folk music while moving through the alleys of the city.