| Page 5 | <- Back | Back to index | Last page |
After passing Queretaro, we still didn't see signs mentioning Guanajuato, but we did occasionally see other towns mentioned that I recognized from the guidebook. I hoped we were on the right path. Unfortunately, the driver's estimate of three and a half hours came and went, and it was apparent that we weren't yet getting close to our final stop. Using the few mileage signs that we saw, along with my memory of the distances involved from my guidebook, the driver and I estimated our arrival in Guanajuato at 2 AM.
Later, in the darkness of the van, with Jan and Matthew occasionally dozing off on the back bench seat, I noticed our driver holding the steering wheel with stiff arms and repositioning himself on the seat. I recognized those signs of sleepy driving, and I had yet another worry in what seemed an endless list of them. With the dark road filled with speeding trucks, a sleepy driver sounded like the worst possible situation. Fortunately, without saying anything, I think our driver realized the same thing. Moments later, we pulled over at a Pemex station for a short bathroom break. To my surprise, another AeroMexico van pulled up and stopped with us! Apparently, one of the other vans really had joined us on the road sometime after we left Mexico City.
That was a relief, and I again relaxed a little. However, thirty minutes further down the road, our driver again was showing signs of fatigue. When he asked if I would like to stop for coffee, I gladly agreed. Again both vans stopped briefly. Once we resumed our trek, I asked if the other van was still headed to the airport, and the driver told me that no, they were headed to the city of Guanajuato as well now. Moments later, the other van pulled adjacent to us in the other lane, beeped the horn once, and sped away. I was perfectly content to remain at our current speed, even if it meant losing our companion van. Luckily, our driver felt the same way.
Finally, signs mentioning Guanajuato began to appear, though the distance on them was unpredictable. We passed a sign that said Guanajuato was 55 kilometers ahead, then one that claimed 48, followed by one that said 53. I joked with the driver: "Guanajuato: 50 kilometres, mas o menos." Gradually the numbers on the signs decreased, and roughly an hour later than our prediction, we rolled into the outskirts of the city.
As our final challenge of the night, we had to find our hotel in Guanajuato. The guidebooks all describe Guanajuato as a city that you don't want to drive in, because the streets are narrow, confusing, and many of them dip into underground tunnels that interconnect under the city. During the day, it is said that many of the young residents of Guanajuato stand at the tunnel entrances, offering to be navigators for hire, helping visitors around the confusing city. At 3 AM of course, there would be no young guides. Our driver solved that problem in a hurry, by stopping and hiring a taxi to lead us to El Jardin, the central garden where we knew our hotel was located. We followed the taxi through a surreal route up narrow lanes, around tight curves, into tunnels underneath the city, and finally we came to a stop in a curve, where the taxi driver indicated 'El Jardin'. Traffic wasn't permitted into the garden, so I had to ask both the taxi driver and our driver to help with the bags, and we wandered into the Jardin.
After a few moments of looking around the darkened plaza, we found the Hotel Luna, locked up tight at three in the morning. However, a few knocks on the door brought two very helpful young men to the door, and in no time at all, we were shown through a dark but obviously attractive hotel to our room. Collapsing into bed after a 20 hour travel day, we slept late the next morning. When we finally awoke, we were glad to be safe and sound, thrilled to be deep in the heart of colonial Mexico, and astonished by our beautiful surroundings.
And that was just day one of our nineteen day adventure in Mexico.
| Page 5 | <- Back | Back to index | Last page |