17th Sept. 2016
It’s a transfer day today, so it should be a short post (says Janet)! Given that for each of the last two days we walked down the hill into town & back not once but twice – two consecutive 20,000 step days – we decide against a further trip today. We have seen pretty much everything we want and apart from another trip to Café Tal – very tempting as coffee at breakfast hit a new low – not much we want to do in town either.
Instead, we decide to take a walk in the other direction (uphill!). Partly in the hope of finding some decent coffee (much harder in Guanajuato than previously in Mexico) and partly to see if we can see more of the nearby castle and other sights. The castle (Santa Cecilia) turns out to be a hotel but the road takes us along a ridge high up the valley and so we get good views over the city. Clearly this is the posh part of town with newly built, brightly painted villas. We might be on the lookout for a house but here doesn’t meet any of our criteria!
Back at the hotel, we still have a couple of hours before we need to check-out and get to the bus station. It is tempting to relax, but there is always much to be done – not just the blog & accompanying photos, but also planning the next steps on our trip. One of the downsides of independent travel is that there is much to research and we have to make all the decisions ourselves.
The taxi to the bus station is cheap and easy – I suspect it is possible to get there by local bus, but it would involve at least two buses as the bus station is about 4 miles south of the town centre. Yet again we are on Primera Plus for the 3 hour transfer to Morelia but it is comfy and we know the routine – I get the backpacks loaded in the luggage compartment while Janet picks up our goodie bags of a drink, biscuits and a rubber sandwich.
It is usually fascinating watching the countryside roll by, slowly changing in colours and texture. This time the road cuts through the middle of an area of wetland – it is shown on my map as a lake, but mostly it looks like a marsh as we drive past. Wading in the shallow waters are white egrets (or possibly herons). We are still at 1750m altitude (we’ve been at 2,000m or so all trip so far) and so are quite high for a wetland area. We watch the birds and try to take pictures of the clouds reflecting off the still waters.
Once again the main bus terminal is on the outskirts of the city (Morelia is definitely a city). Janet has done her research and declares that we don’t need a taxi as there is a good system of collectivo local buses. All we need to do is look for a ‘Roja 1’ under the pedestrian footbridge across the main road.
Sure enough, as we walk up a white mini-bus with a bright red stripe stops by us and asks if we want a ride. After a quick check of “Centro?” and a comic moment as I try to fit both myself and my backpack through the small door and we are off for the massive fare of MXN$7. As I’m sitting at the front by the hatch to the driver, I end up being the go-between, shuffling fares and change from the other passengers to the driver as they board.
Lonely Planet says that Morelia is Mexico’s hidden gem and we soon start to understand why. Even just following the collectivo’s route on my phone, I can see that Morelia is laid out on a regular grid. Better yet, not only is our hotel right by the cathedral and the park in Plaza Armas, but it is a beautiful old colonial building. Our room has a little balcony from which we can look down on the main street – we even get our own Mexican flag attached to the balcony railings. I wonder if they would miss it??
In the evening, we head out for a wander, watching the bustle in the Plaza Armas. There are buskers and street entertainers. Some of the locals are sitting watching and some are just sitting or strolling and chatting. Despite all the noise and bustle, it is very relaxing. Later on, after dinner, the cathedral is lit up and it makes a stunning sight. We try to capture it but don’t have the big(ger) camera or the monopod and can’t find the right angle. We’ll try again over the next couple of days – but even our first effort is pretty impressive.
The streets around the plaza are still very busy with people dodging around the pavement restaurants and bars – most of which have music blaring out. It isn’t a quiet place, but still the ‘vibe’ is very relaxed and good natured. We are going to enjoy our time in Morelia!
