Daniel Cann

Looking out of my passenger window I was greeted with some interesting sights: there was a lot of litter thrown on either side of the road, obviously the Mexican’s were not troubled by the eyesore that ‘fly tipping’ produces, I even saw a dead horse left to rot by the side of the road, I kid you not! As the bus meandered on its way further South and East the scenery cleared up, no more rotting dead horses, fewer shantytowns, but more rocks and rugged hillsides.

Our bus went through a few checkpoints that were patrolled by the ubiquitous and heavily armed policemen! We also witnessed scores of Mexican soldiers in full combat fatigues carrying automatic rifles. We needed no further evidence that we were indeed ‘South of the Border.’ It was a little too ‘real.’ I felt as if I had just arrived in the middle of a news bulletin. These were things that you normally saw from the comfort of your front room on the television; still I suppose it was all a learning curve.

That afternoon we passed a volcanic range and there were piles of odd shaped rocks littering the hillsides, an awesome and eerie sight. We finally arrived at the city of Guadalajara exhausted at 9pm. We stayed at the Hotel ‘Nacional.’ We had a well-deserved hearty evening meal (we did not care how late it was) and were treated very well by the hotel staff. I later learned that Guadalajara is home to more American ex-pats than anywhere else in Mexico so I suppose two more Gringos arriving hardly raised any eyebrows.

The ‘Nacional’ was large with eight floors, we found our rooms to be spacious and with air conditioning, television and en suite bathroom all for an agreeable price, a far cry from sharing a dorm with twenty others! Later that evening there was a thunderstorm that turned the sky purple, reminding me of the one we had witnessed in Alice Springs earlier in our travels.

The following day we woke after a deserved sleep and took to the streets of Guadalajara with no particular sight in mind, we just wanted to see more of it. As we soon discovered the city’s main features were flowers, plazas, cathedrals, squares, markets and large commercial buildings. There was no mistaking this was a prosperous city. Another feature were the fountains, apparently there are over a hundred and fifty and I can attest to that!

We were fortunate to catch several Mariachi bands and some Mexican men and women in traditional nineteenth century dress dancing. It was all very colourful and more in line with the picture of the Mexico that I had cultivated in my head before travelling there. We later encountered a horse and trap at the side of the road; it was like going back in time. I found Guadalajara a charming city that had managed to move on with the times while still preserving the past.

I don’t know what it was but we found ourselves on yet another overnight bus that evening this time bound for Mexico City. Ben argued that it was a good way to save money, which I suppose with hindsight made sense but this schedule was clearly telling on the both of us. That journey was not a pleasant one for me as I suffered with stomach cramps and a fever. I even hallucinated on parts of the journey! It was a relief when we arrived at the station.

The taxi ride to the Hotel ‘Bamer’ was chaotic and I soon learned how Mexico City is known for being the most densely populated city in the World. There were lanes and lanes of fast moving traffic. The most common feature was the green and white Volkswagen Beetle taxicabs ferrying terrified tourists around! I literally collapsed onto my hotel bed and spent most of the day sweating out my fever and trying to recover. Ben sat at the side of my bed and explained that he planned to go on further South and over the border to Guatemala. ‘We can meet up again in about a month at South Dakota.’ He reasoned. I grunted something back that it was fine. I planned to see Mexico City when I felt better then head back to Texas. At that moment all I wanted to do was to rest and recuperate.