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Showing posts with label Michoacán. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michoacán. Show all posts
Friday, January 21, 2011
We traveled from the beach to Morelia to stay the night and then on to Patzcuaro (only 45 mins away) early the next day.
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| On the ride from Morelia to Patzcuaro we had the front window seat on the top floor of the double decker bus. |
From Patzcuaro, we took a local bus to visit the ancient village and ruins of Tzintzuntzan. Tzintzuntzan used to be the capital of the Purépechan kingdom (indigenous group). The name means "place of hummingbirds" in P'urhépecha. Today the village is known for its pottery and woven goods.
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| the signs were in Spanish, English and what we assumed was P'urhépecha |
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| ruins in Tzintzuntzan, overlooking lake Patzcuaro |
In Tzintzunzan we also saw:
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| cattle being herded to a water hole |
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| the church |
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| church |
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| lots of woodcarvings |
From Tzintzuntzan, we continued on to Quiroga.
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| Zócalo in Quiroga |
We then returned to Patzcuaro to explore a bit more in the daylight before catching the bus back to the DF.
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| Patzcuaro, Plaza Grande/Quiroga |
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| an old church that is now a public library, with an early work of Juan O'Gorman on the back wall |
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| mural by Juan O'Gorman |
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| library from the outside |
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| Plaza Chica |
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| Plaza Chica |
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| the basilica |
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| altar with the Virgen de la Salud, a sacred figure to the Indians of the region, who come from the villages to pay homage to her and petition her healing power on the eighth day of each month |
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| the basilica |
We realized in Patzcuaro that our final bus ride to the DF would be 8 hours -- which is doable, but seemed a bit much compared to the 5 hours or under of the rest of the bus trips. We decided to change plans last minute, leaving Patzcuaro early to go to the beach and we'd finish Patzcuaro on the way back to break up the trip. While a good idea in theory, it unfortunately resulted in a very long day filled with buses and waiting, instead of enjoying the beach.
There were no direct buses from Patzcuaro to Zihuatenejo (bad information part 1), so we went to Uruapan. We had some time to kill, so we went out and explored.
We saw:
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| I felt so tall! |
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| La Huatapera -- museum of regional crafts in the former hospital built in 1533 |
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| Eduardo Ruiz National Park |
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| Eduardo Ruiz National Park |
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| Eduardo Ruiz National Park |
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| Eduardo Ruiz National Park |
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| Eduardo Ruiz National Park |
We made it back to the bus terminal with great timing, feeling refreshed of having seen something extra on the itinerary, even though we "lost a few hours" in the process. When it was time, we went out to the platform to catch the bus, but as we kept asking where our bus was, we were continuously told (by employees) different locations (but that no, the bus had not yet arrived). After waiting a while for the "late" bus (not too uncommon), we were informed it had already arrived and left. We were not happy campers. So instead of spending the day on the beach, we hung out in Uruapan for most of the day, arriving in Zihuatanejo around 9pm. At least they didn't make us pay for the second bus ticket like they were originally going to though and we had a fun evening in Zihuatanejo once we finally arrived!
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| the pay-computer I used during our afternoon wait |
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| view on the way to Zihuatanejo |
After Morelia, we headed to Patzcuaro. Patzcuaro has a very different look than Morelia, with adobe constructions and red-tile roofs.
We grabbed lunch, which included trying corundas and huchepos (both made out of corn, but one is sweet and one is salty).
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| Patzcuaro |
We saw bits of Patzcuaro in the afternoon and evening (went to another peña for live music), but spent most of our time going to visit the island Janitzio on Lake Patzcuaro. We took the public transportation (boat) out to the island, whose most notable feature is the ginormous monument of Jose María Morelos (hero of Mexico's independence). The inside of the monument is filled with murals depicting Jose María Morelos' life, and you can climb the spiraling stairs to the top to a lookout that oversees the lake. The village church is famous for its Day of the Dead celebrations -- though not anything particularly special to look at otherwise.
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| public transportation boats that run from Patzcuaro to Janitzio |
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| There were so many plants in the water that it didn't look like the boats would be able to move -- but they did without a problem. |
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| Lake Patzcuaro, view from Patzcuaro |
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| Lake Patacuaro, view from boat |
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| Lake Patzcuaro, on our way to Janitzio (in the distance) |
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| lots of seagulls |
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| Janitzio |
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| Welcome to Janitzio |
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| the many stairs leading to the top of the island |
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| giant statue of Morelos |
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| view from the base of the statue |
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| inside the Morelos statue |
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| view from the top of the monument (Morelos' fist) |
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| view from the top of the monument (Morelos' fist) |
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| view from the top of the monument (Morelos' fist) |
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| inside the Morelos statue-- murals depicting his life |
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| church on Janitzio, famous for its Day of the Dead celebrations |
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| back in Patzcuaron |
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| back in Patzcuaro (See more on Patzcuaro in later posting) |
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