Oaxacabound

Day 9

Multiple tours today in this incredibly complex and vibrant city. Forget driving, virtually impossible. I parked my car for the duration, found a hotel in the center of everything and arranged to be picked up by a pair of guides.

What put Guanajuato on the map was mining, primarily silver but also gold. In the mid-1700s, they were producing 30% of all the silver in the world and the nobleman who owned the gold mines was the richest human being in the world.

It also created a very storied mining culture. We started out at the statue of a local legend who was reputed to have defended himself against Spanish bullets with a boulder in one hand while burning down the garrison doors with a torch in the other. Kind of like their Paul Bunyan or John Henry, I guess.

It offered a magnificent panoramic view of the city.

We visited their extensive collection of 100+ mummies recovered from the catacombs. Most fascinating to me was the clothing. Hundreds of years old, but handwork, stitching, etc of coats and shoes impeccable.

We then went 70 meters deep into an abandoned mine. I huffed and puffed my way back up, reinforcing how desperately I need to get back on a bike and how glad I will be (at least initially) that it’s got electric assist!

Next was the Inquisition museum. All the torture devices you never wanted to see. Mexico was one of the last bastions of depravity. In fact, they chopped up and hid the bodies to keep it secret long after it had died out in Europe.

And of course, there was the obligatory cathedral built by the super rich guy loaded with his favorite element on the periodic table.

Hope I didn’t bore you to death with all that, just by way of saying there is a ton of stuff to do here. It reminds me of San Francisco in the good old days…uniquely picturesque city with a rich cultural history and thriving shopping/dining/nightlife scene. I used to say about SF, you could go a half dozen times, have a great time every time and never do the same things twice. Same here, amazes me that I never heard of it before.