Sparks Mexico

Monday, January 28, 2008

What taking back roads can turn into

This we found taking an alternet route from Cuzalapa Jalisco to Santiago Colima after visiting a coffee plantation. And no, I was not just having fun ... that was the road or river ford.

Cuzulapa coffee trip

Friday, December 28, 2007

Mascota and Highway 70

I went up to Vallarta a few weeks ago to get my renewed passport with the plans of making a loop thru Mascota and beyond and returning to Melaque via highway 80. I stayed one night in Bucieras before picking up the passport and another night in Autlan on the way back.

Highway 70 leaves Vallarta just south of the Nayarit border, north of the airport and next to the new Vallarta Home Depot. It's about 40 kilometers of small towns and farmland before you start into the mountains. The road is actually very good except they have cut thru some impossible hillsides making yearly roadwork a necessity. Right now (November 2007) they are working on about five major sections both east and west of Mascota. Most of the work is on the west side.

After crossing the bridge below it mostly flat land until you drop back down into Mascota. Mascota is very Colonial in a non-fancy way with one church in ruins looking as if it was a religious center for the area many years ago. Lots of classic construction and cobble stone streets.

Mascota from above

Mascota church

Mascota plaza

Highway 70 bridge

Mascota trip webpage with more fotos

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

The real Virgin of Guadalupe celebration

Mexico’s most colorful nationwide annual festival, the celebration of the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe, begins on December 1 thru the 12th. This year in Melaque they have been beginning the celebration at 5am in the morning with booming fireworks and audio announcments. Parades almost every day and streets are decorated in combination with Christmas - quite a scene. The fotos below are from last year and on the bottom is a link to short videos of this year.