San Miguel de Allende & Guanajuato (Cervantino)

**First of all; I would like to apologize that I wont include ALL the experiences that I went thru cuz I want to keep it short and really general. that way yall wont get bored! It's not a journal, its more like a general outline of what happened, but you are more than welcome to post any question and ill answer it!**
Not too long ago I was invited to join a group of college students that was going to take a trip to the main Cultural Festival of Mexico, El Cervantino. It takes place in Guanajuato, a gorgeous colonial city, 5 hours away from Mexico City.

As part of the itinerary we were going to visit first: San Miguel de Allende, and then get to our main destination, Guanajuato.

San Miguel de Allende:

Distance: 170 miles Northwest from Mexico City [4hrs Away]

After driving all night to our first destination, by 6AM, down far in the horizon we were able to see the little town of San Miguel, nicely illuminated by the early sun rays. It took us another 15 minutes to drive down the mountain to finally get there.

It was nearly impossible not to get chills. It was like going back in time. I felt the charm of the cobblestone streets, the impressive Spanish colonial churches, and the tiny colorful houses.

There my friend and I, decided to rent a four-wheel bike and enjoy of the beautiful landscape that the hand-painted houses and the more-than- 300 churches build.

Going to San Miguel de Allende let me experience the clash of culture that the big American population and the old-fashion Mexicans have created. It gave me the chance of trying fresh hand-made tortillas, and talk to many native artisans that sell their work in the huge art markets. In general San Miguel was a great traveling experience!

Guanajuato [The Land of Frogs]: CERVANTINO

Distance: 220 miles Northwest from Mexico City [5hrs Away]

Finally our main destination! We knew we were getting close when st arted to see the crazy amount of buses parked in every possible spot in the streets. [Due to the festival]

Ten minutes after, we arrived to our parking spot, way on top of the mountains. As soon as I came out f the bus I realized that the beauty of San Miguel De Allende was short compared to the astonishing magnificence of Guanajuato. This was a city built in the mountains and right in between there was Downtown Guanajuato.

We parked on the peak of one of the mountains, right in front of the bus stop, where for only 30 American cents the bus would take us downtown.

Maybe from half a mile away we could hear the music and we were able to smell the food coming from the streets of downtown. When we arrived to the main plaza people welcomed us with food and drinks! People were dancing on the streets entertaining the many tourist wearing “Dia de Muertos” [Halloween] costumes. The first day my friends and I decided to visit the popular buildings from Guanajuato and get to know more there city.

That night I decided to join a “Callejoneada” which is a really common and old tradition in Guanajuato that basically consist of a group of singers, dressed in nice XVI century costumes, called “Estudiantina”, this group of people takes people all around Guanajuato thru old alleys, streets and underground tunnels, singing and telling old legends and stories of the city. People follow them singing classic Mexican songs and drinking from a little cup called “Purron” that most of the times is filled with Ginger or Tequila. It’s a wonderful experience because you really get to know people, Mexican culture and of course you really experience Mexico how really is! This is something so easy to recognize but so hard to describe!

After having the night of my life with the “Callejoneada” my friends and I decided to go to some concerts and plays later that night.

With no sleep or rest from the night before, with other guys that I met at the bus stop decided to pay to use the cable car and go to the peak of Guanajuato. There we visited other well-known places and took tons of pics. You were able to see all Guanajuato from mountain to mountain. It was sooo pretty!

Later that day with people I met the night before and early that morning decided to camp at “Plaza los Angeles” where many urban bands were going to perform. We stayed there ALL day. We saw 12 bands, 5 plays and like 3 dancing shows, all for free. It was great.

The rest of the time we only enjoyed a shoot of tequila in everyplace we visited, we enjoyed the people and the shows, till the end of the Festival arrived. A beautiful firework show closed the festival. Now it was time to go back to the other peak of the mountain where the bus that would take us to Mexico City was parked. We tried to get there using the 30 cents buses but all of them were packed; we tried to stop a cab but there were none. At the end we decided to walk up hill a mile and we finally got there right before the bus left. This trip was one of the best I ever had.

I could never regret all the silly things that happened and all the accidents that we went thru! Of course I, for sure, am coming back next year to get back my heart. Guanajuato truly took my heart away!