Next stop on the trip was the vibrant Guadalajara. Filled with culture and history, Guadalajara is the capital of Jalisco. I spent a little over a week here because I fell sick and didn’t want to travel while ill. Nonentheless, I had a great experience in Guadalajara.
Outline
Sayulita to Guadalajara
From Sayulita, I took the Vallarta Plus bus to Guadalajara. The ride was roughly 4 hours and the bus was extremely comfortable, probably the most comfortable bus I have ever been on. The Vallarta Plus bus stop is within a 10 minute walking distance of the main plaza in Sayulita (https://g.page/Vallarta-Plus-Sayulita?share). I was able to buy a ticket directly at the bus station for about $35, but you can also buy a ticket on the Vallarta Plus website, here. The bus station in Guadalajara I arrived at was the Colon bus station, however, the Zapopan station would have been just as fine. My hostel was in Centro so from either station I would have had to take an Uber or the metro. The Uber ride was about 30 minutes with traffic to my hostel.
Hostel Hospedarte Guadalajara Centro
I stayed at this hostel for nearly a week and I had a great time. The hostel is a little far from the Vallarta Plus stations, but it is within a 20 minute walk from the bus station that I used to make day trips to nearby cities. The hostel is centrally located within a 5 minute walk to the main plaza and cathedral in Centro. There are several restaurants nearby and a Walmart within 15 minutes of walking.
The hostel is clean and cozy. The lounge area is spacious, the kitchen is large, and the bathrooms are typical hostel bathrooms. The only thing that was annoying about the bathroom was that the sinks had the lever to turn on the water that the typical public bathrooms have in Mexico; basically, it is really annoying to have the water running while keeping your hand right under it. The rooms themselves were comfortable, the lockers were large enough to fit my entire backpack and my room even came with a balcony.
The free breakfast was very basic with toast, jam, cereal, milk and some fruit. There were activities through the hotel that I could sign up for. I ended up signing up for Lucha Libre for about 300 pesos, and the free walking tour. There were other fun events hosted by the hostel that looked fun and great for meeting new people, as well as a tour to Tequila.
Things To Do
Walking Tour
This walking tour I did through my hostel. Our guide kept it fun and entertaining which definitely helped us stay engaged. We walked through Plaza de Armas to the Catedral, then walked through Plaza de la Liberacion, and eventually made our way to Cabanas where we admired the huge mural on the ceiling of the building. We then went into the Mercado Libertad and had a delicious torta. This was my first time eating a torta in Mexico and it was beyond delicious.
Lucha Libre
I booked to see the lucha libre fight through my hostel. It was roughly 300 pesos from what I remember and it included the ticket to get into the fight and a beer. Tuesdays are the big days to watch the fight and the day we were going was a fight between the poor neighborhood and the rich neighborhood as explained by our guide. We were sitting on the side of the poor neighborhood, and it was a blast. The crowd was going crazy, singing and dancing and yelling. The men played some game that involved slapping each other on the chest to see who was tough enough to withstand it. It was pretty entertaining to watch. The energy was so fun and vibrant, it was an awesome experience.
The fight lasted about 4 hours. It did get a little boring towards the end especially if you don’t know who is fighting. After the fight we went out to the entrance of the arena and everyone was dancing. Somehow I got pulled into dancing and was literally tossed from one man to another dancing, it was so much fun and I highly recommend joining in on the dancing.
Tlaquepaque
This is a nice neighborhood in the southeast of Guadalajara. I took the metro from Plaza de Armas to Tlaquepaque Centro and walked about 15 minutes from the metro station to the main area of Tlaquepaque. The metro cost about 9.50 pesos and was about a 15 minute ride.
The main streets in Tlaquepaque are Calle Independencia and Calle Rio Juarez. Both streets are very busy with locals and tourists. There are colorful flags hung over portions of the street. There are many restaurants and bars, and near Jardin Hidalgo and Calle Progresso there are many food trucks and street vendors. The whole area is very lively and full of energy. I took a look in a few shops and the artisan market before heading back to the hostel on the metro.
Mercado Libertad – San Juan de Dios
I first went to this market on my own while exploring the city and was completely overwhelmed with how busy it was. My second time back at this mercado was with the walking tour from my hostel, and I felt a lot more comfortable walking through this after having already been there. The mercado can get very crowded with numerous vendors and alleyways that you can get lost through. The mercado has a food court-like area where I tried a torta ahogada, the most delicious thing I’ve had in Guadalajara. It is basically a pork torta with pepper sauce poured over it. It gets messy but so delicious. The mercado also has a section that sells fruits and vegetables, clothes, and other regular household items.
Ajijic and Chapala
How to get to Ajijic and Chapala
Ajijic and Chapala are a great day trip from Guadalajara. From my hostel I walked about 15 minutes to the Central Vieja bus station and bought a ticket to Ajijic from the counter with a sign for “Autotransportes Guadalajara, Chapala SA de CV”. The ticket was 60 pesos one way. I used this blog to help me navigate my way through the bus station. The bus was very comfortable and there was air conditioning. The ride took about an hour. There wasn’t a specific bus station stop in Ajijic to get off at so I just got off at a stop near what looked like the center of the town. I had to tell the driver to drop me off at the next stop once I got near and he dropped me off on the side of the road. From there, it was a 10 minute walk through the town to the lake.
What to do in Ajijic
In Ajijic I walked along the malecon until I got to the big letter spelling out ‘Ajijic’. From there I walked into the center of town and had an amazing lunch at Chile Verde. Then I walked around the town and the main plaza. I eventually called an Uber to take me to Chapala, a bigger town nearby.
What to do in Chapala
The Uber dropped me off near Plaza de Chapala and from there I walked down to the lighthouse pier. Nearby the pier there were boats that were taking visitors to Isla De Los Alacranes, however I did not go to this island. Along the malecon there were several vendors lined up selling souvenirs and food. I walked around this area and started heading towards the Chapala bus station. Along the way there were two sets of painted staircases, one with a fish painted along the side and the other with a dragon. Once at the bus station, I bought a ticket back to Guadalajara and for another 60 pesos and made my way back to Central Vieja bus station in Guadalajara.
Day trip to Tequila
How to get to Cascada Los Azules trailhead
Since I do not like drinking Tequila, I opted to do a waterfall hike first before visiting the town of Tequila. The hike is called Cascada Los Azules and I highly recommend it to anyone in the area. From Guadalajara there are buses that go to Tequila, but because I wanted to go to the hike I took an Uber straight to the hikes trailhead. The Uber was about $30 USD one way, which is a bit expensive but for the time I had left after waking up late and the cost of the Uber to the bus station and the bus ticket, I thought this was the best option for me (I was staying at an AirBnb in the Colonia Americana neighborhood of the city). The buses to Tequila also leave from Central Vieja bus station or from the Zapopan bus station and cost about 120 pesos one way. The Uber was able to drop us off pretty close to the trailhead, which can be found here. The trail was unmarked and a little hard to follow at times, but if you follow the sound of the waterfall you should be able to find it.
the Hiking Trail
I passed by several banana trees and mango trees. I picked a ripe mango off the tree and it was so sweet and delicious. After a almost an hour of hiking through the banana and mango trees, we crossed a stream and eventually found the waterfall. It was so beautiful! We were the only ones there and it was so incredibly peaceful. The water was too cold to swim in and there was algae growing in it so I was a little nervous to swim, but we dipped our feet in and it was so refreshing. We hiked back the same route we took to hike there and made our way on foot to the main town.
Tequila, the town
We made our way to the Plaza Principal. By the time we made it, we were so thirsty and exhausted we needed food. I had lunch at Cholula La Fonda. Lunch here was decent and had tourist prices, I’m sure there are better lunch options in town but we were just so hungry we settled with the first place we found. After lunch we walked around the plaza. I was visiting Tequila on a week day and it didn’t look like many of the bars or Tequila tastings were open so we just walked around the town a bit more before heading back to the bus station. The bus station in Tequila is located at https://goo.gl/maps/XutjyYat8zab13Mb7, a quick walk from the main plaza in town. This time I took the bus back to the Zapopan bus station in Guadalajara. The bus was crowded and incredibly hot in May. There was no air conditioning and it was pretty cramped with people standing in the aisles. Regardless, a trip to Tequila is a must!
Where to Next?
My time in Guadalajara wasn’t always full of excitement (I got sick for a few days – another adventure filled with doctors visits) but it is an underrated city you must visit in Mexico. My next stop took me to the smaller city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, Guanajuato city. Check out my next blog about things I did in this colorful city!