After an incredible week with my parents in Puerto Vallarta, we were ready for our next adventure. Our place, the Container Inn, was close to the bus station, so we slung on our bags and walked over. It was apprx. 1,000,000° outside, so we arrived extremely hot and sweaty.
The bus was amazing. All of the seats were massive and reclined pretty far back. They had TVs built into the back of the seat in front, and there was nice air conditioning and great views. We were so happy after our summer of traumatic European bus experiences! We took in the beautiful scenery of the Mexican countryside, including multiple agave fields
We arrived in Guadalajara just as the sun was setting, and grabbed an uber to our Couchsurfing host, Christian’s, house. We met him for the first time and got to know him a little bit. He’s from Guadalajara, loves metal music, is a chef, and has a sweet little dog named Spike! We chatted for a little while before he had to leave for work, and we had to find food before we (I) perished.
Wini found a nearby taqueria that I was highly opposed to going to, and can I tell you why?? It looked honestly so gross from the pictures. Like I’m sorry, but it looked like the only thing they put on their tacos is beans and I wasn’t in the mood for a bean taco.
Wini, however, saw the vision. She saw the alarming clipart menu and the weird bean tacos and knew in her soul that it was going to be good. Why? Because she grew up in Taiwan, where the more janky the marketing, the better the product! We ordered 3 Adobada tacos each (in very broken Spanish being laughed at by the ladies), went home, and devoured them. I had to eat my words because Wini was right — they were incredible! However, eating the words and 3 tacos was not enough! I was starving, so I marched back out to order 3 more each.
It was even more ridiculous ordering in Spanish alone. The ladies were roasting me in front of the other customers, who were all laughing and staring. It was honestly hilarious, and felt loving, not malicious. Gotta keep going with my Duolingo so I can know for sure though lol!
Our first full day in Guadalajara, we had a slow morning (mostly planning for the next few days), and then realized Christian had the morning off so we decided to spend it together. He suggested that we drive to the nearby town of Tlaquepaque, a “magic town” or “pueblo mágico”. The Pueblos Mágicos program was created by the Mexican government to promote and preserve towns that possess cultural, historical, or natural significance to Mexico. There are now over 170 magic towns today, and we want to see as many as possible!
The colourful, vibrant streets of Tlaquepaque were so charming to walk down. There were murals, statues, and bright flags along the street, and everything was bright and inviting.
We poked our heads in the beautiful church called Parroquia de San Pedro Apostol. The church features beautiful architecture with elements of colonial and Mexican Baroque styles.
We then stopped for a little tequila tasting (#dualities).
Getting hungry, we stopped for lunch a little outside of the touristy part to get some incredible (and much cheaper) food from a local spot. On Christian’s advice, we ordered the local specialty of Birria, a savory meat stew slow-cooked until tender, with tortillas. It was delicious!
Christian brought us home, stopping for some amazing Agua Frescas (fruit juices), and then had to get ready for work. That evening, we went out for dinner at a place Christian recommended: Carnes Asadas El Andariego. Another incredible meal. We ate our weight in tacos and I tried something called a ‘vampiros’ which was delicious!
The next day, we walked to downtown Guadalajara which was about an hour away. The walk was so cute, and colourful. We love the vibes of this city!
We arrived at the downtown ‘centro’, and walked around appreciating how cute they’ve made the area. Pretty trees and plants, nice architecture, gorgeous colourful murals, statues, gazebos, etc. It was so vibrant and aesthetically pleasing.
We walked around and noticed a mall. Hoping for a little A/C, we popped in, only to realize that it did not have A/C and also?? it was a mall for just jewelry. Like, all the stores and booths inside this giant building were only selling jewelry. We walked back out and realized that the jewelry stores weren’t just in the mall, they were along the entire street!
Walking down the next street, each store was selling big Quinceañera dresses, and the street after that only electronics. We’ve seen a similar thing in Bangkok and in Hanoi, where different streets have different themes. It was fun walking down a new street and figuring out the theme.
After a busy day of walking, we decided to find a grocery store and go home for a home-cooked meal. We were standing out on a corner, waiting for an Uber to take us home with our groceries, when all of a sudden, a man ran up to Wini and tried to snatch her phone from her hands!
Thankfully, she had her fingers threaded through the phone case loop on the back of her phone. The guy couldn’t get it from her, despite yanking it really hard and struggling with her. I went absolutely ballistic. Like something truly other inhibited my body and I ran up to the guy as he was wrestling with Wini, screaming in his ear. He realized he wasn’t going to get it, and started running and I chased after him at full speed still screaming and telling him to ‘GET THE F* OFF DON’T YOU F*ING TOUCH THAT’ like an absolute maniac. He looked genuinely terrified and was trying to shield his face from me hahah. I could have caught him, but when I realized he didn’t actually have the phone I stopped chasing, he ran and hopped on the back of his buddies motorcycle around the corner, and they sped away!
A bunch of bystanders came by to check on us and make sure we were okay. They looked so sad and apologetic about what happened to us. The uber thankfully pulled up not too long after and we were able to just relax on the way home and calm down from the crazy close call we just had. We felt so thankful that he wasn’t successful!
We got home and told Christian about our wild encounter, and he told us a similar story: he was driving with his ex-girlfriend with their windows down in traffic, and some guy ran by and snatched the phone from her hand and got onto the back of his friend’s scooter and drove off! So, if you’re ever in Guadalajara, we would definitely recommend using a phone case loop or strap.
The next day, we had something very special planned: A tequila tour in Tequila, Mexico! Wini’s liquor of choice, and another ‘Magic Town’. We were excited but knew we had to eat properly before such a big day. Wini grilled up some chicken breasts, and we stopped in a nearby bakery for bread, but when we got there we realized they only sold pastries. In broken Spanish we asked if he had white bread “tienes… pan… blanco?” He told us in very fast, unbroken Spanish that they didn’t but he pointed across the street to a corner store and indicated they had some bread. Thankfully, they had just what we needed, and we were able to hurry to the bus stop where we caught an incredibly packed local bus.
At the pickup point for our Tequila Tour, we were introduced to Ivan, our guide. We drove 1-hour to Tres Mujeres, a tequila distillery. We got separated into English and Spanish-speaking groups, and Ivan took us around introducing us to the agave plants and talking about the tequila-making process.
We went into the chamber where they cook the agave plants, and then we saw the vats that were fermenting. He poured us a shot of the strongest tequila. It was like 50-55% alcohol and terrible! (Well, I thought so, but Wini seems to enjoy?)
Then we went down where they keep the barrels, and tried more tequila: blanco and reposada. Our guide, Ivan, talked a lot about sustainability and being careful about what kind of tequila (or anything) you’re buying, because some companies (like Jose Cuervo) and people (like Kendall Jenner) make tequila but don’t care about the environmental cost, and they end up harvesting in really unsustainable ways. They don’t care if the land gets destroyed because they can always just go pay someone else for their land next season. He was saying these smaller businesses want to ensure that they are using the land well so they can continue to live there and provide for their families for generations.
We were able to walk around the property and check out the agave fields.
After finishing up at Tres Mujeres, we headed to our next destination the small town of Amatitán. It was so cute, with lots of art, flags, and nice plants.
Ivan led us to a beautiful place called Ruinas Chimulco, old ruins that have been repurposed into a restaurant. But we didn’t go for food, we just went to walk around and experience the property. It was seriously heavenly. As soon as we walked in we felt such a peaceful calm. Ivan told us there was a local legend for lovers there, that because the water is constantly flowing if you and your lover dip your hands together in the water, you will last forever like the waters there. So cute! The water was full of minerals so it looked cloudy and ethereal.
We also went into a little cave with bats flying all around and a cute little toad.
From there, we to a nearby shop for more tequila from Los Alumbrado, which is a super local company. They don’t sell their products anywhere but in that area and only make 200 bottles a month. We tried a tequila beer, a blanco, a resposado, and a “spooky” tequila — it’s black because it’s aged in barrels with charcoal on the inside. I tried some flavoured tequila, like banana, coffee, and mango flavours, which were all delicious and didn’t taste like tequila at all. YAY!
Wini did a keg knell where they poured some into her mouth directly. (Her kind of YAY!) She trained for 4 years at IU for this!
We chatted a little bit with some of the other people on the tour, and realized that 5 of them were related and were there on a family vacation because the dad was originally from Mexico and had never been back to visit!
As a group, we decided to go to lunch next, so we got back in the van and drove to Tequila, which is another ‘Magic Town’. It was adorable! Again, it had a lot of colourful flags, art, music, etc. Ivan led us to his aunt’s restaurant and we sat with the family from our tour, chatting with them more about their life and story. After lunch, we explored the adorable town.
Our last stop was to an outdoor beer garden called Cantaritos El Güero, which specializes in (you guessed it) TEQUILA! They sell their tequila juices in clay jugs that can be as small… or BIG as you like them.
At that point, we were feeling pretty sober and tired after lunch and weren’t quite prepared to get back into drinking, so we just walked around and took in the sights and sounds. And sounds there were! There were like 5 different mariachi bands playing different songs at full volume at the same time. It was actually so hectic!
Feeling surprisingly sober after a full-day tequila tour, we got back into the van and watched as extremely drunk people were carried out by friends and family to their vehicles. It was such a wonderful tour, and we really appreciated Ivan’s commentary throughout the day.
On our final day in Guadalajara, we chatted with Christian in the morning. He was telling us about his time working on cruise ships, where he literally worked split shifts for 6 months and then 9 months straight, without a single day off, and was only paid ~$1300 USD a month! Evil.
For lunch, we went with Christian to one of his favourite spots: a taqueria that only sells barbacoa (specially seasoned slow-cooked meat) tacos. They came out in 3 seconds, and were some of the yummiest tacos I’ve ever had!
That night, Christian went to work and we said our goodbyes. He was an amazing host for our time in beautiful Guadalajara. We packed up our things, and headed out that evening for our overnight bus to… Mexico City!
