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L=
ake Chapala and Ajijic
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The weekend of June 13th & 14th, =
Cristy and I met in <=
st1:City
w:st=3D"on">Guadalajara, busses arriving within 2=
0 min.
of each other, for a quiet time alone.&n=
bsp;
We were going to take the Tequila Express Tour http://www.tequilaexpress.com.=
mx
but we got word at the last minute that the run we reserved had been
canceled. We decided to meet
anyway and do a few things around Guadalajara
and Lake Chapala.
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Both our busses arrive=
d in Guadalajara on t=
ime, so
I only had to wait 20 minutes for Cristy. The bus terminal in Guadalajara must have about 100 slots
arranged in two parallel wings separated by a parking lot the size of two
football fields laid side by side with each bus line having its own
area. Luckily, the bus line=
I
took from Zacatecas was right next to the one Cristy
took from Zamora<=
/st1:place>
and I only had a 100 ft. walk to get to the slot where her bus arrived. We grabbed a cab to the hotel and
after freshening up a bit, decided it was time for a good lunch. The Bell Captain recommended the =
Santo
Coyote (Holy Coyote,) a restaurant built with a New Mexico pueblo décor and a=
menu
of Southwest-style cuisine adapted to Mexican ingredients. As a special touch, they mix the=
salsa
tableside from fresh ingredients and just the amount and type of chile you
think you can handle. I was=
the
only gringo in the place so it wasn’t special treatment. The food, service, ambience was =
all
great accompanied by Mariachi music.
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I was playing with a v=
ideo
camera that I bought used and cheap.&nbs=
p;
The results aren’t great but there’s some of my footag=
e of
Holy Coyote on YouTube here Holy Coyote Video.
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After lunch we wandere=
d around
the historic center a bit and then took the open air tour bus. It was cloudy and getting toward=
s dark
so the photos I got don’t really do justice. Just
like any big city, and Guada=
lajara
is big with a population around 5 million, there are beautiful areas, gru=
bby
ones, old ones, modern ones. I’ll
let my few photos speak for themselves.
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image002.jpg")
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Central Plaza with cathedral in backgrou=
nd.
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image004.jpg")
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Typical
colonial style - stores on =
ground
floor, apartments and offices upstairs
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image006.jpg")
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Memorial
to Illustrious Guadalajarans, a nice place to
relax.
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image008.jpg")
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Taking
a carriage ride around the historic center is a popular Sunday pastime.
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image010.jpg")
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Modern
shopping mall in upscale neighborhood.
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On the 14th=
we
decided to take a quick guided tour of Chapala and Ajijic, two of the lar=
gest
American expat communities in Mexico.
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image012.jpg")
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The
main pier in Chapala, the lake’s
namesake, is called the Love Corner(Rinconcito=
de
Amor.)
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Well, we had to have a=
couple
of pictures taken:
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image014.jpg")
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image016.jpg")
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Then I wanted to get a
panorama of the Chapala waterfront
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image018.jpg")
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The result wasn’=
t worth
the effort needed to get the picture.&nb=
sp;
The gate to the Love Corner was locked so I did what a couple of
boatmen did.
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image020.jpg")
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A couple of additional=
views
of the Chapala waterfront,
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image022.jpg")
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![](3D"LakeChapalaandAjijic_files/image024.jpg")
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Next day, we checked o=
ut after
breakfast and left for Zamora.
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