Rincon de Romos, Aguascalientes to Zacatecas, ZacatecasDec 14, 2009
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There are abandon and operating mines along the road to Asiento
There are abandon and operating mines along the road to Asiento
There are abandon and operating mines along the road to Asiento
| It got quite cold last night (+2 or 3 C) and these concrete walled hotels do not have heat. They do however have wonderfully thick blankets (a specialty of Aguascalientes) so it was not to bad. Once the sun came out it rose to about 15 deg C, a lot colder than I have grown accustom to over the past few weeks. I returned to Asiento and did some exploring along the way at the Monastary and an abandon mine. The town is interesting as well and worth the detour. After exploring I headed towards Zacatecas. Along the way I stopped and at a vineyard for a break and met the owner who is German. He was an interesting guy and explained Mexican wine is gaining some ground with some good quality products coming to the market. I have tried some Mexican wines and found nothing to recommend them however my landlady at the bed & breakfast in Puerto Vallarta brought out a bottle of Mexican wine one night that was quite good. Just before reaching Zacatecas I came across some very interesting looking cone shaped stone structures. I was surprised I could find no signs or even an entrance to the site which to me looked like it must be historically significant. I envisioned them being some ancient tombs or even large ovens out of antiquity. I finally came upon a lady and asked her what they where. Her reply; it used to be a hotel but has been abandon for many years. So much for historic significance! When I reached Zacatecas I thought I could wing it and find my way around since I had been here before. Not a chance. The centro historic is wedged between two steep peaks and is a maze of crooked, steep streets, all one way and going the opposite way that I wanted to go. I finally gave up and pulled out the laptop again, loaded some waypoints for a hotel I knew, as well as a couple of other options. It was helpful to have the points loaded on the GPS but not the routing as it was not recognizing the one way designations. I found the hotel I had stayed in before with Janine but it was just to pricey for me this trip at $650 pesos. I decided to check out a hostel listed in Lonely Planet. I tried and tried to get to the hostal but every time I got close the road was going in the wrong direction. My hill climbing experience in the Copper Canyon came in handy on a few of the steep, crooked cobble stone streets. Finally I ignored the one way signs and dodged traffic coming at me to get to the hostel. Once there I parked in front, was welcomed in and found it to be a great place. (Hostel Villa Colonial, $190 pesos for a private, single room). I was soon settled and also soon decided I would stay a couple of nights. Zacatecas is a magical colonial city and one of my favourite places in Mexico. The only drawback is that it gets quite cold at night since it is above 7,500’ in elevation, and they don't heat hotel rooms here either. |
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