Mexico Travel – Guanajuato:
The Callejón del Beso, the Mummy Museum of
Guanjuato and the Famous “Estudiantina”
On this busy Saturday morning we had already seen
so much in Guanjuato. From a nice breakfast at the
historic Quinta Las Acacias boutique hotel to a
visit in a local pottery and a tour of the Alhóndiga
de Granaditas and the Mercado Hidalgo, our sightseeing
discoveries of Guanajuato continued.
From the Mercado Hidalgo market building we continued
our walk through the irregular streets of Guanajuato
and arrived on a square in front of the Church of
San Cayetano where Guanajuato’s most important
festival started: the Cervantino International Arts
Festival, Mexico’s most important arts festival.
Since 1972 this festival has been held every year
and every October it features world-class performances
by musicians, dancers, actors, visual artists and
street performers from Mexico and all over the world.
Past performers have included Rudolph Nureyev, Stomp,
Radiohead, the Afro Cuban All Stars, the Ballet
Folklorico de Mexico and many more.
The Plazuela de San Fernando
Our stroll through the atmospheric streets of Guanajuato
continued to the Plazuela de San Fernando, one of
my favourite spots in the city. An attractive square
with a mountainous backdrop, it is framed by a series
of cafes, bars and restaurants in beautiful colonial
houses that offer Mexican, Italian and Brazilian
food. The entire area is pedestrian only, so no
vehicles interrupt the serenity of this public gathering
place.
Continuing through narrow streets and alleyways
we arrived at another popular sight of Guanajuato:
the Callejón del Beso (the Alley of the Kiss)
where the walls of two opposing houses are only
1.5 metres apart. A romantic legend surrounds this
special spot: a daughter of a rich landowner and
the son of a humble miner are said to have secretly
kissed each other on the balconies of these narrow
houses. Once the young lady’s father discovered
the illicit love affair, he plunged a dagger into
his daughter’s chest. Her lover, overcome
by sorrow over her death, decided to kill himself
after losing his beloved. Nowadays, visiting couples
should kiss on the third step to avoid seven years
of bad luck.
The Callejón del Beso
A few minutes away we arrived on the Plaza de la
Paz, in front of the brightly painted orange and
yellow cathedral of Guanajuato. We took up seats
in the Tasca de La Paz restaurant with a perfect
view of the cathedral and the square in front of
it. Our driver Roberto had joined Sujei and me again,
and we started to enjoy a nice meal. Robert opted
for a “Tampiqueña”, a Mexican
grilled steak with guacamole, refried beans and
enchiladas while I chose a simple yet delicious
salad to try to cut down on the calorie count a
little bit.
Food is always a colourful experience in Mexico
Sujei and Roberto told me about a ritual that is
typical of Guanajuato: the “estudiantina”.
On evenings during the weekend, student minstrel
groups from the University of Guanajuato dressed
in traditional costumes wander through the streets,
singing songs and playing music. Also called “Callejoneadas”
(or street walking tours) are an extremely popular
tradition, usually starting off around 8 pm or so
on the main square called Jardín de la Unión
and making their way through the narrow streets
of Guanajuato, serenading their enthusiastic audience
at different points. I made a mental note to myself
that this was definitely something I had to experience
tonight.
What a view from our restaurant: the Cathedral of
Guanajuato
With lunch successfully completed we made our way
to one of this city’s most well-known attractions:
the Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato, the city’s
mummy museum. The soil composition around this city
has naturally mummified bodies that were buried
during the 1800s, and these mummies were disinterred
between 1865 and 1958 when a law was passed that
required relatives to pay a tax to keep the bodies
in the cemetery. Most relatives decided that they
were not going to pay the tax so the bodies were
dug up and it was discovered that many of them had
been mummified.
Guanajuato's soil naturally mummifies bodies
The mummies of Guanajuato have been attracting
tourists since the early 1900s, but finally a real
museum was built in their honour in order to protect
and display these eerie corpses properly. Dozens
of bodies are on display behind glass cases, from
old men and women to tiny babies. Many of the bodies’
clothes and shoes are fully intact while others
were buried naked. The room of the “angelitos”
(little angels) displays the bodies of five tiny
babies. It was clearly visible that one of them
had had an operation.
One of the "little angels" at the Mummy
Museum
Many of the bodies had a horrified expression on
their face and this display definitely brought to
my mind that death is a frightful and terrifying
experience for most human beings. In front of one
display Sujei explained that these particular three
mummies had died a violent death. One woman was
buried alive and could be seen covering herself
with her hands. Another man had drowned and his
skin had a purple tinge to it. Another man was stabbed
to death and his chest showed dark pigmentation
from the hematoma.
Death is a horrifying experience
Next door to the mummies is a special area called
the “Salon del Culto a la Muerte” (the
Hall of the Cult of Death). Right at the entrance
the audience is warned not to enter if they have
a heart condition. Displays include the finger of
a person that was murdered, a skeleton in the ground,
a coffin with nails that looked like a torture instrument,
and various mummies inside coffins. The Mummy Museum
in Guanjuato is definitely worth visiting, but it
undoubtedly has a very morbid and eerie touch to
it.
It was now late in the afternoon and I headed back
to the Quinta Las Acacias for a little rest. The
huge king size bed in my large suite and the modern
bathroom with the large round tub were trying to
tempt me to stay in and just relax for the evening,
but I knew I wanted to explore Guanajuato on this
Saturday evening.
Night-time action in Guanajuato
So at about 6 pm I started to stroll towards downtown
through the historic streets of Guanajuato. It was
getting dark yet I felt very safe walking alone
as many other women, couples and families were on
the street. I arrived at the Jardín de la
Unión and took in the evening atmosphere
on the city’s main square. Numerous restaurants
surround the densely wooded plaza with its laurel
trees, and it seemed that every restaurant had a
separate mariachi group playing for its guests.
Restaurants were in full swing
Several Estudiantina groups were waiting at different
street corners for their serenade to begin and trying
to sell spots to the passers-by. Charges were around
90 pesos (about 9 or 10 Dollars). A large group
of young people was sitting on the stairs of the
Teatro Juarez, one of Mexico’s most beautiful
theatres. President Porfirio Diaz opened this theatre
in 1903 after its opulent construction had taken
more than 30 years. Doric columns of green cantera
stone adorn the front of this historic structure,
and three flights of stairs invite people to sit
down.
The Teatro Juarez at night
I set off on a walk to explore Guanajuato by night
and strolled past the cathedral to the university
which is lit up beautifully at night. The University
of Guanajuato was established in 1732 and with its
26,000 students is one of the country’s most
important universities. The university’s main
building is built of white sandstone, and with its
imposing size is magnificently illuminated at night.
The University of Guanajuato at night
Around 7 pm stores in the side streets were still
open and I found my way back to the Plazuela de
San Fernando which had so impressed me earlier today.
People were sitting outside with laptops, hooked
into some wireless network while they were enjoying
a coffee on an outdoor terrace. The fact that Guanajuato
was one of New Spain’s wealthiest mining towns
is plainly obvious with the opulent architecture
at every corner.
Nightly street scene in Guanajuato
I also noticed that walking alone as a female traveller
in Guanajuato felt very safe. There were so many
people on the streets and the town had a very friendly
air about it which made me feel very comfortable.
At about 8 pm I arrived back at the Jardín
de la Unión, and was watching the student
minstrels get ready to set off on their evening
walking tour. I then went into one of the side streets
and happened to run into an Estudiantina that was
already in full swing, with a large number of musicians
singing and playing traditional Mexican songs.
The Estudiantina
A large group of high school girls had joined
this group and was singing along to many of the
songs. At different intervals they were dancing
and jumping and having a thoroughly great time.
I also talked with an adventurous couple from California
who were on an extended trip throughout Mexico,
taking local buses and sleeping in very simple accommodations,
and all that without any knowledge of Spanish. Their
adventurous spirit was carrying them from place
to place.
The Estudiantina walks through the narrow streets
of Guanajuato
The Estudiantina came to an end about an hour and
a half after it started and the musicians performed
a few more songs for the crowd before disbanding.
By this time it was after 9 pm and I wanted to get
back to my hotel. Rather than walking back I felt
like taking public transport, and when I asked the
locals for a bus stop they pointed downwards. The
bus route actually runs underground for long stretches
in Guanajuato’s unique tunnel system.
I took a set of stairs down and arrived in one
of the city’s tunnels and waited with two
other women for the local buses. It felt a bit strange
standing around a bus stop as a solo traveller after
dark, but I took my cue from the local women who
felt completely safe and comfortable waiting underground
at a lonesome bus stop.
Music is a big part of Guanajuato
When the bus arrived I hopped on board and filmed
the entire journey through Guanajuato’s tunnels,
fascinated by these underground structures that
snake through the bowels of the city. The bus ride
back to the Quinta Las Acacias was very inexpensive
– about 4 pesos (less than 50 Cents). People
on the bus were very friendly and a local boy was
clearly fascinated by me talking English into my
camera while I recorded the entire bus trip.
I finally arrived back at my hotel and was absolutely
exhausted. After checking my email on the high-speed
wireless Internet connection and after a bit of
satellite television I fell soundly asleep. I needed
the rest, because the next morning an adventure
of a completely different kind would start: a biking
tour in the mountains of Guanajuato!
