Mexico at Last!

Beijing 12:00 >> fastforwad 32 hours >> Guadalajara 22:00 (6 April 2011)

Due to our very short notice flight change we had little time to prepare arriving a day earlier. Once again, Couchsurfing came to the rescue and a nice guy replied and said he'd meet us. Unfortunately no wifi at the airport meant we took an airport taxi (P$260/R240) to Hostal Rojo at Chapultepec.

Our first night in Guadalajara!! Our hostel guy said it's safe to walk around so we went to the first bar we found for a cold one. All the locals were drinking litre beers, local is lekker and got one too. The bar snacks are great - cheap puffy chips with hot sauce! Great stuff. We were really shy to speak Spanish, but got a cerveza and were quite happy.

The next day (Thurs. 7th April) we wondered around the streets - what a beautiful city! It's a real colonial city with cute houses everywhere and large cathedrals with parks around them. We had our first tacos, which were great and met my sister's mate Carlos for some enchiladas. They were interesting, colourful and the flavours became slightly more bold as we ate them in order. Maagies vol, oeggies toe coupled with jet-lag sent us straight into a 4 hour coma.

Rob and Carlos with the enchiladas. Yum!

 Meeting our couchsurfing mate, Makako (alias) was the highlight of Guadalajara. Nervous to meet a couchsurfer, we met at the bar and he was great!! What a fantastic person. We got along like a house on fire, as we share common interests of diving, travelling, partying and having a great time. He took us to Parian in Tlaquepaque, a popular place for restaurants and bars downtown in Guadalajara.

Makako and Rob in the streets of Tlaquepaque.

 We walked into a beautifully lit area, with Jacaranda trees in bloom (felt like home!) and quaint little chairs & tables in a rondavel type patio. The best was the music - live Mariachi players serenading ladies and this was just 100% pure typical Mexico! I've never heard of the term 'Mariachi' but picture this: Approx. 6 men, dressed in leather shoes, jeans, large belt buckle, a tucked-in button up, light blue shirt with a 'Texan-style- tie (like a big button) and a cowboy hat...playing the accordion, guitar, trumpet or violin. Playing happy, upbeat latino tunes that make your legs twitch involuntarily. We were in Mexico, and it was just amazing...

The best shot I could get, but more Mariachi photos and video to come

Our drinks arrived - bowls with all kinds of citrus (lemon, orange, grapefruit and lime) mixed with soda water and a large shot of the most delicious Tequila! Even Rob sipped his up and we had a great night, with Mariachi in the background, guacamole, a huge bowl of just cheese - coming from Korea, where cheese isn't too tasty - to a bowl full was divine!

A little too excited at this point - even Rob the beer-drinker likes it!

Why do they call it cheesing?

 

 

 

 

...because it's FON-TO-DUE

 A little girl selling sweets came past with the funniest shirt - Trust me, I will not lie to you, I love you. Written in permanent marker on her dirty shirt. She was full of character. She couldn't believe that we were from Africa - why are you white?! Tried to educate her a little, but ja....Anyways, she was bold, fiesty and hilarious which made up for her foul language. We gave her a Y1 (Chinese Yuan) note and she was so stoked! We had a wonderful night chatting, eating and drinking. The damage wasn't good, but we cleared the bill and were driven home to the hostel by Makako, what an amazing guy!!

Trust me...