| Traveling Mexico - Taxco, Guerrero |
by Nancy Seeley
Looking for a weekend getaway from Zihua? Try Taxco, Mexico’s silver capital, located 8 hours away by bus at the northern end of Guerrero state. Getting there was half the fun recently for our contingent of 7 travelers as we climbed higher and higher through the mountains to our destination city, which literally clings to the side of Mt. Atache and boasts nary a street that is both straight and flat for more than a few blocks.
If you do “bus it,” plan on spending about $240 pesos each way. We started out on a first-class conveyance at Zihua’s Central de Autobuses around 10 a.m. one fine day, switched to a second class bus in Chilpancingo, Guerrero’s capital, and ended up on a beat-up and battered wreck in Iguala — known to locals as “the gold city” — which careened through the Sierra Madre mountains for the last hour of the trip to Taxco. Driven by the Mexican incarnation of Mario Andretti, this last wheeled structure provided a lengthy roller coaster ride - complete with the ever-present threat of sliding right off the road into an abyss - for a mere $10 pesos. What a deal! Thank goodness there was so much adrenaline surging through our bodies when we gratefully stumbled off that we were well-equipped to climb the steep, windy, cobble-stoned streets in search of hotels, guided by the beacon of Santa Prisca Church at the top of the hill. Interestingly, one can purchase bus tickets all the way back to Zihua from Taxco while in Taxco, but the Zihua folks at Estrella Blanca will only sell you tickets for the first leg of your journey there. If you want to make this a two-destination trip, try taking an Estrella de Oro bus to Acapulco for starters. Spend a night or two there before continuing on to Taxco. This route adds at least an hour of travel time on the road, but it’s not much more costly - about $30 pesos one way - and might be just the ticket if you have lots of time on your hands.
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There are oodles of hotels available in Taxco, but don’t expect deals as good as, say, Angela’s Hostel in Zihua ($175 for a double). I was disappointed to find my personal favorite, Posada San Javier ($405 for a double, phone 01-762-622-31-77), a charming place replete with trees, gardens, expansive lawns, an outdoor swimming pool, and endless little niches to settle down with a good book and a glass of wine, was booked solid. On to Hotel Emilia Castillo ($400 for a double, 01-762-622-67-17), conveniently located minutes away from Plaza Borda, the heart of things in Taxco. Another attraction here is the silver workshop of the owners, which regularly produces pieces for Neiman-Marcus in the U.S. Our 5 traveling companions opted for ONE shared room at Hotel Agua Escondida ($600 for the whole group!, 01-762-622-11-66), just up the road from our accommodations. Fond of sampling numerous options while on the road, my partner and I switched to a new bed-and-breakfast, Mi Casita ($450 for a double, 01-762-627-17-77), the next night and relocated to Hotel Loma Linda ($600 for a double, 01-762-622-02-06) after that. Mi Casita boasts wonderful balconies, great coffee, and superb views of Santa Prisca, while Loma Linda, located a ways from El Centro, has equally delightful balconies treating guests to splendid views of the mountains and valleys from a less-congested perspective.
Now about this silver business: Spanish conquerors discovered the first silver mines back in 1534. They were rediscovered about 200 years later, when Don Jose de la Borda found a seam of silver so rich in ore he used some of his newfound wealth to construct Santa Prisca Cathedral as a gift to the city. This pink two-towered parish is the most distinctive feature of Taxco’s landscape and is frequently called an “exquisite example of churrigueresco style.” Check it out for yourselves to see what that means!
As the years went on, silver mining diminished in importance, and it wasn’t until 1931 that an American college professor named William (“Don Guillermo” down here) Spratling came to Taxco and opened the first school to teach jewelry design and proper handling of the metal. Now famous worldwide for its production of silver pieces - everything from simple earrings to elaborate statues - Taxco annually hosts a National Silver Fair in late November and early December.
There are somewhere between 300 and 500 silver shops in Taxco, depending on whose figures you believe. (Likewise, there are between 75,000 to 150,000 inhabitants of the area, depending on which road sign or guidebook you think is right.) With such a wealth of options, it’s sometimes difficult to make a choice, but don’t go home without SOMETHING, as prices are SO low you’ll be kicking yourself if you return to Zihuatanejo empty-handed. And although temperatures in Taxco rose a bit past 90 degrees on a March afternoon, the nights dipped down into the 50s, making it wonderful for sleeping snuggled under a blanket.
As a dedicated comparison shopper, I can vouch for the deals at “Real de Minas Plateria,” a silver shop located a couple kilometers down Avenida de los Plateros from where the Estrella Blanca buses let you off.
Although you can spend as much as you’d like, the bargain hunter can easily pick up earrings for $3, chains for $4, and rings for $5. This shop also has an exhibit you can walk through at the back depicting a section of a mine complete with displays of various stones and minerals as they look in their natural state.
But don’t think Taxco is just silver and nothing else - which might be a bit hard to do given that it’s hard to walk more than a few feet without seeing something made of the gleaming metal. Walk through the Mercado Municipal, which wends its way underground from an entrance off Plaza Borda.
Eat at any number of restaurants serving scrumptious food. We chose Del Angel Inn one night and were treated to a panoramic view of the entire city from our upstairs seating under the stars; another evening found us scarfing down traditional Mexican cuisine at Restaurant Santa Fe, around the corner from Plazuela de San Juan. Although Plaza Borda is the center of things in Taxco, there are any number of smaller “plazuelas” verging off the crooked streets.
Do be careful not to get run over by a taxi while looking for them. The recommended manner of walking here is plastered to the wall of the nearest building. I wasn’t brave enough to try one of the local specialties, jumil sauce, made of crushed brown bugs and said to taste like iodine. Maybe next time.
Get some exercise and walk to some of the scenic “miradors” (lookout points). For the best observation opportunity of all, ride the teleferico for $30 pesos round trip to Hotel Monte Taxco and see the landscape from on high while your cable car gives you an aerial view of Taxco for a couple of kilometers. Once at the hotel, the friendly staff graciously encourages you to wander the grounds and check out the 9-hole golf course. Awesome!
Depending on how much time you have, there are numerous churches, historic homes, and museums to visit. Nearby, you can also visit a selection of caves and waterfalls. Our time ran out before our itinerary did, but after 5 days (with two of them devoted primarily to travel), we were eager to return to the ocean air, level streets, and relatively sane traffic of “home” in Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo.
Buen viaje!
April 2004 |
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