I'm sure that almost everyone in the world has some idea about the existence of the Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico but I for one, had no idea it was such a big deal and in the case of Guanajuato, something that was going to be visited by so many people.
I'm not a big fan of crowds but Guanajuato is apparently one of the more popular places for people to descend upon during this nearly week-long celebration and the downtown area which is normally quite sleepy was just bustling. The city shut down many of the underground streets in order to have a walking area that was filled with vendors and exhibits that were pretty damn cool.
Normally these tunnels serve as a way to alleviate the traffic on the streets above, which have been preserved to maintain the historic nature of this city. I think that is pretty great for them to do that rather than just razing the buildings to put in a highway, even if it is confusing AF when you are driving around. Thankfully, we had a local in our car so we were able to find a parking garage otherwise it would have been impossible to park anywhere near this place.
The above is one of the many entrances to the tunnels and you can see by looking at the sides and above the entrance that they managed to destroy almost none of the historic buildings above. Nice work Mexico!
Portions of the tunnel opened up to the sky and this is where most of the taller exhibits were and they were very wise to only have live music exhibits out here in the open. It would have been deafening if they had done it in the tunnels.
There was quite a few eerie displays about the afterlife in the tunnels and they did a good job with it. The cost of getting in here was the grand price of nothing at all, so that appealed to my frugal side. There were tons of arts and crafts, of which I purchased none of because I have enough crap already, and there were also a bunch of drinks and snacks, which I did partake in including a Guinness just to see what it tasted like in Mexico.
The tunnels just keep going and going and perhaps to someone that lives here it is evident where one is going but for me I didn't even realize that after a couple of hours we had actually gone in a full circle and ended up back where we began.
It was nice but I do have some criticism in that most of the stalls selling stuff were selling all the same stuff. This is also the same stuff that is available every 20 meters above ground on a non holiday day so that was a bit of a letdown.
There were a lot of interesting stories being told about why the Day of the Dead is celebrated and I learned a little bit about how it isn't as related to Halloween as you might be thinking. This is a day to honor the deceased, not just dress up as a super hero and get free candy. I did see some children that were doing that but mostly that is not what these days are about in Mexico and I was happy to see that. I don't like it when traditional holidays get hijacked by corporations. The Mexicans seem to be very steadfast in keeping their roots and I applaud this.
For an entire city or the entire country really, to get together for an entire week and have spooky stuff going on is pretty awesome in my opinion. For us, we walked around and looked at the art and displays that they had underground, had a few drinks, ate some food only to be mostly disappointed with it, and then went home. My family doesn't require a great deal of excitement to enjoy themselves so that was just fine with all of us.
Guanajuato is one of the few international airports in Mexico, so especially if you live in USA it is very accessible. Know this though: If you do want to go and enjoy these festivities, book a hotel in the downtown area. Mexicans apparently all have cars and there was 1 parking spot for every 2 cars trying to park during the week, and on the weekend? fuhgetabboutit! You are not going to find a spot.
Hey this is a neat celebration. I think many of us North Americans heard day of the dead when younger and immediately think of the zombie movies. Definitely not the same style theme as with these holidays. Definitely nice to see preservation of tradition and honouring/remembering those who have left us.
Was this a vacation for you or did I miss a huge chapter in your expat story?
This is a vacation for me, a long overdue one. My family lives here and through a combination of Covid followed by visa issues, I have not been here to visit them ever since they moved here. I haven't seen my family in over 6 years and this trip was long overdue.
and don't sweat not keeping up with my stuff. I have been downright terrible as far as holding up my end of the bargain is concerned in that dept.
This looks like it was a really cool experience. We have a lot of places like that in our tourist areas where they all just sell the same stuff. It's pretty rare when you find a place that actually has something unique. I'm also sorry to hear the food still hasn't been that great. I think that would be the hardest part for me since I love American Mexican food so much.
I have found a few things that I think are ok but still not anything to get excited about being at the source for. Being in Mexico has been a real eye-opener for me for sure because basically everything I thought I knew about it was wrong.
Have you had any cactus yet? I tried some at a place when my wife and I were on vacation one time. I don't know if it is something they actually eat down there or if it was just a novelty.
I was told it is something that you can order but it isn't widespread as far as I could tell. I think it is more of a novelty than something that people actually want to eat.
That makes sense. It really wasn't that great, but I didn't know if that was normal or they just didn't know how to prepare it properly.
I have heard about this festival before but had no real clue what it was really. My family would enjoy this, but not worth travelling half way around the world though.
I would say just watch a few movies or a documentary. Although seeing as how I know a bit about your international adventures to Europe, you could spend significantly less by traveling to this part of the world. The only downside I think is that I was surprised to find out that they are really not accommodating towards the English language. Shocking seeing as how they are so close to USA>
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⋆ sᴜʙsᴄʀɪʙᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ
⋆ ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀsᴇᴀɴ ʜɪᴠᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ ᴠᴏᴛɪɴɢ ᴛʀᴀɪʟ
⋆ ᴅᴇʟᴇɢᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ʟɪɴᴋs 25 ʜᴘ⇾50 ʜᴘ⇾100 ʜᴘ⇾500 ʜᴘ⇾1,000 ʜᴘ