One of the first things you hear about Guanajuato are the tunnels. Guanajuato sits in the bottom of a bowl of mountains, and as such, the town used to get horrible floods. In the early 1900's, the town's government decided to dig some tunnels below town as a way to give it some drainage after a particularly severe flooding incident. As the town grew, with it's twisty curvy roads, it became unmanageable for cars to go through town, so they expanded the drainage tunnels to accommodate automobile traffic. The result is a unique two-layered town, with lots of pedestrian-only roads that becomes efficient, charming and somewhat confusing. The tunnels have no relation to the streets above, and there are nine or ten different ones. You can walk through the tunnels as well as the "surface streets" to get around, but the top level is much nicer.
Bryce and Laurel in a walking tunnel
Speeding taxi view of a car tunnel
Our hotel - Meson Los Poetes - was interesting. It was built into the side of a mountain, and it angles up four stories. We were on the top floor, which meant lots of stairs. Without signs telling us how to get up and down, we would have gotten totally lost. Elevators would not have worked here. The hotel was comfortable and cute, but nothing fancy.
Setting out from our hotel, we immediately got lost. Guanajuato isn't on a grid system, which takes a little getting used to. Fortunately, the main destinations are well marked, so eventually we found our way around. There is a main street that runs through the center of the bowl, and even though it is crooked, once you find it, you can get to all the popular areas.
Universadid de Guanajuato
It's a really charming town. And our adventure's just beginning.
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