After a smooth ferry crossing, we finally landed in Mazatlán, Sinaloa on a Sunday morning at around 10:00 am. One of the reasons we rushed to get a ferry the day before was to arrive on a Sunday in a big city like Mazatlán. We heard so many good things about Mazatlán but at the same time we also heard so many horror stories about driving in the state of Sinaloa. So without taking any risks, our plan was driving as much as we can on a highway south to get out of Sinaloa and reach the state of Nayarit.
For this leg of the journey, our goal was heading out of Sinaloa safe with minimum risk. We took the highway 15 and started our first day of driving in the mainland! Being in Baja, Mexico for 3 weeks, we got used to seeing lots of army presence on the roads, most of the time fully armed and always with a soldier standing behind the machine gun ready to shoot but in Sinaloa it was differnet!! On the first day, we got stopped many times by the groups of men dressed in black T shirts and army pants and covered faces. Their cars normally had no logo, so you never knew who they were working for. We’d never been asked for money, but we’ve been stopped many times, and we always did the same! Pretended we don’t know any Spanish. At some checkpoints they brought a guy who could speak English to ask some questions.
That was one of the most stressful days of our trip so far. We paid the equivalent of $40 in total just for the highway tolls and had to deal with random unknown checkpoint too many times. It was getting close to 4:00 pm when we finally entered the state of Nayarit and the city of Tepic.
First thing we did was washing the car after being in salt water in Baja and never got a chance to wash it and then having a late lunch after a full on day!
I found a camp spot next to a small lake called Laguna de Santa Maria de Oro which looked like a laidback area to spend the first few days. We got there just before the sun sets and it was peaceful and beautiful. We called it home for the next few days and celebrated 200th camp of the trip there.
There, we felt relaxed, enjoyed good food at local restaurants while watching locals coming from Tepic to relax and enjoy a bath or a boat ride in the lake. The Micheladas and Fish Chicharones were stunning there. We had to do some maintenance on the car and the grassy shaded area that we set camp was ideal to do that all.
After we took much needed rest, we headed toward the state of Jalisco, one of the states we were looking forward to the most. The views were stunning and for the first night in the area, we set up camp near a small town called Etzatlan and went exploring town and get the feeling of small towns in the mainland Mexico.
The next morning, we headed to Tequila through the Ruta de Tequila and guess what? The views were spectacular with the hues of greens and blues of the Blue Agave planted on both sides of the road, which is the main ingredient for making Tequila!
A short drive from Etzatlan and a quick stop for the yummy Tacos for our brunch later, we arrived at Tequila. From here the colonial architecture in cities and towns started to show off and of course being in Tequila means small bars and Tequilerias were dotted around town. We’ve spent few hours enjoying the town vibe and had a great lunch before heading out of town to find a camp spot.
To our surprise, after an hour of drive, we found ourselves in a reserved area in the pine forest and felt that we are back in the states. That was a great peaceful stop and like most wild camps in Mexico, we found two dog buddies for the night!
Next stop on our way was a big city, Guadalajara!! Being in
mainland Mexico for few days, we knew that we had to say goodbye to wild camps and quiet tranquil spots. We managed to find some spots along the way but to enjoy the mainland Mexico, we had to have stops in towns and cities and watch the Mexican life, culture, cuisine and architecture first hand.
So, we started to look for hotels in cities and towns that we really wanted to explore, and it really helped us to enjoy Mexico more.
For Guadalajara, we found a spot with secure parking right in the heart of the city centre. We left the car and headed out to explore!! And wow, we loved Guadalajara, maybe because we started exploring with our first stop being an old traditional bar packed with old men and good vibes! We ordered Margaritas and probably we had each a litre of Margarita before starting our tour!
The main market in Guadalajara is one of the biggest covered markets in Mexico and everything was on offer.
The vibe in the food section was awesome too with each stall had lots of clay pots with all kind of stews simmering on the display and people were sitting around the stall and had their meal next to each other. Live music bands were playing in different corners, and it was packed with locals. Having enough food and load music, we headed out to explore the city centre with stunning architecture!! Guadalajara was beautiful!! We were looking around and got amazed with its beauty, we ran into the wedding in the main Cathedral of the city and got distracted with observing their traditions for a while. After having a great experience in the first big city in Mexico, we headed back to the hotel to rest for the next day!
After spending two days in a big city, we found a great spot next to a water reservoir close to a small town called Valle de Guadalupe and stayed there for two peaceful days.
In the next post, we’ll get deeper into the state of Jalisco and have some wild and unplanned experiences and will get to know Mexican culture and traditions better. Till then take care and have fun.
