Climb every mountain

..or at least one. And it’s really not a mountain. More a big, big rocky hill. But I climbed it.

La Bufa is a geological feature overlooking Guanajuato, and a popular hiking spot. I had read about the trails on AllTrails and even the Tripadvisor forum, and despite the instructions and the maps, remained confused (as usual) about where the trail began, how challenging it was, and so on.

(Tip: Tripadvisor forums can be very useful in this way. So in this case, I skimmed down through the comments to those that were a couple of paragraphs long (as in, more than: Great time!) and found excellent advice on a potentially confusing division in the trail. I definitely would have taken the wrong one if not for this comment.)

But I did know there was a religious site on the way – a Cave of St. Ignatius Loyola. I thought: well, let’s go to that. It would be about a 2-mile walk/hike, with only the last part uphill. Not bad.

Most of what I read indicated the area was safe, although there were warnings about wild dogs, so once I got off the road, I found a stick. Not long after I was met by other parties of hikers coming down and even a photography crew set up on a trail to take panoramic shots of Guanajuato, I presume. So not exactly a land of desolation.

Once I arrived at the cave…

…I saw the signage for the El Cerro de la Bufa…right there. And an obvious trail going up. With people coming down. So…okay..why not?

It wasn’t bad. I’ve done much worse. (In Honduras, in case you don’t want to click.) Once you get to almost the top, the trail disappears because, well, it’s all rocks and pebbles, but it’s pretty obvious where you are, so no problem. And it was absolutely worth any struggle on that loose ground. Gorgeous. I stayed for a while.

On the way back down, I met a young man coming up with his girlfriend. He stopped me and asked what I thought of Guanajuato – I told him it was wonderful, and he – an owner of a local restaurant (closed on Mondays, of course) – was very proud and did a good job in those five minutes of boosting his city.

Obviously, when I returned about three hours later it was shower time. Also laundry time. Took care of that, and then headed back down to the town to see what Halloween looked like in Guanajuato.

But first – since it was still relatively early, I went to the north part of town, which I’d passed in a taxi, but not seen – it’s the “main entrance” to the city, where there’s also a large park and what looked like a small mall (there’s an Office Depot sign). I could have walked up into the park, but after my earlier exertions, I decided that if that was going to be done it would be done..another day.

So why the frogs?

 Guanajuato is not as difficult to pronounce as, say, Parangaricutirimicuaro, but they are both P’urépecha.

So what does “Guanajuato” mean?

“Mountainous place where frogs abound,” or simply “hill of frogs.” In its original form, it was spelled Quanaxhuato.

It’s marigold time. Why?

The town was not as bonkers as it has been the last three nights, but it was still very busy. Lots of families with costumed children, for many businesses were handing out candy. I suppose in a town with the weird layout of Guanajuato and a culture in which people celebrate things, not by staying home but going out, it makes a lot of sense.

I wondered if there would be some sort of parade – and there was. Earlier, I had overheard a woman ask a police officer (there are many of different types on the ground here, all the time) La Caterina? And he said – I’m sure – seis – which I took to mean there was some sort of event featuring the figure at, well, six. So I was on alert around six (the downtown area is not huge, is essentially one road, and you can tell where the action is by crowd movement) – but nada. Then, a little after seven, I was near the market, heard a commotion, and there in a carriage, leading a parade, was, of course, La Caterina. I wasn’t close enough to get a good shot.

(So I’m presuming, if my conclusions from my spying were correct – that it had started, maybe at that north end of town, around 6. Who knows. Maybe I was way off.)

It wasn’t a huge, huge parade – there were the two carriages followed by a hearse, groups of people carrying candles and small coffins, two bands and a group of dancing and mock-battling characters, including the Grim Reaper and I presume, other death-related figures.

Why the small coffins? I don’t know, but my guess is related to the fact that on November 1, besides All Saints, deceased children are remembered (perhaps because it is presumed they are saints in heaven?) and then on November 2, it’s the adults’ turn. Since it was the eve of All Saints – they were commemorating children? Not sure.

I could not sort out the tone of the parade/procession. It was theatrical – not religious at all, of course, although it ended in a religious venue – celebratory, comic, a bit of solemnity here and there in people’s faces and comportment, but again – was it theater? I don’t know.

I will tell you the overall impact, though – at least on me: Screw you, Death. You’re scary, but still. Screw you.

Which is a sentiment that is always good for me to engage with.

More photos and video – video, people – at Instagram.