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Arrival
I board a bus for Tequila, the birthplace of the famous bebida made
from the blue cactus called "agave." The landscape out the window turns
rocky as we climb from the beach into the foothills of the...
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Tequila
I visit the nearby birthplace of that quintessential "cosa Mexicana,"
Tequila. Traveling through fields of the blue agave cacti (they look
like four-foot-high heads of blue pineapples) to get there,...
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El Lago Chapala
From Tequila, I go south, to Mexico's largest natural lake, el Lago Chapala. There, in the lakeside village of Ajijic, god visits me again. She gives me another day on earth. It was the 10th and I nee...
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Guadalajara
Though it
hadn't been my preference, I'm on the bus all the way to Guadalajara. I
spend several days there, strolling the city's lovely plazas and
wondering again why we keep getting rid of our pub...
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Guadalajara II
Mexicans call Guadalajara "the most Mexican city," since its life incorporates both indigenous and colonial cultures; it doesn't hurt that it's also home to the country's most popular soccer team, Chi...
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Colima
Utterly unsure what is going on with the mysteries of time, I continue south, to Colima, a town nestled at the foot of twin volcanoes. One is active and often steaming and smoking -- if not erupting, ...
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Volcano
I stand at the door to get off as the driver turns the bus around. He tells me this is the last bus back to Colima. There aren't any more. But if I'm at an intersection 50 yards down the road ("that o...
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Volcano II
And there I am, alone, walking on a long country road of
black volcanic cobblestones. There are a few homes on my right: tiny
houses consisting each of a single adobe room. Four children stop
playi...
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Volcano III
The sun is high and hot the road is under a canopy of trees, and I walk in delight to the lake itself. Before I reach the lake, I come to its resort -- a small white hotel with a soccer field. An old ...
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Volcano - Lakeside Meditation
I reach the lake and meditate in a shady cove, with white ducks swimming nearby and a boat of fishermen far away tossing a net into the rippling water. The sun cuts a blinding reflection across the wa...
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Volcano - Departure
Of course I lose track of time and barely make it back to the intersection on time. Well, it's 5:25, so I'm worried. The first vehicle appears -- a red minivan that looks too small to be a bus, but th...
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Dinner
I stop in a tiny diner for dinner. There's no menu, but the waitress tells me they have pozole stew and tacos, and it sounds perfect....
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No Smiling
Alongside an ice-cold Estrella (they only seem to serve beer ice-cold here), the pozole is an amazing meal, and I eat and write a bit in my journal. When I look up, a young woman is boring into me bol...
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Mayahuaral
Everything about this part of Mexico is ridiculously romantic. In every plaza, in the mist of every fountain, under the shade of every gorgeous tree, there is a couple, young or old, kissing or talkin...
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Probably Her Mother
This woman is too young. She's with an older woman, probably her mother. Where did she learn this scorching gaze? I look at her one last time and let my mind wander a moment. Then I return to my journ...
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A Perfect Island
A few days later I found myself in Puerto Vallarta again, at the seaside Sheraton Buganvilias Vacacion Club, for a weeklong rendezvous with my family. There were two pools, two hot tubs, swim-up bars,...
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Ceviche in Vallarta
My family and I rented a boat, caught fish of our own, and made fresh lime-cured ceviche....
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This is a Road I Travel Only Once
Many times I breathed through my Nose-strils and smiled. Here is Pleasure.May I generate no craving to extend it now or recreate it later,May I enjoy it deeply,This is a road I travel only once.
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