Colima
Mexico 2008: Jalisco Journey
CHAPTERS:
1. Arrival
2. Tequila
3. El Lago Chapala
4. Guadalajara
5. Guadalajara II
7. Volcano
8. Volcano II
9. Volcano III
10. Volcano - Lakeside Meditation
11. Volcano - Departure
12. Dinner
13. No Smiling
14. Mayahuaral
15. Probably Her Mother
16. A Perfect Island
17. Ceviche in Vallarta
18. This is a Road I Travel Only Once
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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, as it did in 2005; the other is extinct and covered in ice and snow. The twin peaks can be seen from the town plazas, and the intense polarity of their energy -- the fire and ice --
are felt palpably in the tropical streets. For good measure,
earthquakes also like Colima, and a 2003 temblor wracked the city. I stay near a lovely plaza called El Jardin Nunez and take solo trips up to the volcanoes. Unfortunately I can't put together a trek to summit the peak of the snow-capped one, but I do find a way to visit Laguna La Maria - an elegant lake in the shadow of Los Volcanes. I've never figured out why I'm so drawn to bodies of water, wherever I go, but so it is. A bus takes me from Colima up through tiny villages, Suchitlan and La Becerrera, and as we climb into the hills, the views of the valleys and the volcanoes towering overhead are vast and stunning. Beige turns quickly to emerald green. Before long I am the last passenger on the bus.