A little post for a little place…

At this point in the journey, I thought it appropriate to take a little detour away from the coast and the beaches for something more cultural. Can’t have too much of a good thing and the change of scenery would do us good. It wasn’t till after we had come and gone that I learned that Colima was one of those (extremely numerous) states we foreigners we not meant to visit. Oops.

This unfortunately is a reality of traversing Mexico and it’s good to establish early on where your own boundaries are. Find out what other travellers have done where you can and don’t take US travel advisories as the word of a divine being. Things change; the advisories seem much more static. Is it a mountain road you’re meant to avoid? A particular city or region? Is it somewhere you even want to go? I will also say that your Rough Guides and Lonely Planets are pretty clueless as they are written a) at a certain moment with certain information and b) meant to stand the test of time – the towns and sites and general advice as good today as it is tomorrow. In the end, leave yourself permission to change course.

I wasn’t thinking of any of this when I booked us a couple nights in Comala, almost a suburb of the eponymous capital city. Here, you have a clear view of shapely volcano, a pleasant white city, with daytrippers buzzing around the central square, a couple pleasant walks, a break from the coastal heat and little else.

For most people, Colima means Manzanillo, Mexico’s largest port and biggest city in these parts. For some travellers, this option is like a cheaper Puerto Vallarta. It’s not on the radars of most and we decided to bypass it altogether. This is one of those moments where you might choose to take the toll road. We did not and had to grind it out behind big trucks – you really do get a sense of the scale of industry here.

The road inland from Manzanillo heads towards Guadalajara and is a major east-west route. If you’re following our route, this is probably the way to go (we kept on down the coast – more to come). The highways are fast and double-laned, with modern overpasses along the Colima ring road, a big change from the last few hundred kilometers.

We walked to a hacienda converted to a museum/botanical garden. The cover photo is the old milling room. There is a pleasant town square full of life – unlike any you’ll find in the coastal cities/towns. Take a seat and people watch for awhile. There are vendor stalls here selling ponche. This lightly alcoholic drink comes in a variety of flavours: nut, chocolate, various fruits. The makers come with their own take on the recipe so make sure to take a couple bottles. The ones we grabbed were kind of like Baileys, if that helps, and with actual bit of peanut which is funny to find in your drink.

So come and enjoy something different. If you have the time, it’s probably worth a stopover.