Arriving in Aguascalientes

Half way into the six hour journey to Guanajuato I decided to get off and spend the night in Aguascalientes . The literature I had read indicated that this was another conquistador treasure.  Unusually, for Mexico, the bus station was in the heart of the old town. However, the  ambience of the surrounding streets hardly gave off any vibes of colonial wonders to come.

For a square mile, the streets were lined with lock-ups, displaying brightly coloured lurid acrylic jumpers, anoraks and other items of trashy clothing. Until I arrived in Aguascalientes, I was starting to suffer from an overdose of cathedral spotting. But, oh Lord, I now said, please give me back a lavishly carved church or two.

Whilst searching for a hotel, I went down one block and up the other, attempting to get away from this textile town display. Every ten minutes the monotony was broken by a shopping mall, which was not much consolation.

Finally I found myself on the spacious Plaza de la Partia, the city’s main square. Over-looking this huge square was the Hotel Imperial, which at one time with its spiraling marble staircase and high staccato-carved ceilings was a colonial institution. I asked to see a room and was escorted past rows of empty chambers. I was shown into what must have been a show case room, its central positioning looking out onto the Plaza.

It afforded a very grand view indeed. But the room was dirty and dusty. A single 40 watt bulb struggled to give off any light, the toilet smelt and the drone of the traffic cutting down the road just below the balcony was not my idea of quiet accommodation. And of course all those empty rooms were hardly a recommendation. I pushed on and found some where else just outside the old town.