The Girls Trip to Tonala

WHERE ARE WE? La Penita RV Park, La Penita, Nayarit, Mexico
NEXT DESTINATION? We are here for a while

Today the girls returned from their trip to Tonala which is kinda a suburb of Guadalajara. Tonala is the place where most of the stuff you buy on the beach or in a local market comes from.  Five girls from the park jumped on a bus and took the 4 hour ride over there on Wednesday and came back today (Friday).  They went through a lot of different areas and saw lots of Agava being grown on the side hills.  This is what they make tequila out of.   Lots of little towns up in the hills.

Stuff is shipped into Guadalajara from all over Mexico and the world for that matter and buyers come here to purchase large orders and take it back to the local tourist towns.  Stuff in Tonala is sold mainly at wholesale prices and some of it is crazy cheap.  This is what draws people like the girls to go there and shop for stuff to make the campsite pretty.   So once they got there, they all piled in a taxi to go to the market.  They don't look at all excited!!  4 in the back of a compact taxi.

Gerry, Judy, 1/2 of Pat, Jose.

Because I wasn't there I can't tell you much about what they saw so will just show you a bunch of pictures of what they thought was interesting.  They said there was soooo much that they could never see it all.  So off they went with their backpacks empty in search of the ultimate bargain!!

For some reason they took some pictures of doors.  Interesting doors.  From old ones to ornate ones.  The masonry and wrought iron and metal work is amazing down here.

At one point they got the feeling that they were being watched, kind of like when you know that security camera at Walmart is on you.  Here was the security down here!!  Can you see it up there??

They did come across a weird thing which they didn't try.  This pail full of crickets was being sold by the kilo to anyone who wanted some.  Not sure what you do with them and I really don't want to know.  It is obvious that they are better with some limon!!!  Maybe add a little tequila!!  Glad they didn't bring any home for me.
 

The streets there were very narrow and quite pretty with all of the palm trees growing everywhere.   Even a cactus tries to grow out of the roof of a building.  Lots of people think that Mexico has lots of cactus and it does in the desert regions, but remember where we are is more of a Tropical jungle setting with lots of mountains with lush vegetation right to the top so a cactus is a rare sight here.

The girls said they had a great time and would go back in a heart beat.  When we leave Mexico next month I think our route will take us close to there so I'm sure we will be stopping.  Glad the girls had enough money left that they didn't have to take the stage coach home.  Hope you day was great!!