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Saturday, March 26, 2011

Guanajuato and El Museo de Momias

I discussed some items with friends the other night that were on my bucket list. One of those was to visit Guanajuato. A 10 hour bus ride from Puerto Vallarta will get you there... unless you zone out and miss the bus by 20 minutes. So my 10 hour bus ride turned into 16 hours. I arrived this morning. Yes, I am by myself.

Guanajuato has intrigued me for years. I studied about it before we went cruising and knew it was a place I wanted to visit. As gruesome as it seems, the first on my list was the Museo de Momias...  the spooky mummy museum. I walked quite a ways to get there and then climbed a hellacious amount of stairs. I had to stop several times to catch my breath. And just like in many other parts of Mexico, the signage is perfect and wonderful... until you get close to the destination and then there isn´t another word about where the museum is located. I was having pain in my chest by the time I reached the Mummy Museum, but I think it was the weight of my backpack.

The museum is filled with mummies. In fact, I wish I hadn´t eaten breakfast right before I went. It was a bit grody. Luckily, the scientific info was interesting. The mineral content in the soil and the dry climate in Guanajuato act as a natural preservative, thereby creating mummified bodies. It claims to have the smallest mummy in the world. If I´m translating correctly, the mummy is a fetus belonging to an unmarried woman who committed suicide after discovering her dilemma. The mother´s body didn´t survive, but the fetus is in tact. That´s just kind of... yucky. I discovered, too, that the clothing on some of the mummies aren´t costumes, but the original clothing... well preserved.

When I can upload photos I will. Don´t eat before you view. No small children in the room either.

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