2012 Mexican Roadtrip: San Miguel de Allende to Chapala, Jalisco, Mexico

We're on the road again and it felt great! We left San Miguel de Allende at 10:50 a.m. for Chapala. It was 236 m/377 km and we arrived at 4:25 pm. Chapala has 44000 people, it's at 1529 m and it was 82 degrees when we arrived.

From Los Labradores we took Hwy 51 to Celaya with rolling hills and farmland to see as we passed. Then we took Hwy. 45D to Salamonca (a toll road) which was great and cost M$65. Next we got on Hwy 90 to Piedad with mountains and beautiful rock faces and with lots of wildflowers by the road side. The next road was a toll road, Hwy. 15D to Zamora, which was a great toll and cost M$65 and M$111. It was well worth the money. We understand that in 2008 Calderon started massive infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy after the financial meltdown in the USA. The roads that were built for the 2010 Becentenario celebrations (of the start of the war of independence from Spain) are fabulous.

Too bad the USA didn't do that!

We got off the toll road in order to drive along Lake Chapala. The road was cobblestone and difficult but very pretty. At this point there were a few cactuses along the way to Poncitlan driving toward Isla Mescala.  We were seeing pine trees and eucalyptus. We went from 1751 meters to 1549 m at the lakeside. The lake is huge--the largest in Mexico. Mountains descend into the lake and are beautiful. When we found the #104 above the lake and it was a good paved road. We went straight to the bed and breakfast where we pre-booked in Chapala.