Talpa de Allende

Talpa de Allende is an old religious pilgrimage site high in the mountains of western Jalisco. Today,  people don't realize that such sites are, in Mexico, those with the most experience in welcoming visitors from afar. In fact, these pilgrimages have a great deal of influence over the entire industry of people packing off to visit other cities and towns and shrines and churches even in the present day. 

What you get is a big welcome from people who have a lot of experience welcoming the weary and the down-trodden. What you don't get  is a bunch of over-commercialized, tourist-trap type whiz-bangery. Talpa de Allende has had people showing up since 1644, long before the age of leisure travel. That is when the original Chaparitta is said to have appeared to the local people. Since then, she's been credited with healing the sick and driving out the plague among other miracles. 

And people have been, quite literally, walking here ever since. All that walking culminates in a big procession on the seventh of each October. That's just one of the big annual feast days. Today, pilgrims find all kinds of natural and cultural attractions, from the surrounding mountains to the little town itself. It's a place of authentic charm and spectacular food, but always with a tone of something like religious celebration if not outright fervor.

Townspeople, there are roughly 14,000 of them, are proud of the local history and the lore that keeps people coming back. Strongman president,  Porfirio Díaz once hid out here disguised as someone making bells for local churches. It's a wonderfully convoluted tale from an age when any respected bell maker should have been pouring bronze for cannons. 

The town of Talpa de Allende is famously rugged. Most visitors will arrive from other points in Jalisco, most especially from Guadalajara. ATM (Autotransportes Guadalajara Talpa Mascota) buses arrive here from Guadalajara once each day after the roughly 3.5 hour journey. ATM also runs buses from Puerto Vallarta. A little closer, it takes about 2.5 hours. For those who've had too much sun and sand, the cool mountain climate here is a true refresher. 

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