"Angangueo--one couple's Mexican driving adventure" Angangueo by Bryanba11

We tried and tried in Mexico City to get a bus out to Angangueo, but they were completely full. We decided it was risky to take a bus to the nearest city and then try to catch another bus. So what did we do....we rented a car. Wow!!! What an adventure. We were advised not to drive at night...but we did. Bad idea. We arrived safe, but I was so stressed driving those horrible unmarked mountain roads with those absolutely horrible Mexican drivers who honk at you because you slow down in order to take a 90 degree curve in the mountain road with a 300 foot dropoff. SCARY for this man.

Once in Angangueo we somehow...by the grace of God....found the Hotel don Bruno. We nearly kissed the ground after that near death experience of driving at night. It looked like a total dump from the outside. On the inside it was an amazing garden villa....and the price reflected it. I think it was around $60 per night for a no fireplace room....and it is 10,000 feet in the mountains in January....cold to say the least. No one at the desk spoke English, though everyone in the Hotel was either American or European. The room was rustic but clean...hot water took a LONG time to get warm. It was so cold we asked for more blankets...still didn't help. Breakfast at the don Bruno's restaraunt was WAY over priced but I think it was the only decent meal in town. Town....not much to do. No real shops except peddlers. There is a church that is the only thing worth seeing in town. Nice restaraunt next to the church. We basically ate dinner at that place and watched several dogs in an orgie....our entertainment...the only entertainment for the evening.

For the real reason we came. We got up early in the morning and ate a majorly overpriced (I think about $14 per person) breakfast buffet that wasn't that great. Then we drove up the mountain...in our tiny little car (don't let them tell you that you need a 4-wheel drive...you don't. It is a ploy to get them to take you and get your money). The long twisty road took up to the santuary where we paid a couple of dollars to enter, then a couple of dollars to park our car. There were a lot of children begging for money there and a little tourist town selling cheap and no so cheap items. Restaurants are here but they look and smell quite scary. We had the option of renting a horse, but it was about $20 per person both ways so we decided to skip...maybe we should have got the horse. We are in good shape, but that hour trek walking up a touch incline at 10,000 plus feet got to us. Also, bring a face mask because the dust is so bad we were sick for a few weeks after...they sell them there for a couple of dollars...there is a reason. We finally, after a lot of rests, made it to the butterflies to utter disappointment...they clung to the trees and didn't fly down. We found out we got there too early and it wasn't sunny...so we waited three hours and the sun finally came out. it was spectacular, though not as great as you see in the IMAX movies. We were covered in butterflies, the sky was filled with butterflies, you could literally hear the fluttering of their wings everywhere. Surreal. It was worth the trip.

• Pros:Butterflies, butterflies, and butterflies
• Cons:Overpriced don Bruno hotel (try Hotel Margarita...half the price and looked just nearly as nice), horrible drive out there (don't rent the car unless you have to), nothing to do in the town
• In a nutshell:A trip you would probably do once in a life time, but very worth it.