Guanajuato sits at the bottom of a steep, narrow ravine in the central Mexican highlands, at around two thousand metres, and the colour of the city is the first surprise. Houses in ochre, rose, turquoise and yellow climb the hillsides in tiers, with domes and bell towers rising among them, and the streets twist in all directions. The city grew rich from silver, with mines such as La Valenciana, which in the eighteenth century produced a large share of the world's supply, and the wealth paid for baroque churches, mansions and theatres. UNESCO listed the historic town and the silver mines in 1988.
The most unusual feature is underground. When floods threatened the city in the twentieth century, the river was diverted into tunnels, and the old riverbed became a series of road tunnels, so that cars and bikes drive beneath the houses on streets that were once mining galleries. It is wonderfully confusing for a rider. Signs are limited, the tunnels are narrow, with sharp turns and sometimes steep slopes, and a GPS tends to lose its signal. The surface streets are cobbled, steep and often one-way, so do not expect to ride through the centre. Park outside, in one of the garages on the edge or around Marfil, and walk. Scooters and small cars nip about confidently.
The city is full of stories. The Alhóndiga de Granaditas, a grain store, was the scene of one of the first great battles of the independence war in 1810, and the Teatro Juárez is a nineteenth-century opera house with a classical facade and a lavish interior. The narrow Callejón del Beso, the Alley of the Kiss, has balconies so close that lovers on opposite sides could, according to the legend, exchange a kiss. The university gives the town a youthful feel, and in October the Cervantino festival fills it with music, theatre and dance. The Museum of the Mummies, with its naturally preserved bodies, draws crowds.
Fuel, food and lodging are easy, with a city of over seventy thousand and larger suburbs such as Marfil. Local food includes enchiladas mineras, a regional dish of corn tortillas and chilli sauce, and cajeta, a caramel of goat milk. October to May is dry and pleasant.