In January 2022, I made my way to Tequila by public transport from Guadalajara. I found a bus company with the promising name of “Quick” at the old, dilapidated inner-city bus station that has frequent departures during the day. One way cost was 90 pesos (4 EUR). Unfortunately, the ride wasn’t all that quick – it took 2 hours. An hour is already spent on leaving the sprawling city of Guadalajara. On the way back I disembarked as early as possible, at Periferico Sur, where I caught the Tren Ligero (above ground subway) to the city center.

The landscape only gets interesting near the town of El Arenal, the first of the three included in the core zone. Here you’ll really start to notice the large agave fields. Their blueish colour makes them a fine sight I think.

I got off the bus at Tequila - a real tourist town, with a long main street (“the strip”) lined with souvenir shops that leads to the main square. I already got offered a tour to a tequila factory several times, but I first wanted to see what options there are. It appears that you can be driven around here in a tourist bus in the shape of red pepper or a wooden barrel. I opted for a more sober tour of a factory, that of Jose Cuervo on the main square. This is also a thriving business: there are tours throughout the day, and you can go for a standard tour or one where you can taste extra drinks.

My “classic” tour was in English and I participated together with 3 US Americans of Mexican descent. On the Spanish tour after us, there were about 20 people. This company (the global market leader) has been making tequila since 1795. The drink comes from the heart of the agave plant, which becomes visible after all the leaves are cut away. The core is then boiled and crushed to make juice, which is fermented and distilled into tequila. The drink can then be aged in oak barrels, giving it a golden hue. This post-processing, similar to other spirits, has only been common since the 1960s. In the end, we could of course also taste some. First was the “candy”, a piece of the crushed plant from which you can suck the juice. It tastes a bit like sugar cane. And then some sips of the tequila itself. We weren't pushed for shopping.

I wanted to see some more of the agave fields and take better pictures than those from the bus, so I hiked to what I hoped would be a viewing platform. There is one called “Campos de Agave” at Google Maps. But I ended up in a common neighborhood without the views.

Things that I had wanted to do but didn’t due to time and other constraints:

• Visiting the second location of this WHS, the pre-Columbian archeological site of Guachimontones. Unfortunately, it had closed on short notice for Covid reasons during my stay in the area. It would need a separate day trip from Guadalajara when travelling on public transport, as it lies on the other side of the volcano.
• Checking out the towns of El Arenal and Amatitan. In El Arenal, the church was remodelled by Luis Barragan in 1940 and he also partially remodelled the church in Amatitan. Also, these two smaller towns provide more easy opportunities to see the agave fields up and close.