A day trip to Janitzio
Janitzio is a little island in Lake Pátzcuaro, about a 1/2 hour
boat ride from Pátzcuaro. There is a small village on the
island, with a strong purepecha culture that they say maintains a lot
of the old traditions (as well as a new tourist industry). Here
we are on the boat, approaching the island. You can see the huge
statue of Morelos that that sits like a beacon atop the island.
As the boat arrived, fishermen came out to demonstrate the old techique
of fishing with "butterfly nets". It was nice to see, but the
only way they make a living fishing that way is by passing the hat to
the tourists on the tour boats.
Janitzio is famous for its Day of the Dead celebrations- we saw this
cemetery on a normal afternoon, nothing like the candlelit night of Nov
2.
There was a lot of food to choose from, mostly fish in various guises.
Particularly intriguing were the tiny fried minnows that you just pop
into your mouth and eat whole (with or without chile sauce). As
we climbed the many stairs up to the statue at the top, craft stalls
crowded the sides of the street with trinkets that looked pretty much
the same from one to the next. Though the quantity of crafts was
great, the average quality was much lower than other places we've been.
