Sunset in Arandas

In February 2019, I took a trip to the Los Altos region of Jalisco, Mexico. I was looking for someplace really off the beaten tourist track. I’ve spent a lot of time in many of the more popular Mexican cities over the last few years, and I’ve always had a great time. But, I needed something new. I was flying into Guadalajara, so I looked for places within a couple of hours bus ride from there.

My first stop was Arandas. There was a really interesting neo-gothic church there, Parroquia de San José Obrero, that I wanted to see. I took a first-class bus from the bus terminal in Guadalajara. I was a little worried that the bus might be full, as there weren’t a lot of departures. Imagine my surprise when I was the only person on the bus! We stopped briefly in Tepatitlan, where we picked up a couple more people, and then on to Arandas.

The bus terminal in Arandas is located on the western edge of town. I walked four or five blocks from there to the Hotel HMS Express, where I planned to stay the night. I asked for a room with a nice view of the church, and got one. However, the view was of the back of the church. I also wanted to be able to shoot a nice shot of the front of the church. I had another hotel in mind for this — the Hotel Paris. It appeared to be several stories tall, and had a rooftop deck.

I walked to the Hotel Paris just before sunset. I was willing to book a room just for the use of the terrace, but they graciously let me use the terrace for free. Atop the terrace was a large replica of the Eiffel Tower, which I was able to climb. This gave me a fantastic view of the city and the church. As the sun set, I realized I was going to be lucky, as there was a ton of color in the sky. The church itself didn’t have many lights on it, but the front was illuminated just enough. I think the resulting photo turned out very well!