Silao, Guanajuato: The Mexican Town that Travel Guide Books Forget

A too-often neglected little town in the state of Guanajuato, which is easily accessible from the city of Guanajuato, is Silao. In all the guidebooks I consulted, the extent of what is mentioned about the city of Silao is, "it is there." I wish I were making that up. If you spoke Spanish and told a local in Guanajuato you were going to Silao as a tourist, you would see his face change ever so slightly. He would struggle not to look like he was about to screech, and you might hear something like, "¡Dios Mio! ¿Por Qué?" Roughly translated: My God, why?

When I Googled Silao, Guanajuato, I got a whopping 274,000 entries. The problem was that all I could find as I wearily trudged through about a hundred of them was that there was nothing very touristy about the city. Unless of course, you count the ever-faithful Holiday Inn's entry advertising their $74.00 a night rooms to which I say, "¡Dios Mio! ¿Por Qué?" Other than that, there isn't much to read in guidebooks or online about this almost-forgotten little town.

And why, I just have to ask stomping my feet, doesn't anyone want to talk about Silao? Why wouldn't tourists want to go and see this wonderfully quaint city? I love Silao, Guanajuato. I love the way the downtown area is laid out. I love the churches. I love the nuns who stand outside the Parroquia church and sell you what are probably the best tamales in Mexico. I also love how this town, so close to Guanajuato, San Miguel, and Leon, really is virtually untouched by tourism. When you visit, you will probably be the only white face in the entire city. This is totally significant and is a huge reason why you should go and see this place. Mexican towns untouched by what can be sometimes be the deleterious effect of tourism can be delightfully different and give you the chance to see real Mexico at its best. I just love that!