Of silver and whimsy: blend of hip modernity, timeless feel produces Guanajuato's charm.

We were lost in a maze of subterranean tunnels. They were dark, dank, winding causeways where water dripped off moss covered walls that seemed to go on forever underground, starved of natural light. No matter which fork in the road we chose, we seemed to emerge into the black ink of night in a totally different quarter of this colonial city.

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In actuality, we were safe in our car in the middle of a driving trip through Mexico's colonial heartland on a quest to discover the roots of its stormy cultural and historical past. For a country that normally conjures up images of tequila-soaked parties, pristine beaches, snorkeling and ancient Maya ruins, we felt like digging deeper into the cool, mountainous highlands to find out what really lay beneath the surface.

Finding ourselves stuck in a rainstorm one night while in the city of Guanajuato roughly five hours northwest of Mexico City and four hours east of Guadalajara, we hopped in the car and took to the intricate underground tunnel systems for which the city is known.

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During the 16th and 17th centuries, Guanajuato was a prosperous mining town that provided a third of the world's silver. Spanish conquistadors on a hunt for precious metals chiseled a network of tunnels through the rock, some of which eventually were expanded into sewer systems and later transformed into intricate roadways that snake in and around the town.

On this damp evening, the rainy cobblestone streets and tiny alleys (called callejones) were empty for once in this university town that normally buzzes with energy and nightlife. At the corner of the main garden, we stepped into one student pub that featured live rock music in a candle-strewn building that had high cathedral ceilings and fancy plaster moldings that looked like it once could have been an old museum.

With the ornate French baroque architecture and meandering streets that opened suddenly into gaping plazas with statues and fountains deserted of activity, Guanajuato was a ghost town transported back in time, save for a few raincoated figures that hurried by like shadowy phantoms.

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Guanajuato, capital of the state with the same name, by day is a beautiful, romantic city of 125,000 with a whimsical edge nestled in a steep valley. The city teeters on the brink between hip modernity and a timeless, old-world feeling that radiates from countless architectural monuments, churches and museums. It is famed for its pastel buildings, colonial plazas and underground road systems that conjure up images of Romeo and Juliet in a modern day Verona with its burgeoning arts scene.

In October, the annual Cervantino arts festival pays homage to Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes who penned Don Quixote. Street performers and revelers converge for several weeks of parties, while live theater, opera, concert recitals, ballet and dance fill the many artist venues including the gilded Teatro Juarez.

Soaring stone tunnels and bridges spanning two-lane roads that traverse the city underground set the perfect stage for such pageantry, all the while echoing the distant sound of running water. Exposed foundations, some 10 meters above the road, reveal houses, some of which are supported by wood beams that seem to defy gravity.

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Just as quickly as the rain came, it left and we spent the rest of our days getting lost in the city's callejones. We also hiked up a narrow alley to arrive breathless at a steep precipice called El Pipila for a bird's eye view of the candy-colored town jumbled like a jigsaw puzzle before descending on a slow moving tram elevator.

At the summit, a statue holding a flame honors the hero, a local indigenous man named Juan Martinez, who torched the wooden gates of the Spanish fortress at Alhondiga. This enabled Miguel Hidalgo's independence forces to slaughter the cowering royal troops in the first bloody victory of the rebellion.

We discovered the quirky house where famed Mexican painter and muralist, Diego Rivera, spent his childhood, after asking several shopkeepers and locals who all looked puzzled, then pointed us down different narrow streets. The first floor of the home is a museum, while several upper levels are used as a gallery that displays some of his lesser-known work, including some portraits of a young Frida Kahlo.

The streets were bustling with foreign students, stooped Mexican senoras and families. At an outdoor market, beautiful stands selling freshly cut flowers, handicrafts and food, caught our eye.

We stumbled by pure accident upon Callejon del Beso, the narrowest alley in the city where two balconies on opposite sides are haunted by the tale of two star-crossed lovers who would meet for forbidden kisses. We entered the crooked house on the left that had been converted into a souvenir shop of sorts selling "Callejon del Beso" knickknacks, and posed for a photo on the teetering balcony. Then, as is common in Guanajuato, we lost it behind us in the maze of streets.

Nothing could prepare us for the hillside Museum of Mummies that seems to exemplify the nation's obsession with death. The museum houses more than 100 exhumed bodies of poor souls--dried and shriveled by the arid desert environment, grotesque faces still intact with hair, teeth and clothes--whose families could not afford to pay cemetery taxes.

Families wandered with small children who stood transfixed, gazing at the glass cases housing the wasted bodies, with more curiosity than fear. Their air of nonchalance gave us greater insight into the Mexican psyche, where life and death are wrapped in a seamless cycle, and Day of the Dead celebrations (when spirits are said to revisit earth) are marked with graveside fiestas, candy skulls and colorful skeleton decorations.

Mining towns ring Guanajuato, including La Valenciana, once one of the largest silver mines in the world and today, a dingy town featuring an impressively regal church with a gilded gold altar that commemorates a patron saint who brought riches and success to the mines. Several stands filled to the brim with excellent silver craftsmanship lined the walkway in front of the church selling inexpensive silver items, jewelry and other decorative works.

We took an informative guided tour into the depths of one old mine called Bocamina, where we learned how enslaved indigenous workers toiled 12-hour days lugging packs filled with chiseled rocks infused with quartz, silver, gold and copper fragments. Life spans were short in those days, but toiling in the mines shaved away the years, our guide told us. Often mine workers would only last 15 or 20 years and die of complications from arthritis (since the shafts were a perpetually damp working environment), lung problems from continually inhaling tiny bits of razor sharp quartz crystals and in later years, deafness from the drills.

We had a quiet dinner after that somber mine tour at Real de Esperanza Restaurant, an interesting church-like eatery with pastel-colored adobe walls overlooking a panoramic view of La Valenciana.

The next day, giant cloud shadows splashed across the two-lane highway toward our next stop, Dolores Hidalgo, on a road that arced like a ribbon across emerald valley creases dotted with gorgeous domed churches. After a short 20-minute drive, we reached the popular artisan town, the site of the famous revolutionary "grito." In September of 1810, Father Miguel Hidalgo rallied the local villagers to rebel against the Spanish colonists, catalyzing Mexico's fight for independence. Each year, his rebellious call to arms, also known as "El Grito," is celebrated on Sept. 16 across the country.

The steps of the church where Padre Hidalgo uttered his impassioned speech is adorned with a simple placard recognizing his action and the significance to Mexico's modern day history. The church faces a wide open square lined with trees and abuzz with activity: vendors selling bright balloons, cotton candy, homemade ice cream in amazing flavors, and chicharron (pork crackling) in bags with hot sauce.

The town featured several impressive churches and dozens of workshops crafting traditional hand painted Talavera ceramics that adorn many colonial buildings and dress up modern day kitchens and bathrooms. Even the street into town was lined with shops selling detailed Talavera work, from statues and sink basins to intricately designed water fountains and placards for outside the house.

A quick visit to one workshop quickly turned into an hour-long shopping trip as we became transfixed by the multitude of beautifully handcrafted tiles. We even visited the back workshop to watch a man pains-takingly paint identical designs onto the bare tiles. Eventually, we decided on a simple design and bought enough tiles at a mere 4 pesos each to do our entire kitchen.

"Back in Guanajuato, we took to leaving our car parked and hailing taxis to shuttle us around the rabbit warren of snaking streets. One night as we flew through the tunnels we learned that even locals had to overcome some trepidation.

"These tunnels used to be narrow enough to barely fit one person. They've been here for as long as I can remember," our driver Jose Antonio Vasquez explained as we entered the mouth of a 1,300-meter underground roadway dimly lit overhead that was carved through a rocky mountain centuries ago by Spanish searching for silver ore. "When I was young these tunnels were nothing more than small passageways without light. I was frightened to go inside them alone."

In the gloom of the lights and the eerie echo that sounded like running water from a distant time, I couldn't blame him.

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If you go:

The silver mining town of Guanajuato is just 220 miles northwest of Mexico City, just a 3.5 hour drive on speedy toll roads or a 5 hour bus ride on ETN or another first class bus line from the Central Norte terminal. From Guadalajara, the drive takes 4 hours along a modern superhighway.

Places to Stay

Villa Ganz

Email: [e-mail]

Mexico: 01-800-508-7923

Website: www.mexicoboutiquehotels.com/villaganz

Rooms: 10

Quinta Las Acacias

Email: [e-mail]

Mexico: 01-800-508-7923

Website: www.mexicoboutiquehotels.com/lasacacias

Rooms: 9

Hotel Real de Minas

Email: [e-mail]

Phone: [phone]

Rooms: 166

Mision Guanajuato Park Plaza

Email: [e-mail]

Phone: [phone]

Rooms: 139

Restaurants

Guanajuato has no shortage of sidewalk cafes and intimate restaurants bursting with character. Here are some of the most tasty and dependable ones:

Gueros Mariscos is a little ways out of town toward Puentecillas. Features excellent sangrias, and langostinos and camerones

Quinta las Acacias features large and hearty bed-and-breakfast style meals on an extensive gourmet menu designed by the general manager. Breakfast omlettes are delicious.

Chez Nicole offers contemporary Mexican and French cuisine by chef Nicole. Arcos de Guadalup 3, Next to INAH, Marfil.

Mexico Lindo is a great lunch spot for traditional Mexican fare.

Real de Esperanza Restaurant sits high on a hillside on the outskirts of La Valenciana. Specializes in regional dishes made with local produce. Stuffed baked trout is especially good. Carr. Guanajuato-Dolores Hidalgo km 6.

Bar Ocho and Bar Fly -- Both boast excellent atmosphere with live music some nights.

Story and photos by Renee Huang

Renee Huang is a freelance journalist who currently lives in Manzanillo, Colima.