Hi guys.
Guanajuato, Mexico is a city known for tunnels.
In 1548 when they founded this city, it grew very rapidly because they discovered silver
in the surrounding mountains which are now full of mines and all the tunnels that go through there.
And today Guanajuato uses tunnels in a completely new and different way.
The tunnels that now help traffic flow were not originally built for that purpose.
It was actually for the flow of the river, the Guanajuato River.
They had a real problem with flooding in this city.
It’s built into the mountains in a valley and so the city used to flood regularly and
so they built this tunnel to divert the river to prevent flooding.
These tunnels were useful for solving that first problem of flooding and now they help
with the traffic flow because the traffic can’t get through the Centro so they go underneath.
These tunnels were built using some of the same techniques that they’d already used
in the mountains in the silver mines with dynamite blowing things up and the first car
used this tunnel in 1961.
It’s so cool to be down in the tunnels and look up and see that you’re at least one
full story below the street level.
One thing I’ve noticed walking around is that most of these tunnels seem to have streets
that are one way which I’m assuming is to help cut down on accidents.
There are buses that service these tunnels and you will see people waiting at bus stops
all the way along.
You can also ask your taxi driver to let you out down here.
It’s the fastest way to get around and you will save on your taxi bill.
Hello! (echoes)
I don’t know if you can hear this but there’s water flowing underneath here.
So maybe there is still some sort of subterranean river that’s flowing underneath these tunnels.
You can kind of see the water flowing. Can you hear it?
This series of tunnels is so big.
I’m already completely turned around.
I have no idea where I am and if I went up to the sidewalk I don’t think I’d know where I was.
I don’t know how people who park their cars down here find them again.
Like, there are signs around that point you in the right direction or say where you are
but I think you’d really have to get used to this way of navigating the city.
I’m just not used to it.
But it’s super efficient and I just love the way they’ve constructed these tunnels.
Like, to me, they’re not just tunnels they’re beautiful.
They have these gorgeous archways and cobblestone streets and these beautifully laid bricks
all overarching in the ceiling.
It’s…it’s amazing.
There’s a lot of moisture down in these tunnels still.
You can see lichen - I think it’s lichen - growing on the walls and it looks like there’s
still dripping water so you can definitely tell that a river, at one point, went through here.
Apparently there’s a ghost who roams these tunnels called La Llorona.
Sorry, I feel like I’m, like, looking around for her ‘cause I’m so freaked out.
‘The weeping woman’ la Llorona, she apparently…
Oh god.
Oh I thought I just saw something.
Ok I’m freaking myself out.
Can’t talk about ghosts in here anymore.
I did not realize that these streets…oh, there’s a car coming!
You have to be so careful in here because it’s really, really dark and cars have to
be really careful that they have their lights on and you have to be careful that you don’t
get hit by them.
I did not realize until this minute that there are multiple stories of tunnels.
There’s a tunnel that goes underneath the tunnel that I’m standing in now.
So I don’t know how many levels there are but there are definitely more than one that
go underneath the city.
So the sign says the Centro Historico is right in front of me.
I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s been really fun to explore around here but I have to admit it is nice to see daylight again.
And there’s a bunch of traffic so I must be in the right spot.
I hope that you enjoyed seeing these tunnels of Guanajuato.
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