A Bus Trip to Southern Sonora - Ciudad Obregón
The bus station in Ciudad Obregón is a hub for many destinations in Southern Sonora, and as such has a variety of ticket counters for various Mexican bus lines. It's still relatively small though, and its a short walk from the terminal to the street curb, where taxi drivers wait.
One thing that you may notice in Ciudad Obregón is the word "Cajeme." This was the previous name of Ciudad Obregón, and many people still refer to the city as Cajeme. In fact, the large fresco outside of the bus station announces it as the city of Cajeme.
I'd reserved a room at the Hotel Posada del Yaqui, which was a couple of miles from the bus station, and the taxi from the bus station to the hotel cost 60 pesos (about $5 USD). Even with the sweltering summer temperatures, the hotel was within walking distance of downtown Obregón and most of the tourist attractions I'd wanted to see.
Many of the hotels in Obregón have websites, and if you're planning to spend a night there its worthwhile to research your options. I'd selected the Posada del Yaqui because of its location and amenities - proximity to the downtown area, wireless internet, restaurant and security.
The hotel doesn't look like much from the street, but it's actually quite nice.
The room cost about 500 pesos a night (~$43 USD) and was well worth it. The rooms and common use areas were quiet and comfortable, the staff were very friendly and helpful, and the food in the restaurant was very good, and reasonably priced.
And speaking of friendly and helpful, as for a general impression about Obregón - the people there are very friendly. Without exception if we needed directions, had a question or were just chatting with a new friend there, everyone was really nice.
We'd arrived at the hotel around 4:00 p.m., tired from the trip and the heat. I found an expendio (convenience store that sells beer and snacks) a couple of blocks away and brought a bag of Coronas (with free ice, which seems to be a common feature of expendios and convenience stores in Sonora) back to the room to relax and prepare for the next day.
Later we had a nice dinner in their outdoor restaurant (they also have an air conditioned dining room, but the covered patio felt very comfortable), and the waitress gave us directions to find the downtown sites we wanted to visit.
Early the next day we walked downtown, first by walking one block to the east, to calle 5 de Febrero, and then walking 3-4 more blocks to the north. There's a block-wide shopping district, the "Mercajeme," although despite what you might read in tourist guides, it's not vendors of tourist products, but mainly discount clothing stores that cater to locals, along with a couple of restaurants.
There is a grocery store there, if you're traveling on a budget and want to purchase groceries. Ciudad Obregón also has major shopping centers in the northern part of the city, with stores like Super Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, a movie theater and a variety of restaurants and stores.
A couple blocks more to the north of the Merceme, is the plaza where the statue of General Alvaro Obregon stands at the center, with a fountain and monument to the late general. On one corner of the plaza is a famous clock tower that is often used as a symbol to represent the city.
To the north of the plaza is the Sacred Heart Cathedral, a beautiful church of modern design that was completed in 1977. The steeple of the previous church is located in the same block.
Across the street from the plaza and church are government buildings - the public library, state office building and city hall. The outside walls of the library and city hall feature unique frescoes by artist Héctor Martínez Arteche, and inside the city hall are murals painted by Arteche and Roberto Menese.
After visiting the government buildings we back-tracked to the Mercajeme district and walked a couple of blocks to the west until we found another plaza with a very large statue of General Obregon, this time dressed in a suit, and with a pidgeon sitting on his outstretched finger.
We'd asked about curio vendors at the Mercajeme, and were told that there may be some native artisans selling their crafts in this plaza. There were two lines of white tarps with vendors selling food and woven products.
After walking another couple of blocks to the west we found the church of Our Lady of Guadalupe and stopped to take some pictures. By that time we were exhausted from the heat and walking, and found our way back to the hotel.
The next day we got up early to walk in the other direction, to the south, where we walked through the campus of ITSON, the Instituto Tecnológico de Sonora (with some beautiful modern buildings, and more exterior artwork by Héctor Martínez Arteche).
Just across the street from the main campus is the university's theatre, with amazing mosaic tile artwork by Arteche, and beyond that a small, older plaza dedicated to Benito Juarez. Just across the street from that plaza is the fountain that is also often used in promotional materials as a symbol of Ciudad Obregón (although on this day it was dry).
After taking photos and chatting with some of the locals, we walked back to the hotel for a sit-down breakfast, and then prepared our bags to continue the trip. There's much more to visit in Ciudad Obregon, in particular some of its museums, so we'll be back soon.
The next stop was a visit to Alamos, Sonora.
