Hermosillo

We left San Carlos early this morning to drive about 1.5 hours to Hermosillo, the capital of the state of Sonora and its largest city and main economic center. We stopped at the Plaza Zaragoza, the main plaza in Hermosillo. Bordering the plaza are both the Catedral de la Asuncion (Hermosillo Cathedral) and the Palacio de Gobierno de Sonora (Government Palace of Sonora). Photo of the cathedral.

Government Palace

The Government Palace has a neoclassical design and many murals inside it.

Government Palace

The murals depict the history of Sonora and Mexican history and culture and are both the bottom and top levels.

Murals

Murals above the staircase.

Mural

Another of the fabulous murals. I thought that both the Cathedral and the Government Palace were highlights of our trip but we didn’t spend enough time here. I didn’t have enough time to visit the inside of the Cathedral or go to the upper level of the Government Palace. You really wanted to take your time viewing all the murals, not just quickly snapping photos of them.

On the Road

On the road between Hermosillo and the Mexican–U.S. border. We stopped along the way for lunch.

Border Crossing/Going Home

We crossed the border at Nogales. It took us 1.5 hours to cross. We had our photos taken on the bus for facial recognition (we had to give permission to have that done), all luggage plus everything you had with you on the bus (backpacks, souvenirs, etc.) had to be placed on the ground. Then a dog sniffed them and also the inside of the bus. We took our luggage and our extras to go inside the immigration building to go through both immigration, customs, and then an X–ray check of our belongings. We all passed and we were on our way to Tucson. We stayed at our original hotel and then I flew back to Los Angeles the next day.

People have asked me if traveling to the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Sonora is safe as the drug cartels are still active in them. We were on a big bus and all our meals in Mexico were provided so we weren’t walking around towns finding a place to eat. But we were told where it was safe to go on our own. I never felt unsafe but I would not especially recommend anyone going on their own to some of the places that we drove through. You can find any warnings about travel to Mexico on your country’s travel advisory site.