[Above: The team samples tequila in the basement of the Jose Cuervo distillery in Tequila, Mexico.]

Journal by Todd Borgie

"Are you kidding me?" I thought as Justin rattled the side of the car a little after 5:00am. We needed to rise early in order to hit the town of Tequila early enough for an educational visit/tour of a tequila farm and factory. We knew early morning call was coming, but that does not make the rude awakening any easier. We had our morning briefing and departed from the lovely beach and pleasant sound of the waves lapping upon the shore.

We made it through Matzalan and onto the toll roads without issue. Travel in mainland Mexico was quite different from traveling down the Baja Peninsula. First of there are many more trees and bushes, and much fewer towering cacti. The roads were good although you pay and arm and a leg to travel on them. The toll roads offer a luxurious four lane divided highway, clean bathrooms, roadside assistance and a respite from the sometimes crazy traffic.

The reason for our pre-dawn departure is we are behind schedule. We have a boat to catch in Panama in early December and there are many miles between here and there. Justin is currently figuring out what we are going to have to do in order to make our ferry to Ecuador. Unfortunately I think this means sacrificing some much needed rest days. To make matters for us today, we lose another hour as we drive east toward Mexico City.

While we drive through towns around the world one thing that is very interesting to me is the various statues I see. Public statues represent what cultures value. In the United States, military statues are the most common, in Mexico I have seen an overwhelming amount of statues dedicated to workers. I will continue to look at statues on our journey. Today most of the driving was an uphill climb. Tequila is situated at about 5,000ft above sea level. As we drove we snaked over and around the various hills and mountains. We saw fields of corn and we were finally excited to see the distinctive view of the blue agave fields. Tequila must be near!

Operating from just a Lonely Planet book we knew that there were tequila factories to tour, but we were not sure exactly where they were located inside the city. We headed to the Petron Distillery, whose front gates looked pretty regal for what I thought should be a factory. We asked them when the next tour was to take place, they said that the would resume in two days, since tomorrow will be a national holiday, the celebration of the revolution in 1910. However, they said that the Jose Cuervo factory, down the street, could possibly accommodate us. We headed down the street, hoping that things would work out. We strolled into Jose Cuervo at about 3:45pm and they said the next tour would be starting at 4:30pm. Perfect!

The tour began with a short promotional film describing how important the tequila industry was to Mexico. It was a real marketer’s dream. After the film ended we got down to learning about the process of tequila making. Although, I have been calling this a factory it looked more like a what I would call a Spanish winery. The place had a regal quality to it -- plastered yellow walls with contrasting dark brown trim. It was quit clean and very orderly and it's hallways often opened up into landscaped or ornate patios. There were multiple open buildings that also reminded me of architecture found in the southwest of the United States.

As we walked through we saw where the “pineapples” (the agave hearts) were baked, cooled and juiced. We saw the large vats and modern equipment used to test the products contents and to insure its purity (for more information on the tequila making process please refer to the educational section about Tequila). We ended up in the family storage and tasting room. We had to go down a couple of flights of stairs into the rock-lined basement. I felt like we were in a “Pirates of the Caribbean movie” with all the barrels lined up around us. At this point all the tour participants were placed before three different glasses. This was a taste test to show the difference between the various ages of Tequila. The three samples we tried were silver, gold, and rested tequila. The difference between these is the aging process. The silver tequila is straight from the distillation process, the gold has been given oak barrel flavoring and the rested has spent a significant time in French Oak or American Oak barrels. The team had various favorites, but my favorite was the rested. Unfortunately it is the most expensive. After we tried the various tequilas they had us sample the Jose Cuervo margarita mix as a final marketing push. Everyone departed the factory in good spirits.

The team was excited about the prospect of staying at a hotel this evening, since we had been camping for the last three nights. The hardest thing about camping is the shower situation. Although it is possible to shower when camping, the experience is just not as easy as standing under a faucet of warm flowing water. The team was eager to wash hair and just do a good thorough once over.

The Cuervo people recommended a good hotel (with parking) and Neil's golden Spanish abilities got us a good price. People are often really impressed with the camera and thus are willing to wheel and deal. It was a great hotel, and I even managed to watch and episode of the Simpsons in Spanish.

We rallied for dinner and ate a delightful meal. However, it seems like everything is served with Tequila in this town. We made friends with the restaurant owners and the treated us to a refreshing lemon tequila drink.

After we began a search for a place where we could by a shot of Tequila. We felt that since we had driven all the way to Tequila we need to cap off the event. We found a place, however, we felt they wanted a bit too much for their product. We decided to go back to the hotel, where we sat around and chatted until our second "Take me with you" participant showed up.

Weariness over takes me -- adios from Tequila.

Logbook for November 19th
Start: Mazatlan, Mexico (Cerritos Beach)
Finish: Tequila, Mexico
Mileage: 254
Elevation differential: 5000 ft
Weather conditions: Clear, high wispy clouds; cool to warm
Notes: First day with no rain

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.