As it turns out, you can go back in time. And 16th century México is less than two hours from Ajijic.
Nearly 500 years ago, when the Spanish crown bequeathed 22,000 hectares (54,363 acres) of land to Francisco Merodio de Velasco, any nobleman arriving at the gates of Hacienda El Carmen would have been extended a gracious welcome, offered a lavish meal, exquisite cigars, mezcal, and sumptuous accommodations. A guest arriving today would be no less welcomed.
The Carmelite monks who built Hacienda El Carmen no longer reside here, instead a prestige hotel, gourmet restaurant, spa, and historical heritage site greet all those who walk though its gates.
The reception area is beautifully appointed with antiques and heirlooms, and one wall proudly displays a series of old black and white photographs from days gone bye. A small collection of old typewriters also attest to the past and perhaps allude to the stories that could be told if these old adobe walls could talk.
The finca (farm) that once produced an abundance of corn, wheat, oats, sorghum, sugar cane, mezcal, and cattle, providing earnings sufficient to finance the construction of the famous Convento del Carmen in Guadalajara in the 17th century, is now a mere 400 acres.
But there are now 21 guest rooms exquisitely appointed with artifacts and antiques including a separate and very private villa that was once a tavern, complete with a private heated swimming pool, terraces, and a hot tub built into what was once an enormous agave oven. There is horseback riding, bicycle riding, a six hole golf course, a pond where you can swim with a family of white ducks, intimate rooms for reading, comfortable rooms where small groups can gather to watch TV or share a meal, taste wines or mezcal, and a former bodega, perhaps used for grain storage or livery stable now converted to a charming event space, perfect for a wedding or gathering of friends, and por supuesto, the spa.
All haciendas of course have a chapel and this one is beautifully restored. But not all haciendas have picturesque views of two volcanoes as stunning as Hacienda El Carmen.
We arrived for lunch and were subsequently offered a private tour of the property. The current owner Mónica Baeza grew up here. Her mother had fallen in love with the place in 1964 and the family developed it as a country house following years of neglect. Mónica inherited the property upon the death of her father and began the transformation to a hotel, spa, and restaurant (cooking was Mónica's first love).
The remains of an aqueduct that once channeled water from the surrounding mountains to the farm creates a rhythmic dance across the vast fields and pastures.
Of course land violently taken from the indigenous peopled then redistributed to nobles and conquistadores by the Spanish crown in the 300 years following the intrusion of Hernán Cortéz in 1519, happened in parallel to the distribution of the indigenous people themselves who were considered vassals of the state and lived and worked in servitude to the hacendado on what was once their own land. Life on a hacienda was crude and brutal, not different from the feudal life of the middle ages or life on a southern plantation in the United States. It was the labor of these people that allowed the haciendas to be so prosperous. So as delightful as it is to visit the haciendas throughout México and Latin America, their stories have not always been told in full.
Located just a few miles from the astonishing prehistoric circular pyramids of Guachimontones, built perhaps as early as 300 BC, this is a journey to be remembered. And it's only an hour from the town of Tequila, which offers it's own extraordinary history of Mexico.