In my opinion, the Día de los Muertos is by far the biggest holiday in Mexican. Of course, there is also Independence Day and a few others that are being celebrated on a large scale, but from an international perspective, the Día de los Muertos is definitely the biggest.
As in every other country or continent, there are places in Mexico that are known for being particularly beautiful or good for spending a certain holiday. In Mexico, the place being famous for the Día de los Muertos is Janitzio.
My decision to celebrate the Día de los Muertos in Janitzio was a long one, with a lot of back and forth. But I'll tell you that story in another post.
What you should know: to my knowledge, there are no hostels in Patzcuaro, and the hotels are obviously not cheap at that time of year. That means book early. Apart from that, you should also take the boat from Patzcuaro to Janitzio relatively early, because it gets really crowded. Fucking crowded! And no, I'm not exaggerating. I moved millimetre by millimetre through the cemetery in Janitzio back then. I could have even seen snails passing by. But let's focus on the evening of the Día de los Muertos :D
The cemetery in Janitzio is truly beautifully! decorated. It is full of orange flowers, altars, decorated graves, baskets full of fruit offered to the dead, and so on and so forth. There is a small church in the cemetery of Janitzio, in front of which a kind of mini-mass takes place, with communal singing and the consecration of the place itself. The graves and tombs are guarded by relatives who sit with their ancestors and celebrate the Día de los Muertos. It is honestly an incredibly beautiful scene and I am incredibly grateful to have been able to witness it.
Now let's get to the part that... Well, make up your own mind, but I can't imagine that the people of Janitzio are okay with what happens in their cemetery on the Dia de los Muertos.
First of all, the entire route from the bottom, where the boats arrive, to the top, where the cemetery is, is full of people. And ALL of these people want to cross the cemetery. All of them! This means that when you arrive at the entrance to the cemetery, you are basically wedged between other people, moving forward inch by inch, without really being able to move anyhow more. When you are finally spat out after what feels like an eternity and at least only have people behind and in front of you – because in the cemetery there are, of course, graves and people sitting in front of the graves, which means you ‘walk’ behind each other – you frankly continue at snail's pace. And no, I'm not exaggerating. I really could only move my feet forward millimetre by millimetre and centimetre by centimetre. It really wasn't nice or fun anymore, and I can't imagine that the locals in Janitzio find it okay or feel comfortable with it in any way. Especially since we're actually disturbing them during an intimate celebration. So, to be honest, I felt a bit uncomfortable being there and tried to behave as respectfully as possible. Especially when it comes to taking pictures. Apart from that, I naturally tried not to step anywhere I shouldn't – because that was harder than you’d expect. And the ground looked... Hallelujah, completely trampled flat, and in some places people had even trampled halfway over graves and... Honestly, it was….pretty bad.
The big question: Go or not? It's been a few years since I was in Janitzio for the Día de los Muertos, so I have two opinions on this. Back then, shortly afterwards, out of respect for the people, their place, the festival and what was going on that evening, I would have said no one hundred per cent. Simply because the Día de los Muertos in Janitzio was, for me, the epitome of what happens to a place that has been taken over by tourism – in a negative sense. When I look at the pictures today and think back, I can understand this opinion very well, but at the same time I can also understand why people are still drawn to Janitzio. It's a really incredibly beautiful place, the graves are... truly beautiful. Just like the altars. And I know why the place started attracting tourists at some point. Today, however, I think it's more of a place that showcases the aesthetics of the festival, but no longer has a soul because it's simply overrun by tourists. And so I would leave it up to each individual to decide, but perhaps add the hint that there are many other beautiful places where you can absorb the spirit much better, get in touch with the locals more and stuff like that.
