Folktales describe tequila as the drink of the ancient gods.
And long before the conquest of Mexico, Indian makers reserved tequila's antecedents for kings and priests. Although any religious experience the drink brings is subject to question, tequila does have a Mecca in western Mexico's high desert. Here, the spiny blue agave plant reluctantly gives up its juice to make the fiery liquor. And believers make their own pilgrimage via the Tequila Express. Every Saturday, the passenger train leaves Guadalajara and winds its way to Tequila, the town that gave the liquor its name.