I am in two minds about Mexico City…. My first impression of
it was in the morning before the large city awoke. Every door was covered with
a security roller door with many padlocks and windows were covered in thick
security bars. It seemed dull and dirty, like a concrete jungle with no colour.
After a much needed nap in our hostel after an overnight
bus, we hit the streets and what we saw was much of the same, except with all
of the shops open and the addition of thousands of people – all of which were
desperate to sell something. Groups of police huddled together at each corner,
shop workers scrubbed the pavement, people worked out of shops the size of a
cupboard, others sold food from dodgy looking grills on the sidewalk, yet the
line of people waiting to be served was long. Even in the main city square, the
buildings didn’t look appealing. Too many years of over populated smog and
aging without maintenance were obvious.
However, I have read a lot about Mexico’s history recently
and it is absolutely fascinating. Knowing what this country has endured made me
understand how life is lived here, and once you get past the ugliness, you can
see a different side to the city. If anyone is interested in a rough over view
of the history, I have also added a separate blog entry focusing on this.
If you are a diehard history buff, a church goer, or an art
lover, then this place will be a gold mine for you. The list of museums,
cathedrals and gallery’s here are never ending. I love reading about history, but on the
whole, I’m not much of a museum person, unless there is an exhibit that particularly
interests me, nor am I much of an art person (although I can appreciate good
art, and I LOVE photography) so there wasn’t too much on offer in that respect
that held my interest. However, if it’s free; I’ll still have a nosy! I do
enjoy looking at the architecture of churches, but I am yet to find any in
Mexico that can out do those I have seen in Europe. Surprisingly, 90 % of Mexican’s
are catholic, making this the world’s second largest catholic country, with
Brazil being the first.
On our second day in Mexico City we went on a day tour to
the Pyramids of Teotihuacan which were rather impressive. One of them is the 3rd
largest pyramid in the world at 70 metres in height. (More info on this is in Mexico’s History
chapter.) We climbed to the top of both of them and gazed down the ‘Avenue of
the Dead’ in between the still half standing alters. On our way out of the city
we passed by thousands and thousands of shanty houses all built almost on top
of one another that a majority of the city’s population live in. If the places
were completed, they were painted a bright colour, and as an incentive to
complete them, they got to pay fewer taxes. Unfortunately, there weren’t many
colourful houses….
On our final
day we explored some of the more affluent areas of the city. Still not flash by
any means but definitely more “normal”. Loads of nice restaurants, tree lined
streets and expensive car dealerships.
We wanted to
go to Chapultepec Park to the free zoo, the castle and to paddle boat on the green
lake, but unfortunately the police had closed it and there were protesters
outside. However we did come across some rather friendly squirrels that just
made my day. At least 20 of them came running at us and surrounded us as we walked
through the trees. Now, I’m a big fan of squirrels and would love to have one
as a pet, but I know they harbour diseases and I didn’t fancy being bitten by
one so I was a tad shy when they were practically on our feet!
We went up
the 2nd tallest building in the city and enjoyed 360 degree views of
seemingly endless red roofed buildings with not a spare patch of land in sight.
We found some nice streets in the centre where the buildings were decorated and
had character as well as some less aggressive markets. Seeing as it was Friday
afternoon, the streets vibe seemed to be a lot more relaxed and music was
everywhere. In some parts, he street vendors were competing as to who could be
the loudest (which can become quite overwhelming in an overcrowded street!) and
everyone seemed to be joking around which was a nice change from the serious desperateness
we saw days before.
Countless people
and travel guides warn about the dangers of Mexico City so we took precautions. Carry little cash, be wary of quiet alleyways
and pick pockets in busy areas, and when we needed to have credit cards and
passports on us, Andrew wore a pouch under his clothes. The large presence of police
helped made me feel safe, but the fact that they needed so many is a constant
reminder of the darkness that lurks behind the curtains. 33 muggings, 30 car jacking’s and 4 taxi hold
ups per day… But when you take into account that there are 21 million people
living here, the percentage of those affected would be somewhat similar to back
home. These sorts of things happen
everywhere in the world. Funnily enough, traffic statistically takes more lives
here than anything else. No one pays attention to red lights or no turn signs,
and the police don’t seem to monitor it at all! All vehicles are assigned one
day a month where they are forbidden from driving to help calm the congestion
on the roads.
It’s no
surprise that people have to resort to theft and violence here when you take into
consideration that half of the people here only earn around 50 Mexican pesos a
day from being a street hawker or street vendor, which is around $4 US. These
people also don’t contribute to taxes. Some 35 million out of 109 million adults
in all of Mexico have not completed the basic primary years of schooling. 15 million
people in Mexico still live without drainage systems.
At our
hostel we had a roommate from England. The breakfast and dinner was included
also so we met some people on the roof where we all gathered for meals. It was
nice meeting new people but I’ve found that because we’re not out partying, and
because we’re not in one place for more than a few days, we haven’t been
meeting people as much as I thought. We will be doing more shared accommodation
along the way but obviously, being in a relationship, it’s nice to have alone
time. Besides, sharing a room means you only sleep as much as your roommates
want to sleep… and I’m a grump when I don’t get enough sleep!!
I wanted to
be experimental with the local food here, but even though I know the Spanish definitions
for a lot of the ingredients and foods, they mainly list the names of
traditional dishes as opposed to what is in them, so we’ve been too hesitant to
order something and not know what we’re getting. Especially as we both don’t
like spicy food, and here basically everything is cooked with chilli! (And mashed
black beans & tortillas, you get them with almost everything!) Though, we did
try some of the other juices derived from the agave cactus (that makes
tequila). One was quite sweet but still too potent for me.
Mexico is
known for its Tequila, it’s the only place in the world that Tequila can
originate from. It’s also known for its Corona Beer, which is the 5th
best selling beer in the world.
I would’ve liked to be in Mexico for the ‘Dia
de Muertos’ (Day of the Dead). It’s a huge celebration on the 1st
& 2nd of November (after Halloween) where they believe that the
dead comes back to visit, one of the nights would be for the adults to return,
and the other, for the children. Houses and restaurants are already covered in
skulls, candles, coffins and decorations, and alters are being prepared with
food and water as they believe the dead will need it after their long journey.
Only a few places in Mexico still go to the extent of camping in the local
gravesite for both nights.
When I lived
in London, most days it was a struggle trying to get onto the tube at peak
hour. In Mexico City, the population is almost doubled so I was worried about
trying to get our bags to the bus station to leave. Luckily, without actually
thinking it through, our departure was set for a Saturday morning so we made it
there with no problems. We bused 5 hours to Oaxaca passing some stunning scenery
along the way. A small village which made the simple life seem appealing, a
larger village which seemed quite dismal from the outside, a smoking volcano
and a few snow-capped peaks out in the distance which looked quite out of
place, and the most impressive, a large tree and cacti covered mountain range
that we wove around, through, up and over!
