My final stop in Latin America
Trip Start
Aug 26, 2005
1
118
126
Trip End
May 26, 2008
Mexico City,
Central Mexico and Gulf Coast,
Mexico
Friday, April 18, 2008
Treating myself, I caught a luxury bus from Acapulca, and traveled North to Mexico City. The ride took 7 hours, from and I traveled from the dull dry landscape of the coast, up into the mountains of inland Mexico. At one point we passed through a lush green cloud forest, then descended down into a valley where the darren land began to be populated with small houses, then more houses, followed by slums and finally, I was in a big dirty grey city, where sky was no longer blue, but a haze of brown and grey.
Mexico city is enormous, and the bus station that I pulled into was a long way from where i needed to be. I was headed to a suburb called zocola, and when I asked, they told me it was a long way from where I was.
The mexico city subway is fast and efficient, although insanely crowded. I am traveling with a kiwi called Shannon, and both of us, with backpacks had a tough time getting to the hostel, but after a subway ride, then a long walk, we eventually found a hostel called ´Amigos´ which lived up to its name. Minutes after entering, we were sitting down, playing cards with a whole bunch of new amigos.
A small 12 bed dorm with no window was what greeted us. At least the mattresses were relatively comfortable, even if they were covered in a plastic sheet.
We dumped out bags and set of to explore the city in the last few hours of sunlight and without a map, got completely lost. On finding a small tourist information booth, i ran up and said hi, im a tourist and im in need of a map please. While eating a few tacos, we found our bearings and returned to the hostel.
My dorm mates, in the 12 bed windowless room were 4 rude drunken Frenchies and a Dutchie. I didnt have a good sleep and spent most of the night tossing and turning trying to find a good spot and sliding off the plastic mattress.
I was woken by a sharp poke on the foot. Get up man, its 8 am, the tour leaves in an hour, shouted Shannon.
Inside the windowless dorm, no light penetrated and midday seemed like midnight. It caused all kinds of problems with my sleeping habits. but i rose, ate a free breakfast of eggs, cornflakes and fruitsalad, provided by the hostel, and ran 5 blocks to a neighbouring hostel to join in the free walking tour of the city.
There were 10 of us, from all over the world. China, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, Australia, England, New Zealand. The guide, Alex, was born and raised in Mexico and his knowledge and love of his country showed through the tour. We visited a handful of churches, plazas, government houses, Aztec Ruins and historic sites and walked many kms over the 5 hour tour. It was a light hearted and relazed tour, full of jokes and if i learnt one significant thing its that the name Mexico, actually means the Naval of the moon. The moon is worshipped for its fertility and the naval is the place where life begins, the provider of life.
After the tour, a bunch of us visited the Anthropology museum. The biggest of its kind in the world. Loaded with all kinds of Incan, Mayan and Aztec findings from pots to sculptures, gold, jade, monstorous carvings and a few mummies to boot. 3 hours in the museum was enough to drive us to drinking and we ran back to the hostel, experiencing, for 10 minutes, what its like to be crammed into a subway like a sardine, and have the thing stop in a tunnel, no air con, super hot, freaky conditions. Luckily it was only 10 minutes and we had beer in our hands shortly after that.
The hostel houses a swanky little bar that gets started every night at around 7pm. Although its no full house here at the moment, its quality of quantity and the small group of amigos i have going here is a great laugh.
7 days in Mexico City have fused into one big blur. The place is huge, every day, I visit a museum, a plaza, a church and witness the madnesss that only a big latin american city can provide. The street vendors are so persistant aht ive ended up with a whole array of items i wouldnt normally bat an eyelid at. Im currently wearing my lateste edition, a religous wristband, complete with jesus, pope, mary and other signifigant religious figures. Its meant to protect me in times of need, but im not feeling overly needful. On my bed, one of the 16 in the crowded room, i have 3 sponge monkeys, with wire running through them, and in teh last few days they have been placed in all kinds of compromising positions. They always get a laugh from fellow commuters on the Metro. I ended up with a briliant Mayan chess set, $12 with carved stone figures. I beat him down from $18, so it at least felt like a bargain, although it is mighty heavy.
The last few days in Mexico City were spent with Shannon, my Kiwi buddy and a Dutch girl called Jori.
We visited the zoo 3 times, ate a whole lot of tacos and sampled all the local ale.
My last day came and at 5pm, i headed to the airport and farewelled Mexico and Headed to San Francisco to see Sabrina... yay
