Mexico City & San Miguel de Allende

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Right, well it’s time I got off my backside and caught up with some blogs.

After Cancun we headed to Mexico City. With an afternoon flight we get into Mexico City at night and the airport is massive. Whilst waiting for our luggage I called our hosts at the hostel to arrange our free airport pick-up and where to be collected. We are told that they will only drive past once and to keep an eye out for a gold station wagon yeah cool no worries, until we get out into the dark and you can’t distinguish colour of any vehicle and then we see why they only do one drive by and cannot wait. There are police on the pavement in regular intervals and should an innocent dare stop and get out of the driver’s seat to assist someone getting out with luggage there is a stern talking to and then they are off again, total time 60 seconds. Anyway we got our transfer and headed out to our hostel after a short wait. Our hostel has a really nice feel to it with friendly staff and a range of social travellers and we are in a relatively safe area.

Our first full day in Mexico City is Sunday and we had heard that entry into the Museum is free on Sundays so after a day of doing nothing yesterday we decide to walk our way to the Museum. To get there we have to cross a large roundabout and parts of the road are shut off and traffic is controlled around it and there are people everywhere riding bikes, jogging, walking and there is a guy off on one side on a platform taking aerobics with the usual energetic enthusiasm to motivate those in front of him. A cute kid (probably all of 4) goes past sitting in a mini motorised car and showing his driving skills already. We continue onto the National Museum of Anthropology and start to notice more and more people merging onto the sidewalks as thought they are heading to a major sporting event which is the same direction we are head.

Well we found the attraction, as it happened it is our destination the museum. There are hundreds of kids doing school work/homework that has obviously been assigned over the weekend as the museum is free, for locals anyway. We have to pay to enter and it was well worth the money however I would recommend that anyone visiting Mexico to avoid going to the museums on Sunday as it is so crowded. Jay & I spent about 4 hours walking around the 6 different exhibit buildings and the well displayed artefacts’ that ranged from Aztec, Mayan, and a host of other early cultures.

There is an impressive display of inscribed walls that have been found all over Mexico including one impressive part of wall that was discovered by a farmer a decade or so ago and you can still see the paintings depicting daily life etc. There are plenty of statues and facades of temples here as well as a really cool integrated outside exhibitions. One piece that really captured my eye was an old headdress that was made of peacock feathers and was luminous in its display, however this is just a replica, the original is in a museum in Austria and even though the museum here has requested that this headdress be returned to Mexico the Austrian Museum has declined to return it. It is something that I have noted on our travels around the world is Museums of varying countries around the world are so reluctant to swap original pieces of history with the replicas that the originating country has to display. I am sure if a poorer country had a significant artefact from one of the powerhouse countries that they would demand and probably receive the item in question as a matter of their right and principle... okay, I’ll get off my soap box now and continue on. So the Museo De Archeologia is pretty amazing and a must do for any visitor.

After we walked out of the Museum Jay figured he was a bit hungry and braved some local fare but after a gallant effort to eat his purchase (a rather dry bit of pita with what looked like a green pesto like stuff on the bottom with a bit of crumbled white cheese and some ultra hot sauce sprinkled over the top, hmmm real appetising) it was bin time for the purchase and off to the zoo.

The zoo is free entry and from the rather prominent display of stores and banner throughout the zoo I would say its major sponsor would be McDonalds. The zoo itself is pretty good with some great exhibits and a really easy way to spend an afternoon. We braved the metro back and found it quite easy to negotiate for our first experience. The Metro here is so cheap, 2 pesos anywhere on the entire system, that’s like 50 cents.

Monday we had decided to head out of the city to one of the ruins about 2 hours away by bus. So with a metro connection to the bus station we caught our bus out to the Teotihuacan Pyramids. Originally in its heyday was about 10 square miles, all that is left now is about 1 square mile. Our bus dropped us off at the citadel end of the Pyramids and after a quick negotiations for 2 hats (we forgot our sunscreen and hats at the hostel) we headed out to wonder around the site.

Where the citadel section is there is some ongoing excavation world that had us fascinated for a while watching the precision that goes into archaeological excavation. We climb up a small pyramid and for the first time we notice that we are actually at an elevated height and have to take it a bit easier whilst we adjust to the thinner air. From up here we can see down the Calzada de los Muertos, (Avenue of the Dead) that will lead us to the sun and mood pyramid.

The walk from the citadel to the northern part of this site takes us about 30 minutes and we are standing at the base of the Pyramid of the Sun which I have read is the 3rd largest pyramid in the world. After looking and assessing the height for a bit we decided to climb the 75m up it to get the view from the top. Well climbing up the Pyramid of the Sun was an endurance feat. With the altitude that we are at we notice the shortness of breath as we are yet to adjust to the thinner air however the view from the top when we finally made it was worth every laboured step.

After chilling out at the top of the Pyramid of the Sun for awhile taking in the views from all sides we descended and headed into down the final part of the Avenue of the Dead towards the Pyramid of the Moon and spent about another 20 minutes or so looking around before backtracking to where we started from via the museum that had artefacts’ unearthed during the excavation of the site as well as a model that took up a reasonable size room of what the whole city would have looked like in its peak.

In order to maximise our sightseeing we decided to head to San Miguel de Allende on the Tuesday so we got ourselves to the bus terminal and waited amongst deafening refurbishments in the terminal for 30 minutes or so before we were allowed through to board the bus. Wow bus travel in Mexico is way cool and feels very secure. We get our security check for our onboard luggage and our luggage underneath is tagged and we are given corresponding numbered tickets to cross check them with for collection at the other end. At check in they offer you beverages and snacks for your journey and is included in the ticket price. The seats are another welcoming feature and are very comfortable, plenty of pitch between them so when the person in front puts their seat back you still have room to move and don’t feel trapped in and even movies played, although they are in Spanish and always seem to be the tacky VanDam or some other kung fu movie from the 80’s.

When we finally made it into San Miguel we entered into a tiny white building with a couple of small shops with only one or two occupied and that’s the terminal. Walking through we find a taxi and headed to our hostel for the next 3 nights. Our hostel, Hostel Inn, looks very non descript from the road and when we enter we have trouble communicating that we have a reservation and the correct rate to be charged, not a word of English spoken by them and the only words we know in Spanish are not helpful for this issue. Anyway after much confusion we are given a room and where we dump our stuff off and go for a wonder around the town to get our bearings.

There isn’t a lot of helpful information provided by the hostel so we wing it a bit and find ourselves in the main plaza that has a beautiful looking church on one side and small shops along the bordering roads. Jay and I headed towards the church and I seeing a vacant chair to sit on in the shade made a beeline for it. As I almost made it to my place of sanctuary I was asked by one of the local expats what we were doing, what were out plans etc, etc and in the end Jay, Myself and (I can’t remember his name) chatted for about 20 minutes and even had the bonus of him recommending a good place to eat and showing us how to get there.

Dinner was something more traditional Mexican for us, Jay tried a popular soup that comes with a broth and a whole heap of raw vegetable ingredients in small pots so you can add what you want and make your own flavours, tasted awesome. I chose something that was sort of like and enchilada but not and boosted the flavours with Jay’s vege condiments that were not in use. Was some really great food and there was a really spicy chilli salsa that went with Jay’s order that was quite addictive.

Our next day we just wondered around the town after indulging in a Starbucks of all things for breakfast and taking in the sights and getting lost and then finding our way back again. The town itself isn’t that big and we didn’t feel like travelling out to get to some of the attractions we had heard about so we gravitated back to the main square where we sat and took photos of the Mexican Cowboys and the various walks of life that went past for an hour or so.

On Thursday we headed out for a day trip to Guanajuato, about a 2 hour bus from San Miguel and where we were planning on staying. The bus trip is pretty cruisy and comfortable (Mexico is setting a high standard for the rest of the journey now) and we make it into the outskirts of Guanajuato where we have to change buses for a local bus to take us into the main part of town. Another 30 minutes ride or so most of it uphill.

Getting off the bus we first see some sort of market with the shell that looks like it was once a huge charge and we follow the crowds to what seems to be the main centre of town. With a few photos here and there along the way (and another Starbucks stop for Jay) we decide to head up hill and look around some of the streets. The town is built between mountain peaks of sort and the houses are all beautifully painted in an array of bright colours and bring life into the buildings. Again we cannot get much tourist information on what to see and do so we just do our best at getting lost and walking up steep side streets/passage ways until we decided that was enough and headed towards the funicular railway to take us up to a big statue that overlooks the township.

When we finally make it to the top of the rail we stop and take in the views for a while. It is easier to see the patch work of colour that is scattered throughout and we can sort of make out significant buildings from here as well. After about 20 minutes we walked down the side alleyway towards where we think the old church is and to head past where we got off the bus to another part of town. There is nothing here and again I find myself in dire need of a toilet (for those reading blogs from the beginning you’ll understand) and finally find a dingy dunny behind several shops and some other dodgy looking businesses to have the honour of paying 2 pesos to use a most disgusting toilet. But when you need to go beggars can’t be choosers.

Once seen to the urgent need to pee, we decided there wasn’t really anything around this area to look at and headed back towards the main part of town with a detour uphill to see what all the crowds were. Just school heading out for the day so Jay and I picked a spot on a wall and just watched the daily routine of this quaint little town. We had a group of you school kids, probably 10-12 years who were to our surprise “making out” we couldn’t believe our eyes. Anyway the mischievous group headed off and Jay and I were left gobsmacked at their age. Finally we decided, enough done and got on an earlier bus back to San Miguel which is a good thing as I’ve come down with a mega migraine again that needs to be slept off.
With another day in San Miguel we just bummed around and did a bit more exploring before having dinner and getting ready for our bus back to Mexico City.

Back in Mexico City we feel quite comfortable with where to go and what to do. All that confidence was blown away when were stopped by police from entering the metro system as the line we needed was shut down for some reason. We still don’t know why, but anyway one of the policemen was really helpful and spoke enough English to tell us how to get to the next station by bus and what to look for. Well, catching that recommended bus when the line is out wasn’t that easy with our packs on our backs and day packs clutched to our chests there was hardly room for a small kid to stand on any of these buses going past to the next line. We ended up catching a taxi to the next line and then it was business as usual.

Back in our hostel we headed out to have a famous hamburger that was recommended by one of the other guests staying at the hostel. So off we trundle down to Zona Rosa (I think) for one of the better burgers we’ve had the last few months. This was to become a standard eat stop for us. With the little time left to explore Mexico City we made the most of it by walking around and taking in the sights as much as possible before we have to leave for Colombia.

Our final night is a Saturday night and our host gets us organised for a tequila night, oh joy. We get ourselves set and have our bowl of cut limes ready along with salt and 3l of tequila with shot glasses. We have been told the correct way to do whole lime and salt thing is to sprinkle the salt on the lime and then have it after the shot is taken...whatever it still tastes evil. The rule of the hostel is once the bottle is opened it must be finished, so with gusto several take on the challenge and although I helped a little with the consumption (about 6 or 7 shots maybe a little more) I think Jay and Amanda managed to do the most damage to the bottles contents. The next morning the revenge of the consumed bottle was evident, Jay with a massive hangover and Amanda not looking to healthy either.

I get Jay up and moving around 11am and we pack and wait out for the time to head for the airport. We walk down to the train station and get our train, Jay is looking a bit green and I am almost relieved that we are not next to each other, I’ve had to stand a bit further up in the carriage and can see various shades of green coming over Jays face. After what seemed an eternity we finally make it to the airport stop and start walking, and walking and yep, more walking. The terminal is huge and it feels like we have walked a good kilometre and we still couldn’t find our gate. Ended up asking and we were in the domestic part of the terminal and had to go up 2 floors...thank god for lifts! We finally locate our check in gate and do the standard checking procedure, very cool that they do your immigration at check in and a lot more time efficient too and all too soon it was through to the boarding lounge, find something to eat and we were off and ready for Colombia.

I really enjoyed Mexico and hope that we can return sometime soon to explore it more. I would thoroughly recommend the Bed & Breakfast Mexico for a hostel to stay at in Mexico City as it was in a safe area and a short walk down the street to get to the train and once on that, you are close to everything. The people of Mexico City are so friendly and for a city that is up somewhere in the top 3 most populated in the world things seem to be very laid back and they are so polite. Stop for you to cross the road even when they have right of way and they are not aggressive drivers either.

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