Advertisement
Day 1 - Monday 30th July 2008 - The Start of the Adventure
Its D-Day - 14 months since I made the decision to go travelling...you´d think I´d be organised, but seem to be running around at the last minute. Those last minute preparations were abandoned for a night down the local with the boys!
See Paul & Claire at Newcastle Airport (They´re off to Gran Cranaria) - one last familiar face before I depart. Its been hard saying goodbyes to all my friends, family and colleagues over the last few weeks, and its only when I get to Heathrow waiting for my flight to Mexico when the enormity hits me.....it could be 2 years until I see them all again. Get out the good luck messages from my close friends and family as a reminder of what I´m leaving behind.....how I manage to keep a lid on my emotions I don´t know, this is possibly the hardest thing I´ve ever done. Pull yourself together man I think.......lets look forward to an amazing adventure, I´m going to be living out my dream for the next 2 years.....it may well be the hardest thing I´ve done but I´m sure it´ll
be the best. The first step is always the hardest....
After an 11 hour flight arrive in Mexico City. Immigration resembles a potential repeat of the Hillsbrough disaster! Escalators funnel an endless stream of people into the hall, people are standing around because they don´t know where they should be going, and people are going to get crushed if we´re not careful. Fortunately people seem to get organised and chaos is averted. Immigration successfully negotiated, its lump in my throat time....has my bag made it from Newcastle via Terminal 5???......It has, so I leave the airport a tired but happy man!
On the flight I have been debating whether to get the metro or taxi to the hostel. I read the pros and cons of how dangerous Mexico City is or isn´t, and it seems there´s a possibility I could get robbed on either option!! Decide to get the cheapest option, and get the metro (2 pesos or 10pence vs 300 pesos or 15 pounds). Ask directions for the metro in the airport and after being led a merry dance by a taxi tout who sends me to a steakhouse after I politely decline his offer of a
lift, I eventually find the metro station some half an hour later! Arrive at hostel at 10pm local time almost 24 hours after I´ve started travelling, tired but can´t seem to sleep due to a mixture of time difference and excitement.
Day 2 - Tuesday 1st July 2008 - Jetlagged
Decide to take it easy today and wander around the historical part of the city. The Zocalo (main square) is only 200m from the hostel. Its supposed to be the 3rd biggest square in the world after Beijing´s Tiananmen Square and Moscow´s Red Sqaure. It houses the Cathedral and the Palacio National which I wander around. The Palacio has some fantastic Diego Rivera murals depicting the revolution and other mexican history which fascinate. I suddenly start to feel tired, can´t work out if its due to a lack of sleep, poor fitness or the altitude (Mexico City is @ 2400m or 8000ft) or a combination of all three!! Decide to head to the market for some food and a wander, I love walking round markets.....the smells, colours and sounds make it a wonderful experience which I feel compares favourably to how we shop in the western world.
Head to a park for a chill out and to read, and having barely sat down it starts to rain. It gets increasingly heavy so head for cover under the entrance to a museum for an hour until it passes......It feels I´m cursed with bad weather on holiday this year, I´ve been away for about 2 weeks now in total and its rained on every day bar a handful......thats worse than back in England!!! Guess we Brits always think the sun shines abroad! Head back to hostel and book a tour to Teotihuacan for the next day.
Day 3 - Wednesday 2nd July 2008 - Pyramids
Up early for a trip to Teotihuacan. Teotihuacan is 50km North East of Mexico City and is the site of ruins to an ancient city which date back 2000 years. The stand out sites are the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon which although only around half the height of the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt are nevertheless very impressive, and you can climb to the top! The site is around 4sq km, but historians believe that at its height at around 500AD the city spread over
23sq km and housed 200,000 people and would have been the most important city in mesoamerica.
On way to Teotihucan stop off at Basilica de Guadalupe, which is supposed to be the second most visited Catholic site after the Vatican. The Mexicans main symbol of worship is Guadalupe, not the Pope and their main festival is 12th Dec not the 25th Dec, so can´t quite work out how its Catholic!!! We also visit the Aztec ruins of Tlateloco which date back to the 15th Century. The Spanish had built a church on the site some 100 years later once they had colonised Mexico, which was a common practice to make the local population convert to Christianity. The one thing that I do take away from Tlateloco is that this was the site of a massacre in 1968 when troops opened fire on a student demonstration and hundreds were killed. I can never remember hearing about this in history or the media and given that it was only 10 days before the start of the Olympics opened in the city, makes it even more remarkable. Apparently there was a cover up by the government and it never hit the media.
We´ve certianly heard about Tibet in 2008 in the run up to the Beijing Olympics despite the Chinese attempts....guess it goes to show how mass media has changed over the last 40 years.
The final stop before we get to the Pyramids is for lunch which includes Tequila, Pulque and Cactus fruit (tuna). Tequila has never been my favourte drink after a drunken episode at the end of my first year at uni which has scarred! The Pulque is better its like a milky beer and also comes from the Cactus plant. The Tuna are my favourite, similar in taste to grapes but sweeter.
On the way back to Mexico City the size of the city becomes apparent, barely 10km from Teotihucan, so 40km from the centre we start to hit the outskirts. This place is huge, home to 20+ million people making it the second biggest city in the world in terms of population.
Book bus and accomodation to Oaxaca when I get back to the hostel, and have a mild heart attack when I think I´ve lost my credit card.....all okay I´d left it in the safety deposit at front desk!! Still need a beer
to recover though!!
Day 4 - Thursday 3rd July - The Silver town
Feel I want to get out of the city again today - its size is overbearing so catch a bus to Taxco, around 150km south of the city. Takes 2.5 hours to get there. Taxco is famous for its Silver which is mined in the surrounding area, and resembles a Tuscan hill town with its narrow streets and whitewashed buildings. Spend an afternoon watching the world go by with a few beers. The town swarms with VW Beetle taxis which somehow manage to navigate the tight, steep streets. (It has to be seen to be believed) Get bus and metro back to Mexico City and hostel - the metro fascinates me - every stop and someone gets on selling their wares, be it CD´s (they play the music so you can tell what you´re buying - its usually awful!), snacks or sweets.
Day 5 - Friday 4th July - A Mexican history lesson
Go to the Museum of Anthopology today - its the city´s standout museum, and it has a few. Its like getting a history lesson on Mexico. I must
admit my Mexican history is sketchy to say the least.....I know the Aztecs and the Mayans but that´s about it. Discover there´s the Zapotecs, Mixtecs, Olmecs, Toltecs as well as the Aztecs and the Mayans. All ruled various parts of Mexico through the last 3000 years. Its the history of Mexico City I find most interesting though. Founded by the Aztecs as Tenochtitlan (not to be confused with Teotihuacan) in he 14th century, it was built in the middle of a lake. Over the years the lake was drained forming the Valley of Mexico where the city now sits. Unfortunately, due to the rather unsoild foundations the city is sinking - fortunately at 2400m it has got some way to go!! This is evident in some of the buildings which slant in one direction or the other. On way back from museum head to Plaza Garribaldi to watch the massed mariachi bands and then take a look at Tenochtitlan´s ruins next to the Cathedral.
Well its goodbye to Mexico City....I don´t think the city is dangerous as its reputation, mind you its full of police which although reassure also have the contrary effect of worrying you that they are
there for a reason. Catch night bus to Oaxaca - buses are like planes in Mexico - you have to check your bags in, and are allocated seats and have to be there 20 mins before departure.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.051s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 7; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0284s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Kev
non-member comment
Phileas Fag
Oops.... did i spell that title wrong? Pleased to finally see your 1st batch of photo's wor kid!! They are stunning. Espesially the Pyramids. I'm a closet geek!! I was kind of hoping you could bring me back a souvenir, i dont know... like some rocks or dirt in a tin like that guy in Saving Private Ryan. But i'm aware that space in your backpack is limited so don't worry. Anyway the burning question that i know most people will be dying to know the answer to......Hows the underwear situation going? Have you changed your nappy yet or is your 1st set still going strong? Dont need the graphic deails but i'm interested all the same. Glad you didn't loose your credit card (that would have been one lucky bastard finding Prudhoe's answer to Bill Gates plastic) Also pleased to hear you've made it to day 7 without being robbed or worse..... only Seven hundred and twenty three days to go. I think your diary is extremely well written bud.... keep up the good work!! Nowt really to report back here other than Connor still refuses to walk.. although he can now stuff three fingers up one nostril, and he has became consumed with interest in his tadger (think i'll keep those photo's for girlfriends to come) (hopefully girlfriends!!!) But yeah nowt much gan on kidda. Lookin forward to your next update mate. Keep it real !!