Mexico City

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Okay, what can i say about Mexico city...... WOW! Totally not what i expected!!

Vital Statistics

Population: 19 Million ++
Elevation: 2280 M
Land Area: Huge

Polictical Demonstrations

Firstly, i was staying in the city central historical district and on my first day there, the good people of Mexico City decided to hold demonstrations due to the problems with the recent election! GREAT! There were people and police everywhere (not sure how many turned up but you can imagine with a pop of nearly 20 million it doesnt take much commitment to get a few 100K of people!!). Regardless i did go in and take a look and overall it was pretty calm with no violence or arrests.... certainly an interesting first day.

Frankly speaking, wandering around for the first few hours i could not even find an ATM or coffee shop, i think there was something wrong with my eye sight (travel blindness) whereby you are so used to identifying certain types of venues you are no longer really looking..... so your optics-brain functions have to adapt and really LOOK! It was really bizarre because the following day i found an ATM next door and about 10 coffee shops, mcdonalds, burger king, KFS, Star Bucks and many many local restaurants within a few blocks!

The metro is really fantastic and dirt cheap! 2.50 pesos and you can go anywhere you like! Its fast and efficient (but pretty crowded during peak hour)

The bottom line is that there is a lot to see in and around Mexico City. I think you could spend a month if you wanted to visit all the historical sites, galleries and museums.

I spent some time in the historical center, the Anthrapoligical Museum and also visited the Teotihuacan (pronounced tay-o-tee-oo-o-kan) ruins.

Catedral Metropoitana

This amazing Catholical Cathedral was built soon after 1513 (when Cortes conquered the Aztecs)..... it has been wonderfully maintained and the inside is immaculate (i do have the photos but it takes too damn long to upload them all!!).

The Anthrapoligical Museum

The anthrapoligical museum was also fantastic.... you can spend two full days wandering around covering the 3000 years of history of the various civilisations within Mexico.....

Teotihuacan Ruins 300 BC - 600 A.D. +-

About a 50 minute bus ride from the city, these are quite huge covering an area of about 10 square KM´s. It is estimated that the city at its height housed about 125,000 people..... The pyramids are incredibly preserved with the main attractions being the pyramid of the sun (sol, measuring 70M in height and about 3 million tons) and the Pyramid of the Moon (slightly smaller). You can spend about half a day getting around them (my legs were feeling it) but had some great local food (burritos) on the way out to keep motoring....

Overall Mexico city was a real surprise. The air was very breathable ( i think KL is worse!) Although you certainly have to be careful at night (a story to tell here, but another time..) but during the day it is more like any big city. Certainly a city of extremes (wealth and poverty) with lovelly cosmopolitan suburbs contrast against the sprawling shanty towns and make-shift living quarters in some of the outer suburbs (these sprawl literally for kilometer after kilometer!.

The people are incredibly friendly and helpful for such a huge urban centre!

Some trivia: The local police have to buy their own guns apparently, so the wealthier one's have the bigger ones (like m16´s) and other guys are carrying pea shooters.....

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Photos

Catedral Metropolitana
The central Catholic Cathedral of Mexico City. Built in the 16th century.

Zocolo Central
A typical city street around the historical district, Mexico City.

Coffee in Mexico!
Having a coffee (and a beer) just next door to Catedral Metro....

Teotihuacan!
The ancient Teotihuacan Pyramid of the Sun (300 B.C.)

Teotihuacan!
The ancient Teotihuacan Pyramid of the Moon (300 B.C.)

Anthrapological Museum
Ancient death mask... for ritual burial of kings.

Comments

[Sam]

envy your journey
Hi, Craig. How are you? Sam, Japanese, here. it was good you found your baggage at Mexico. hahaha !(^o^)!. Your journal report is so great. am feeling like I'm travelling with you la. can't wait your next journal report. Enjoy your safety journey! tell you I got 3rd place of PD sprint triathlon race last weekend. got a trophy and hamper! Happy!