Mexico City wrap up

So it is time to do a wrap up again, as the days are yet again slipping by. It is amazing how much time speeds up once you are in motion again. For a while there, time slowed right down in Vancouver, and it felt like we were going to be in that little flat for ever...

So, here goes an attempt at brevity:

Feb 6

We spent this particular day wandering about trying to do as much cultural stuff within walking distance from our hostel as we could handle. First up was the Department of Education, pretty much across the road from our hostel, where we walked around and looked in awe at the fresco's and murals they have on display, most of which by famous communist muralist Diego Rivera: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diego_Rivera. We also checked out the art gallery, palacio de bellas artes (palace of fine arts). I am not an architecture buff, but it is one damn extravagant building, with a white marble interior and big tall dome ceilings. It also featured some of Diego´s work on its walls along with some other artists, which is all Jono and I had the headspace to take in. Plus, the extravagance of the building made me too aware of my dirty thonged feet and scrappy unwashed clothes. We also had time to check out the museum of anthropology, which was pretty impressive, but I realised that I had almost reached my saturation point for learning about history and absorbing culture. I was starting to itch, and I think Jono was too, for the outdoors...

That night we went out for Jono´s Australian birthday at a local restaurant. The soccer happened to be on that night, and it was Mexico against the US, so of course the restaurant was showing the game on TV and it was a pretty charged atmosphere. We ate out in a courtyard, with a crowd gathering around outside the fence of the restaurant to also watch the game. After looking at Diego anti capitalist murals all day, I felt like the perfect capitalist pig, eating way more food than we needed (the cost of which was probably equal to a weeks wage for the average Mexican) while those that can not afford their own tv, watched the game (and us) from outside...

Feb 7

I think this was a highlight of our Mexico City days. We went out to a sleepy village called Tetzopoten which hosted a pyramid up ontop of a mountain. Although the pyramid itself was not nearly as spectacular, it was really good to escape the chaos of Mexico City again, and experience this sleepy magical and colourful village. The walk up the hill was also good exercise, the views from the top were pretty sweet, and the icecream once we got back down was even sweeter. I enjoyed lying ontop of the pyramid in the sun at the top of the hill, listening to sounds from the village below flittering their way up, interspersed with the birds and something that sounded like crickets.

Feb 8

We caught the metro to the airport, again without a hitch, and jumped on a plane to Monterray. Unfortunately there was no metro system to take us from Monterray to the climbing campground in Potrero Chico, so we had to again take our courage pills and take a Mexican taxi on a Mexican Highway. First of all, a note about highways. If the word conjures up any image or orderliness, speed limits, lanes, clear signage and streamlined traffic, wipe your mind clear of such thoughts. First up, from our limited experiences, I can say Mexican highways have no speed limits. I did not notice any speed signs, and if there are any, they are not followed. Mexican highways have no lanes. If there are any lanes marked on the road, the paint is faded and hardly visible, and like pedestrian crossings, need not be there as they are not used. Four lanes of traffic manage to operate in what seems like about two and a half lanes (with the help of the so called cycle way or shoulder at the side. Mental note: Mexico is not a good potential destination for cycle touring). Add huge road trains and slow almost broken down rustbucket cars to the mix and you have cacophony. I think it is as bad as I remember Cambodian highways being. The fact that there were no bomb craters was balanced out by the fact that there was much more traffic. Anyhow, we got to Potrero Chico in one piece, despite almost running into the middle of a semi trailer doing a u turn across the highway, and coming to a skidding halt with traffic behind us doing likewise. Miraculously, there were no collisions. Perhaps because the truck had a Jesus logo on it.

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