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Published: August 25th 2008
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Central Mexico 7th August - 14th August
After filling up on the great Hostel breakfast, we left Oaxaca and caught the bus North to Puebla. We were headed for a small town outside of Puebla called Cholula which the guide book had recommended. From the huge bus station in Puebla, we took a local bus service to Cholula and started looking for the hostel we had booked via e-mail, in Spanish and everything! We eventually found the hostel which was a bit out of town in a residential area and appeared to be just a house where the owner had a spare room which he let out. He seemed friendly enough though and we had the room to ourselves so it wasn't too bad. We went out for some food and to have a look around the town that Cortez had described as the most beautiful outside of Spain. I guess that was a long time ago. Although there were a lot of churches in the town and a large central plaza, there were very few people around and it seemed like the town was past its best. Even the huge pyramid near the centre looked more like a grassy hill.
The pyramid is apparently one of the largest in the world but it was only when we went to explore the excavated tunnels inside that we could see what it once might have looked like. Once inside, we were able to see the various stages of construction and outside there were some remains of the ceremonial buildings and we climbed up to the top of the hill to see the church that had been built there in place of the previous temple. There wasn't much else to do in Cholula so we headed back to the hostel for dinner and to get ready to go to Mexico City.
We took the bus in the morning via Puebla and into Mexico City's East bus terminal. From there we crammed onto the underground train and headed into the city centre. It was a short walk from the underground station to the hostel we were to be staying in for the next five nights. It was the biggest hostel we had stayed in and it even had its own bar. We had a bite to eat at a nearby cafe before visiting the Zocalo or main square which is surrounded by a Cathedral,
the National Palace and other government buildings. Here we watched some traditional Aztec dancing and browsed the many souvenir stalls. Back at the hostel, we took advantage of the free (but basic) dinner before going to the busy bar for a few beers and a few free tequilas which were poured straight into our mouths by the barman!
We had checked the football fixtures earlier in the week and found out there was a match being played at the Aztec Stadium on Sunday so we decided to try and go. The game was at 4pm but we had been told that if we went early enough we would probably be able to get a ticket. We went for a look around the National Palace with its famous Rivera Murals and then to the Cathedral before catching the tube out to the stadium. We managed to get a ticket quite easily from the official ticket booth and were glad that we didn't have to rely on one of the many touts. After walking around the outside of the huge 114,000 capacity stadium, we headed inside to find our seats which were near the front but meant we would have to watch
the game through the security fence.
It was only about half full by the time the game between Club Americas and the Montejo Monarcas kicked off which meant the atmosphere was a bit quiet and although the game wasn't great it was entertaining to watch the variety of different food sellers that weaved through the crowd selling burgers, fruit, nuts, beer and even cups of (puerco) pork fat! A bit different to the usual pie and Bovril. The game finished 1-1 and although it would have been good to have seen it full, it was good to have been in one of the largest stadiums in the world and the place where Maradonna scored the "Hand of God" goal and also the "Goal of the Century."
As most of the museums in Mexico City are closed on Mondays, we decided to take a trip to the ruins of Teotihuacan on the outskirts of town. Again, these ruins were said to be some of the best in Mexico and this time they did live up their reputation. The site was huge and was dominated by the massive temple of the Sun. We climbed the steep steps to the top where the
view of the rest of the city was fantastic. Walking around the rest of the ruins, we saw some well preserved murals and carvings inside some of the many temples and residences. Again we spent the evening at the Hostel bar chatting to some of the many other travelers and ended up quite merry on the free Tequila which was difficult to say no to.
Not surprisingly, we awoke on Tuesday with a bit of hangover so we had a bit of a lie in before going out for a walk around Mexico City centre. There is a huge amount of museums and galleries in Mexico and it would take weeks to see everything but we tried to see some of the most famous sites even though we didn't have time to go into them all and it was good just taking in the atmosphere while eating quesadillas at a pavement stall.
After having a quieter night at the hostel, we got up and had breakfast and headed out to Bosque De Chapultepec, a huge park that contains some of the city's most famous museums and attractions. First we visited the zoo to see pandas, hippos, tigers and bears amongst
Half time snacks.
Some green stuff or some pork fat? many others. After some lunch we rented a pedal boat on the park's lake and then headed to the huge Museum of Anthropology. It is the biggest museum in Latin America and the highlight is the huge Aztec Stone of the Sun which really was quite impressive. The museum also had exhibits from some of the places we had already visited and although there were some amazing artifacts and recreations of temples, we were disappointed to find out a lot of the displays were fiberglass reproductions and not original pieces.
Since leaving Cancun, we had been roughly following a suggested route from our guide book and the next destination was the silver mining town of Taxco about two hours bus journey from Mexico. We left the hostel and took our last trip on the crowded underground to catch the bus from the South terminal. The journey was very scenic as the bus wound its way up the side of the hills and into Taxco which somehow managed to cling to the steep slopes. We were only staying here one night and so after checking onto our hotel we went out to have a look at the many silver shops that
Teotehuacan
On top of the pyramid of the sun. made the town a tourist attraction. It was quite hard work making our way around the steep streets and when reached the main plaza and cathedral we decided it would be a good place to stop and have a nice meal in one of the restaurants overlooking the town. Although Mexico City had been a great experience, it was nice to be out of the huge city and as the sun set over the mountains, our thoughts turned to the next stage of our journey and the beaches of the pacific coast.
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