Made it to Mexico...

relaxing on top of the pyramid of the sun Teotihuacan

 

Mexico City is not at all what I was expecting. 

It is relatively clean, unpolluted and chaos free, but that is probably because anywhere would seem like that after Havana.

I am staying in a hostel just a few streets from the historic centre and the famous and impressive Zocalo square.

The hostel Amigos Downtown is comfortable and spacious, with a rooftop bar and breakfast area and extremely helpful and friendly staff. My room is enormous by European standards, with a huge bathroom, a comfortable double bed and it is relatively quiet. Most importantly for me, the property has Wifi as I need to make some bookings for my trip to Guatemala.The hostel caters to a lot of young and independent travellers with a mix of rooms and dorm accommodation. Guess which I went for! (Tip-I’m too old and set in my ways to share a habitacion, but I do enjoy meeting people and the common areas give you that opportunity) 
I’m having a Mexican beer in the rooftop bar when I meet a gorgeous French guy Vincent (sadly he has an equally lovely girlfriend Kate) and we end up on the same tour to Teotihuacan two days later. Although we probably won’t ever catch up again, it is a lovely connection.

After a hot shower (Mexico City is much colder than Havana and I have to find my
warm clothes again before I venture out) I go exploring, and am surprised at how
safe the place feels even though it is getting dark. I spot a Sony shop 2 streets away and plan to go back the next day to replace my camera. Dinner is in an elegant taverna, with crisp linen and good food. I enjoy a smooth, if somewhat expensive vin tinto and delicate tortillas filled with prawn and avocado with a spicy side salsa, as I read my Guatemala guide.

My first morning in Mexico City, and it is still dark when I wake up at 6am. I wait until it is lighter and then go for a long walk to a park I have seen on my map. As I walk down the main pedestrian mall of the city which is still quiet, I notice all the shops, Zara and even Sears. It feels so different to Cuba. In the park, council workers are cleaning up rubbish and vendors are setting up stalls. On almost every corner, groups of police stand around chatting and eating street food or drinking coffee. Police cars with lights flashing are commonplace, yet they don’t seem to be going anywhere or doing anything in particular, just cruising with their lights on. Here their presence (at least to me) seems benign, but later I talk to an Italian girl, a vulcanologist, who lives and works in a nearby town, with a known drug cartel population and she tells me the police there are corrupt and she is frightened of them.

I find a spot that feels right and where I can absorb the energy of the greenery and trees and do my qigong. It feels good as I have not done it for a while and I hardly notice the few bemused locals who stare as they walk past.

The day is quite stressful as I have problems arranging a flight to and accommodation in Guatemala, and buying a camera, but with the assistance of the hostel staff, all ends well. The highlight of the day is visiting the Frida Kahlo museum (actually the house where she and Diego Rivera lived and worked) in the Coyoacan area. By all accounts she was an amazing, talented woman, albeit an emotionally and physically tortured being, who notwithstanding physical incapacity after an accident which confined her to a wheelchair, produced some stunning and original artwork. I spend a few hours watching footage of her life in the gracious gardens of her former home and imagine her and Diego entertaining their friends and enduring their loving yet tempestuous relationship together.

    

After travelling on the local bus and metro all day, I am exhausted and don’t go out to check out the salsa dance scene as I had planned. Hugo, always smiling, resident chef and self appointed guest relations manager, had offered to take me, but I change my mind as much for the tiredness as the realisation (after asking for a demonstration) that Mexican salsa is different to Cuban salsa!!! and I am not sure I will easily be able to master this different form.

  

After my last disastrous tour experience at Meteora I am ambivalent about taking up the hostel’s offer of a day tour to Teotihuacan which is about an hour out of Mexico City, but as I am not feeling as resilient as I would need to be to attempt to get there on my own on my own on local transport, I decide to give “tours” another go.

It turns out to be a great day, with a small group, a great guide and driver, and a mix of history, meeting locals and being tourists.

  

First stop is Plaza de las Tres Culturas, interesting not only because of modern, colonial and pre Columbian architecture and the remains of the ceremonial centre of Tlatelolco where in 1521 the last Aztec emperor was killed by the Spanish under Hernan Cortes, but also the place where in1968, just before Mexico was to host the Olympic Games, the military opened fire on peaceful student protestors killing several hundred of them.

According to Alejandro, our guide, The Basilica de Guadelupe, our second stop, is the second most visited Catholic site after the Vatican. It is the place where in 1531, a brown skinned Virgin Mary miraculously appeared to an Indian Juan Diego and her image was recorded on his robe, which is exhibited inside.

When we arrived, the Basilia (which can hold 10,000 people) is unable to contain the pilgrims and thousands more are camped out in the plaza in front of the Basilica, with makeshift tents and gas stoves. Most are dressed in white and are carrying banners and devotional items.

In spite of the number of people contained in such a small space, and the challenging conditions, the atmosphere is calm and relaxed, with no signs of frustration or impatience.

A stop for lunch and tequila, (I quite enjoyed the sweet version that is similar to amaretto) and we reach Teotihuacan which is the highlight of the day.

Impressive Pyramids constructed only with the labour of thousands of people, using principles of geometry, astronomy, physics and mathematics, Teotihuacan is a place of historical significance and spiritual energy.

Although very different to Machu Picchu, it has a similar energy and beauty and is a testament to the ingenuity and determination of the human spirit.

It is good to share the experience with my new “friends” and still have time to sit and meditate on my own. 

It is the next morning. After a quick breakfast and goodbye (and storing my small bag until I return in mid August) I head to the airport for my flight to Guatemala. I have decided (after studying my map) that it makes more sense to do Guatemala first then cross over on land to Mexico again, doing the South, Chiapas and Yucatan, and then Oaxaca (pronounced Wa haka) before heading back to Mexico city for my flight to San Francisco.

So with only a few days booked in Guatemala City, destination Red Cross (Cruz Roja) office to see what opportunities there are for voluntary work in the area of Psycho social support, I am off again to a new destination. If the work with Red Cross doesn’t work out, there will be other opportunities and from what I can see Guatemala is a fascinating country.

Ok..they’ve just called my flight, so got to go

Hasta luego

Mon x

1521 not triumph nor defeat but the event that created Mexico today

a memorial for the students killed by military during protests before Mexico hosted Olympic games

Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera

A numerologist's dream, these ruins are based on Mayan calendar

Crowds outside Basilica de Guadelupe which holds 10,000 people

This is what most have come to see

original Cathedral next door, was sinking for years (like many buildings in Mexico City) 

Mayan calendar

Hostel Transport for tours 

some of the murals at the Pyramids

Temple of the moon. Luckily you could only walk up half way due to excavation work!

Temple of the Sun in the distance

View form Temple of the moon down the Avenue of death

Not quite Machu Picchu but great to be here

The jaguar rules here