And finally, there it was. My first long-haul journey since the pandemic began! Initially I was ought to visit a different destination but with all the restriction hustle I decided to fly to Mexico instead. There were a few reasons to choose this particular destination: first of all, there were merely any entry requirements due to covid-19 so I knew I could easily enter the coutnry, even though I was fully vaccinated. Also, because I've been learning spanish for a few years I was eager to put my skills into practice, and finally - even with Mexico's quite rough reputation I wanted to discover its culture SO BADLY!
Mexico was always so intriguing, so many stereotypes that I wanted to verify on my own, so many spectacular natural and cultural sites, all this deliciously spicy and savoury foods! I did a fair bit of reasearch and decided to go for it, to finally have a trip around this vibrant country.
I went there with my boyfriend for a total stay of two weeks. We didn't want to spend all this time in one place, but to see as many places and regions as possible. We landed in Mexico City (Ciudad de Mexico or CDMX), then flew to Puerto Esconiddo in the state of Oaxaca, went by bus to the city of Oaxaca, went by bus to San Christobal de las Casas and finally flew to Cancun. A quite packed itinerary for twoo weeks, true, but it was absolutely worth it and the trip left me craving experiencing more Mexican states
This time we flew with AirFrance airlines with a short layover in Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. The flight was very smooth and a pleasant experience.
I had a lot of thoughts about how do i find long-haul flights as a very cathartic experience, almost a meditation of some sort. Even with a hundred things to do like hitting the entertainment system and binge'ing three films in a row, reading, napping, going through those 4000 photos I took there is always space for thoughts, slowing down ald realising how timeless you are - stuck in a point of time, counting down numbers but not really knowing which clock is the correct one for now. Here and now, sitting for the 6th hour in the same spot but actually moving with the speed of 900 km/h on cruise control. This flight tracking system is this one thing that connects me to reality and to the world down below. It is my favourite thing of this whole excursion, being able to locate yourself for example over Kansas or Oklahoma, it seems so abstract but then looking through the window you compare the view with the screen and you lnow this is right. It is somehow happening. All those places you would like to visit and experience as well and swooshing away below you, with the speed of 900 km/h.I have a deep fascination into what is outside the window while travelling, I never grow out of the child-like need of having the window seat and looking out enthusiastically thoroughout the entire journey. It is all just so much more than just procedures and zoning out for eleven hours. You know? And all those enormous transit airports? Those thousands of passangers ddashing to their gates or hazily swaggering about because they have so much time left? Where am I going? Where do all those people go? All those destinations on the departure board are a possibility.
CIUDAD DE MEXICO
To begin with I out to say that this will be a very long post! But do not feel discouraged, we covered up a lot of places of interests and I don't think you'll be dissapointed.
Ciudad de Mexico (CDMX is a commonly used short for it) is the fifth largest city in the world after Tokyo, Delhi, Shanghai and Sao Paulo with about 21,581,000 inhabitants. Technically, this counts as the metropolitan area while the proper city counts about 9,000,000. So that is pretty massive. You don't realise how big it is until you see it from above while landing on it's airport, or you try to drive out by road.
It is located in the Valley of Mexico in the high plateau in the central part on the country, at the level of 2200 kilometers above the sea level. It is surrounded by visible mountains and hills, and I don't think that it has any major rivers flowing through it, currently. It was a few lakes nad other bodies of water in its numerous parks, though, where the biggest lake Xochimilco is located in the south of the metropolitan area. The city actually sinks a few centimeters every year and it is a direct consiquence of its history.
It is located in the Valley of Mexico in the high plateau in the central part on the country, at the level of 2200 kilometers above the sea level. It is surrounded by visible mountains and hills, and I don't think that it has any major rivers flowing through it, currently. It was a few lakes nad other bodies of water in its numerous parks, though, where the biggest lake Xochimilco is located in the south of the metropolitan area. The city actually sinks a few centimeters every year and it is a direct consiquence of its history.
The area of CDMX was a lakeland before, consisting of a few connected lakes where the biggest one was lake Texcoco. The ancient Mexica (Aztec) people in the year 1325 built their city, Tenochtitlan on a group if islets on lake Texcoco and connected their islands with bridges. The legend has it, that the Mexicas were migrating in the search for a new homeland and when they saw an eagle witting on a cactus while devauring a serpent and they decided that this is a sign from their gods to settle down there. Tenochtitlan was a well-developed ancient city, on a symmetric plan shaped like a square with four main roads-bridges, one on each side, with a number of massive pyramid-shaped temples.
Then, Hernan Cortesz and his spanish conquistadors came and conquered the Mexicas with the deciding battle happening on the 13th of August, 1521. Willing to create a new colonial metropolis, the lakes were gradually dried out and the city was rising in their place. So, being builton the wetlands, current CDMX keeps sinking, except for those parts that were once lake islands and have different geological structure - like the area of Tenochtitlan. Eventually Mexico gained independence in 1821 and three years later the federal district of CDMX was formed.
Then, Hernan Cortesz and his spanish conquistadors came and conquered the Mexicas with the deciding battle happening on the 13th of August, 1521. Willing to create a new colonial metropolis, the lakes were gradually dried out and the city was rising in their place. So, being builton the wetlands, current CDMX keeps sinking, except for those parts that were once lake islands and have different geological structure - like the area of Tenochtitlan. Eventually Mexico gained independence in 1821 and three years later the federal district of CDMX was formed.
We booked our hotel in Centro Historico district, which is the historical centre (well how surprising). This is the heart of both historical and current Mexico, booming with all sorts of events and wrapped in classy colonial architecture.
Even with a short walking distance from the central square, the streets looked hugely different! I have to admit that my first impression of CDMX was not very positive, but then after leaving the hotel for the evening to find something to eat and walking for just a bit - i instantly changed my mind.
Even with a short walking distance from the central square, the streets looked hugely different! I have to admit that my first impression of CDMX was not very positive, but then after leaving the hotel for the evening to find something to eat and walking for just a bit - i instantly changed my mind.
We went for a very long walk next, starting from Bellas Artes along one of the most representative avenues of the city - Avenida Paseo de la Reforma. It connects the historical city centre with Chapultepec castle. It gives an impression of a very modern and well mantained area with offices and business parks as well as smalles venues.
Along the whole length of the avenue there was a park and lots of greenery which made the walk very pleasant and allowed to escape from the sun that peaked through the clouds. There were many points of interests along the way, some of national significance, like the el Angel de la Independencia statue.
Then we finally reached the gate to Chapultepec, also known as the forest of Chapultepec where Chapultepec castle is located on a hilltop. This is the biggest city park in CDMX with a small lake, the castle grounds and many other instances we did not have time to see, like the Zoo.
In Nahuatl it means "Grasshopper Hill".
The castle hill has been a sacred spot for the Aztecs, and after the Spanish conquest the castle was built in 1806 and served many purposes throroughout its history. Originally designed to be a stately home, it became a military academy for many years, an imperial residence, a presidential residence and eventually in recent times it became a National History Museum
The castle itself is a classical building with a representative staircase by the entrance and terraces opening up to every direction where a marvellous view of the Mexican metropolis can be seen.
We took a bike ride through the fancy Polanco neighbourhood using public bicycle service.
We booked a guided tour to see Teotihuacan piramids, and on that tour many other sights were included, many of which relating to ancient Aztec and Teotihuacan history. W departed from the city centre and firstly stopped by one nighbourhood where among blocks of flats a few Aztec ruins were hidden, in form of
This is actually very interesting because right next to the pyramids stands a cathedral which was raised after the Spanish Conquest using the stones from the pyramids. However, it is also visible that the Aztecs had a much better understanding of their land because the pyramids were built on an island and the church on the wetlands that were left of the dried-off lake. The church sank about 2 meters down into the wetland, where the pyramids remained in the same spot for centuries.
Off we go to Teotihuacan!
Arriving to Teotihuacan at first we made a stop at an artisian craft shop, where we were introduced to some traditional sewing techniques, obsydian crafting and a tequila tasting. It was pretty much a show staged for tourists to encourage them to purchace souvenirs at this exact store (where those exact same souvenirs were available all over Mexico City) but it was an interesting experience either way.
The tequila tasting was specially fine, I had no idea how real mexican tequila should taste like and we did have a sip of Mezcal as well.
TEOTIHUACAN
Teotihuacan. Probably the most important archeological and cultural site in central Mexico, located about a two hour drive from the centre of CDMX.
It was raised by the indigenous Teotihuacan empire which thrived between 250 and 650 A.D. and it is a seperate cultural group than the Aztecs, it was in fact one of the first cultures that developed in this area and it had a major influence on how other pre-columbian cultures were shaped. The name Teotihuacan is more associated with the site of the pramids and in Nahuatl it means the place, wgere people become Gods and it was given by the Aztecs when they found this site about 500 years after it fell.
What is fascinating is that after the Spanish Conquest those ruins were never found by Cortes or his successors because they were so far from Mexico City, and thus they were never destroyed.
The complex consists of numerous pyramids connected on a peripendicular grid. The two main pyramids are the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon, where the first is the biggest of them all reaching height of 65 meters. The profile of this pyramid was shaped also in such a way to resemble the profile of mountain seen in the distance directly behind the pyramid.
Those two pyramids are connected by The Road of the Dead, a 40-meter-wide avenue alongside which other shrines, scupltures and paintings are situated. It originally had the length of 2km and lead to a citadel that currently doesn't exist anymore.
Driving through the endless suburbs of CDMX actually allowed to gain some perspective how really enormous this city is.
Like I said before, there is always something going on in Zócalo, the main square. At the end of the day we were already very hungry and tired, but when we passed through Zócalo and saw a festival in which children were throwing sharp-pointed baloons in the air, we were absolutely delighted and stayed to watch. All the positivity of this family-friendly event was amazing and positively mesmerising, them Mexicans indeed know how to have all kinds of fun in the streets!
The last full day in CDMX we spent on another tour that covered the highlights of the southern parts of the city. We decided that since we didn't have much time, covering everything without a tour and relying on public transpirt would be impossible. Like I mentioned before, the distances and the traffic is insane.
But first, a morning routine that we developed: leaving the hotel, looking for a 7-eleven to grab some pastries and coffee for breakfast, trying not to stumble upon any police barricades that close of the strict city centre during the morning hours. For some reason. We still don't know why.
The tour was about Frida Kahlo & Diego Riviera, we started from covering famous murals by the latter at the University of Mexico City, the biggest university in Latin America.
The mural on the university building presented a brief story of Mexico on one side of the building and explained Aztec traditions and belief system on the other.
Then we had a boat ride in Xochimilco. This is a network of irrigation cannals made by the Aztecs connected with Xochimilco lake.
Colourful boats are gliding through the cannals offering a full range of entertainment - live music, food, snacks, drinks, souvenirs and jewelry. Everything was floating too and just swam up to you and offered their service. All happening very fast, very chaotic, this was the ambience of the place.
Next we visited Coyoacan, an elegant and bohemian district of the city from where we walked to The Casa Azul being the museum of Frida Kahlo, located in the house where she and Diego Riviera lived.
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