Mexico City in 48 hours

by Kelley Mcgiff (New Zealand)

I didn't expect to find Mexico

Mexico, a land deeply spiritual, connected to its ancestral past and enriched with culture. I embarked on a two month back packing mission to embrace Día de Muertos, the cenotes of the Yucatan peninsula, a food pilgrimage like no other and to top it off a month of Spanish lessons in the heart of Mexico city. We arrived in Mexico two days before Día de Muertos-a festival that takes place on the 2nd of November every year where Mexicans celebrate there loved ones that have transitioned to the next life. I had heard of Día de Muertos but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It’s common to make altars and bring offerings to the graveyards, anything from the person’s favourite drink to the brand of cigarettes they smoked. The Taqueria next to our hotel had their alter out and people were there day and night crying and wailing which made me think that they must have lost someone not so long ago. We had 48 hours in MEXICO city before heading to Oaxaca so we jam packed everything that we could from the best fish tacos to the great pyramids of Teotihuacan. If your anything like me and didn’t know Mexico had pyramids then welcome to the club, I was astonished by how many they actually have. It all makes sense now but whilst I was travelling I had no clue. Teotihuacan was awesome; it was so large it’s hard to articulate the vastness thru words. For me it felt much grander than the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt but hey I was only 17 when I visited them and my memory is probably a bit hazy. It was so impressive and dwarfing at the same time. It’s still very much in tact and you can definitely transport yourself back in time where you can imagine what it was like being there, offering up sacrifices and who knows what else. I found it fascinating and the climb to the Pyramid of the Sun, holy cow that was intense. The Pyramid of the Moon was hands down the best just for the sheer fact that it gave you a complete birds eye view of the whole archaeological site. I forgot to mention Javier, a man from Guadalajara who had joined us on our adventure way back at the bus station. He couldn’t speak much English and my Spanish is quite limited. We did our best with the imam’s Google translate along with hand gestures and smiles. My friend was convinced he was trying to kidnap us or wanted money for the tour he imposed on us. It turned out he was just a nice old age pensioner looking for some company on his travels. It’s difficult to not hold prejudices when Mexico gets painted in such a negative light in he media. I’m here to debunk some of this negativity. Is Mexico dangerous- sure but like anywhere else in the world you need to be vigilant and mindful of your surroundings. However the police are quite corrupt out there and for me these were the people I was most afraid of on my trip. I met a friend in Mexico City that said the cops are the real gangsters and the actual gangsters themselves. We managed sneak a cheeky trip to Xochimilco. Here there are these massive hand painted, super colourful boats that you ride on the canals. There are plenty of Mariachi bands, souvenirs to buy as well as food and drink. I would recommend going here with a big group on the weekend. We went on a Thursday and it was a bit dry, the boats are stunning but I would love to return with a big group for a fiesta. From Mexico City we headed to Oaxaca for Day of The Dead celebrations. It was really fun and the bus was packed out with all sorts of characters, the high light of our journey was when the bus driver pulled over on the highway to people selling tacos. There was rice in one bucket and the filling in the other, salads in bags and the tortillas in a tea towel. This is what travelling is all about.