In just 6 weeks visiting Europe we managed to squeeze in a huge amount of sightseeing, caught up with great friends and family and had an absolute ball. After such a fast paced trip that included a lot of sightseeing, we were both a bit apprehensive but looking forward to Central America and a very different kind of holiday. Mexico was not to disappoint.
Mexico City
Before arriving we’d heard little about the Mexican capital, apart from receiving warning about the huge level of crime. On arrival we were to get our first experience of the Latin American clock, with a solid 90 mins of cue time to get through the airport. Some research from Cushla made life a lot easier as we made our way to a pre-paid taxi that took us direct to our hostel, bringing a new meaning to the word aggressive lane changing. Operation don’t get robbed, killed or scammed was off to a brilliant start.
Apparently the city sits at about 23 million people, which puts it in the top 3 on the planet and you’d certainly believe it. Some intersections have traffic lights, but most are controlled by whistle blowing officers who seem to direct everyone with a series of random blows and hand signals. Bottom line; keep your wits about you when crossing the street.
The majority of our time was spent visiting markets, working out how we were going to order food, getting lost and just walking around amazed at how these people are living. We visited independence square before heading across to the Torre Latinoamericano to go up the elevator and get a 360 degree view of the massive city. Despite the volume of people, the city is impeccably clean, courtesy of the hordes of council workers walking the streets with hand held brooms sweeping everything up. The major bonus of cheap labour I guess. If you like big cities, you’ll love Mexico City. If you hate them then this is not the place for you.
No Ingles amigo – it didn’t take us long to find our first major roadblock, when they say Spanish speaking, they mean Spanish speaking and that is it. One of the hostel staff spoke some broken English and besides one guy at the bus company we didn’t hear a word of English in 3 days. That said, there’s a certain level of excitement to be taken from ordering a meal and sitting back and waiting to see what on earth is going to come out. One local street vendor was left in stitches on day 1 when I got my sauces mixed up and ended up tackling his hottest chilli sauce. Always good to be spreading some joy.
The guns – The one thing that blew us away more than any other was the police and their guns. There were officers literally stationed on every street corner, while it seemed like every 10th car on the road was a police ute with 6 armed officers on the back. And they weren’t holding your NZ style ‘stop you in your tracks’ taser guns, or even your Australian style ‘I’ll put a hole in your leg’ hand guns. These were more your ‘shoot down low flying aircraft’ type semi-automatic weapons. The AK-47’s and pump action shot guns are reserved for your lowly shop security guards; of which there are many.
San Cristobal deLas Cases
After the intensity of Mexico City, San Cristobal provided the polar opposite, a small town with friendly people where you could get away with not speaking Spanish. Our hostel was even run by a girl from Nelson, proving Cushla’s theory that Nelson folk actually are everywhere!! Much more than a tourist town on the way to the Guatemalan border, we were originally only staying for 1 night but this quickly turned into 4. The town was in full preparation mode for the Mexican Independence Day which meant a big carnival in the town square. We decided to test our newly acquired Spanish numeracy skills to barter for some fruit and vegies at the local markets, and were pretty impressed to walk away with some eggs, apples, avocados, capsicums and onions for 37 pesos.
A day trip to the Mexican villages of Zincantan and Chamula gave us the chance to see a more traditional side of the country and how the people are living. Certainly the most obscure thing we visited was a church that was half used for prayer and half as a hospital. The prayer side was covered in candles as people drank soda to help them burp out the devil inside of them. In the hospital section, sick people would sit and inhale smoke while ‘healers’ shook live chickens over their bodies to absorb the illness, then sacrifice the chickens to their gods. Outside fireworks are going off every minute to ‘scare away the evil spirits’ during prayer times. Traditional Mexico at its best.
When we first arrived in Mexico we were fairly overwhelmed by the huge ‘culture shock’ we’d encountered. It’s amazing what a week can do and by the time we left for Guatemala we were feeling a lot more in control and full of excitement about the adventures ahead.
Nights stayed in Mexico – 6
We got to Mexico City – from Dubrovnik with an overnight stay in Frankfurt. Mexico City to San Cristobal de Las Cases courtesy of a fairly arduous 18 hour bus ride with OCC. $73
It’ll cost you – next to nothing. 5 tostada’s from a street vendor will set you back 20 pesos ($1.50). 3 pesos (25c) to ride the tube.
English – Is a no go. You would probably be fine in a tourist area but in Mexico City don’t expect anything.
Eating –Both of us have been at numerous Mexican BYO’s over the years, where ‘people in the know’ have spoken about the food in Mexico actually being really bland. This could not be further from the truth. The standard fare revolves around tortilla’s or tostada’s (toasted), that come with your selection of meat and some vegetables. On the side you’ll get 3 kinds of chili sauces that range from mild to inferno, salsa and an onion and coriander mix. Best of all you get a lime on the side of everything to drizzle before tucking into an incredible feed. We ate half our meals ‘on the street’ and managed to come away unscathed sticking to the theory as long as I can see it frying it must be fresh enough. As tasty (and cheap) as the street food is, the concept of refrigeration and temperature controlled storage is a long way off. Eat it at your own risk but if in doubt, stick to the beef . For the record the only time we saw nacho’s was on the international page of a restaurant.
The poverty – They’re certainly not the wealthiest bunch, but my god they’re willing to work hard to make a buck. There’s almost no begging; certainly less than in Europe and there’s no-one just lying around on the streets getting drunk, they’re all working. Every time your taxi is stopped at the lights you’ll have 3 different people approach you selling Mexican flags, peanuts, watermelon, stereos you name it.
What to bring – Some Spanish would be a great start, or if all else fails carry a pen and paper which is handy for getting a concrete price prior to a transaction. Nothing gets a Mexican shop keeper going like an impromptu game of Pictionary
Most intense bit – riding the metro to purchase a bus ticket. Putting aside the obvious drama of navigation, purchasing tickets with no Spanish, and sharing the platform and carriages with heavily armed officers, we ended up getting out in a fairly dodgy part of town. This provided the only real ‘right we might be screwed here’ moment, before we got our bus tickets and high tailed out of there. On the bright side the salesman on the train had really branched out. On our way to the first stop we were offered discount chewing gum, second stop thought we’d hit the jackpot with a man selling children’s math’s books. Then en route to our 3rd stop we were joined by a women with no front teeth in a clown costume who sang and danced some kind of Mexican jig. Industrious.
Quote of the week – This beaut came from our tour guide in Chamula upon being asked “isn’t it really dangerous having the floor of the church covered in pine needles when there’s about 500 candles burning in here.” His response “with all due respect James, that’s a first world thought. You’re in Latin America now, you can say goodbye to drivers licenses, speed limits and health and safety considerations.”
Mexican efficiency – 9 kg’s of clothes washed, dried, ironed and folded in 7 hours for $10. Even the best kiwi mum around couldn’t pull that off.
Tricks for young players – If you can count to 100 in Spanish you’ll make buying stuff a lot easier. Also, the back to carriages of the train are reserved for women only and a handy way to avoid the pick pockets dream; a train so full you have to use your scrum skills to get inside.
What grinds my gears – Getting told your bus journey will take 12 hours when it really takes 18 is a pain. Having children’s cartoon movies blasting full noise through the bus in Spanish at 1am is just ridiculous.
What grinds my gears 2– How on earth a “full American breakfast provided” can mean a bowl of cornflakes and warm milk is beyond me.