About two weeks ago I emailed the Mexico City Hostel just to see if I could book some where in advance other wise I probably would not of come with the things people were telling me about violence and kidnappings. Usually places want a deposit or credit card details but a woman called Paulina emailed back to say that she had reserved me a room so now it was just trying to book some tickets to get there. When I got to Los Angeles airport I went to the American Airlines desk and asked how much it would be, they told me a price but said to ask the Mexicana counter and see the price there. The price was more expensive so I booked with American Airlines but the flight was actually run by Mexicana.
I got to Mexico City and the hostel said they offered a taxi service so I thought I would use that instead of being conned or kidnapped by the local taxis. I rung the hostel and they sent the taxi which cost about 4 pounds which is 100 pesos. The hostel it self was just about 100 yards from the centre of Mexico City so for half a day I walked around the centre taking photos and arranging what I was going to for the rest of my stay. I booked a tour to the Mexican pyramids. It was fine walking around and there looked to be a big police presence in the centre.
On Thursday I woke up really early and called into the 24 hour cafe at 3 o clock in the morning for some tortillo wraps. I went to San Juan Teotihuacan to go and see the Mexican pyramids which lasted 9 hours. On the way we stopped to have a look at the Square of the Three Cultures which has three buildings which represent the three periodsof Mexican history which are pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial and the mestizo which means Europeans and Amerindian people living together in a Latin American country. It also has remains of Aztec temples and commemerates the Tlatelolco massacre in which 300 people were killed. We next stopped at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadulupe which was built on boggy land so you could see that it was sinking in the ground. As well as the old building they have built a new building as well which is very nice inside. It is the most important church in Mexico and millions of people flock for the feast on the 12th December. The churches denomination is Catholic. After seeing the church we went to see some of the biggest pyramids in the World. Mexico has the biggest, by volume, pyramid in the World with the Great Pyramid being second and the pyramid that I climbed in San Juan Teotihuacan, which is the Pyramid of the Sun, being third. It lies on the Avenue of Death inbetween the Pyramid of the Moon and the Ciudadela. It took some doing but I reached the top and there were some fantastic views of the city and nature.
On Friday I got my Mexicana afternoon flight to LA and got the shuttle back to my hotel. Next flight I will be taking will be to New Orleans and I shall be staying there for one night before coming back to LA and then going on to Madrid, Spain, connecting at O'Hare (Chicago) airport. The last stop of the around the World ticket.
Take care.
Robert
