day 3: the aztec civilization, to guadalupe, mercado insurgentes and an evening at the plaza garibaldi

10 Feb 2006 (Friday)

We woke up early this morning to take a bus out of twon to see the Aztec Civilization pyramids in Teotihuacan 50 km from the city. Had a little trouble with the taxi system (no, we didn't get assaulted by cab drivers tt we hailed off the street. We just had trouble telling the driver tt we wanted to go to "Terminal Central de Autobus del Norte" - pronounced in Espanol, not English), but we did manage to get to the bus station, albeit with a lot of pointing and Ben saying "Si, si, si" (which is "yes" in Spanish).

And so we took the bus out to the pyramids. It cost us only 27 pesos, which is US $2.70. It was an approximately 1 hour journey. As always, Alvin was able to fall asleep on the bus (he can fall asleep on any moving vehicle, provided he is not the one behind the wheel), but I don't think we slept as much or as well as him.

But the bus ride was interesting, mainly because even out of Mexico City, the highway wasn't bare. It was continually lined with rows upon rows upon rows of houses all the way out.



Like so.

Some of these houses were so far away from the city tt you wondered where on earth this people went or what they did for a living. Usually houses located far from the city are agricultural in nature such tt you have farmland and stuff to work on, but here the houses were right next to each other. What would there be to farm? And how long would it take to travel from home to city every single morning?

On another interesting note, Mexicans sell you anything anywhere. On the bus, some Mexican boarded the vehicle with a guitar, took it out and just started singing 4 songs in Espanol. The songs were of the romantic sort, and coupled with his deep voice it was really nice to listen to. We were entertained, definitely. And after tt he came around to collect token sums for his singing.

But it was all good.

We reached Teotihuacan around 10am. To discover giant aloe veras and cactuses.



But yeah. The draw of Teotihuacan is not in the plants. It's in the pyramids.



Pyramid.



Me with pyramid.



Me and Alvin with pyramid.



Us on the Avenue of the Dead.



And us again... I don't know where this time.



And Ben and I in the square by the Temple of the Serpent.

Basically the Aztec Civilisation is this city in the middle of nowhere (I assume this used to be some jungle or something), and it consists 3 pyramids - a Temple of the Serpent, and the Pyramid of the Sun (pyramide del Sol) and the Pyramid of the Moon (pyramide la Luna), and the long straight walkway leading through the area is the Avenue of the Dead. The walls tt line the avenue are painted with pretty murals, such as those of pumas.

We climbed up to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun.

Trust me, once is enough.



Can you tell how tired the boys are? ;)

But hey, at least the view is good. Wahaha.



You can see the Pyramid of the Moon from here.



And tt's the requisite "Look ma! I was there!" photo.

If anything, the walk back from the pyramids to the place where we were supposed to take our bus was more of a killer. We walked out of Puerto (Gate) 4, when we were supposed to take our bus from Puerto 1. And between each gate is a distance of 1 km. Except tt we all believe tt the Mexican km is longer than an ordinary km. Especially when you're walking in the blazing sun and we were all hungry coz we hadn't had breakfast.

But finally, we did get back to Puerto 1.

Only to have to wait a long long time for any bus to take us back to Mexico City. So much for the "20 min" interval.



If it was a mere 20 min, we wouldn't have been so forlorn sitting and waiting by the side of the road. Wahaha.

Hey, at least we got entertainment from watching cars go by. A lot of Mexican cars tt we saw had no liscence plates. I'm talking NO liscence plates. At all. You wonder where they get them from. And even some cabs had no liscence plates. I bet those were the ones with the drivers tt would assault you for your money. Wahaha.

But well. As all things go, we did get a bus back to the city, and from there we bought some bread at the station, then took the metro down to Guadalupe, which is where the Catholic church where the Virgin Mary revealed herself to one of the Mexicans (who later became a saint. Although I cannot remember what his name is. Still) is located.



This is the main church.



And tt is me with it.



This is the church close-up.



Actually there were 2 churches. The round thing to the left of the original church is the new church built to accomodate more people. And it's being used for mass and novena while the original church is undergoing renovations and such.



And this is the clock in the square in front of the church.



The Pope!!! Talk about larger than life.

Interestingly enough, today something big was going on. A cardinal from the Vatican City had come to Guadalupe, and as such there was this whole contingent of bishops, priests, altar boys, security personnel walking purposefully through the square. With a number of journalists literally chasing after them, hoping for tt exclusive picture.

Anyway we walked a bit more, and then we found the original basilica. As in, the original chapel where the Virgin had appeared to the Mexican (I think).



This is the original chapel from the outside.



And this is how it looked from the inside.



The ceiling was painted with angels.

After spending some time in this basilica, we ventured out to where we discovered this massive garden dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It had a large waterfall even!



Ben and I in said garden.

From Guadalupe, it was off to explore the little mercados around the area to see what they had to offer. Then it was to McDonald's (!!!), which we discovered to be WAY more expensive in relation to all other Mexican eating places, and then it was back to the Metro to Mercado Insurgentes (which we finally found) to go check out what tt market had.

Problem is all these markets were more like tourist traps.

We ended up at this really small outdoor cafe in La Zona Rosa drinking cappucino and mocha, and smoking Cuban cigars.



Ben and I cradling our cappucinos at the small cafe.

Well, we wanted to try a Cuban cigar, but Alvin decided tt he didn't like cigars after 1 puff. In the end, Ben and I were trying our best to finish the damn thing, but we never really got past the halfway mark. Ben had to finish the rest back in Vancouver.

But tt was a nice relaxing 2 hours. Or more.

By the time we were done, night was falling already.



The streets of Mexico City by night.

So from Zona Rosa, it was on to dinner at this place next to the Art Museum tt we had visited the day before. It was supposed to serve upmarket but authentic Mexican fare.



This is the 2nd floor of the restaurant where we were sitting.



And tt's the 3 of us at said restaurant.



Alvin and the waiter! :)



For our appetizers, we ordered 5 kinds of fried herbs (really, we were eating fried leaves), a diced turkey dish to be eaten with tortillas...



For our main course, we ordered some kind of beef dish where pork had been wrapped into the meat, a chicken dish with gravy, and a tomato-based pasta soup. And yes, I don't know any of the names of these dishes in Espanol at all.

And lastly for our dessert...



Alvin loves his caramel pudding.



And this is ice-cream in a chocolate cone for the rest of us. :)

Of course, nothing is complete without the requisite cappucino shots.







After dinner, it was on to Plaza Garibaldi, where we heard the mariachis would be performing for us.

Well. We didn't pay any mariachis to perform for us. But we did however, buy 3 hats.



The 3 amigos. Very good.

And then we went to this 2nd floor club to listen to live music and watch people salsa dance.



Above and below: The insides of the club.





And the 3 of us at the club with our drinks - beer and margarita. To quote Pierce Brosnan in The Matador: "A margarita never tastes quite as good until you are in Mexico City". Although this could also be because a margarita is never quite as strong until you are in Mexico City, where tequila is so cheap and readily-available it might as well be free.

Unfortunately, a good night was spoilt by us getting ripped off by the club's service charge - 80 pesos for 275 pesos worth of drinks, which is an almost 40% service charge. Ben was pretty pissed. And we were all under the influence.

But it ended okay. Alvin bought a couple more beers from Oxxo (the Mexican equivalent of 7-11) and 7-11 (okay. They have both here), went back to our hotel, and we played cards till Ben very literally concussed on the floor.



And thus ended Day 3.