dare2go

Mexico City


Mexico City - National Museum of Anthropology

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After so much walking we decided to rest again on Thursday in preparation for more walking on Friday when we took a bus into Mexico City. We had considered it and talked about it and decided that we didn't really want to go into the city - it is very close from Teotihuacán and probably the most convenient place to visit it from - mostly because we assumed that it would be noisy and dirty and polluted. Then someone told us about the anthropology museum and we decided that maybe it might be worth a visit after all. We went with several others from the campground, two of whom had been before and so knew how to get there. This meant no time wasted looking for the right bus or train or direction! We caught a bus from San Juan Teotihuacán which takes about an hour to reach the northern bus station of the city. From there you walk across the street and you are in the metro system which will take you almost anywhere across the city. We were heading to the Anthropology Museum as our first stop, which meant changing trains about 3 times. During our first change another of those very helpful Mexicans, that we so often meet, asked us where we were going and told us how to get off the subway earlier and get a bus to the museum because the walk from the metro station would be quite long.
The National Museum of Anthropology shows the history of Mexico from pre-hispanic times to the present. Each section of the pre-hispanic part houses artefacts from excavated ruins so that they can be protected in the museum environment. We were most interested in the section on Teotihuacán because we had been there only 2 days earlier. There is a large section of reconstructed wall which shows how the exterior of the buildings would have looked. We have mentioned before how the Mexicans really like to paint their houses bright colours - we think they get this from their ancestors! There are also many murals - some reproductions and some original, saved from the site. (Murals seem to be something that have also survived the centuries here in Mexico. We notice that wherever there in a blank space it is painted white and a colourful advertising sign in painted on it. We have seen this on the walls of houses facing major highways, on buildings which are almost falling down and once even on a cutting beside the road - the dirt or rock wall had been painted white and an advertising sign added.) There are also amazing stone carvings, some of them several metres tall. But what really caught our attention was the numerous pottery figurines which have been found in all the sites. They are mostly no more than 10 centimetres high and we found it incredible that so many have been found in such good condition. The archaeologists must literally scratch them out of the dirt!
The museum is so large that it would take days to do it justice. We spent several hours there and only managed about 3 rooms - there are 22! We went to the Mayan section as well as the Teotihuacán, and were most impressed with what we saw. We were also surprised and impressed by what we saw of the city. The bus we had caught to the museum drove directly along Paseo de la Reforma, which is a tree lined boulevard, and has some interesting architecture as well as statues and fountains in the roundabout intersections. We went back along this route toward the city centre, then walked through Alameda Central, a huge park. The streets leading to the Zócalo are full of amazing old buildings. A fine example is Casa de los Azulejos, a building that is completely covered in blue and white tiles. The only disappointment for me was the Zócalo - Juergen keeps telling me that every town and city has its Zócalo and they are usually meeting places with lots of trees and nice places to sit. I had expected no less of the Zócalo of the capital city. Instead it is like a parade ground - a vast expanse of asphalt! Other than that I must say that Mexico City exceeded all expectations.
Getting out of the city again was another memorable experience. It was about 6.00pm when we went to catch the metro back to the bus station. We hadn't thought about it, but it was right in peak hour. The platforms were lined with people and when a train would stop there would be a rush to squeeze on before all the available space was gone. We didn't manage to get on the first one that stopped, but the second one we did. We were about a metre away from one another and there must have been at least 4 bodies between us. I made a comment that it was like Mexican sardines. There were a number of people laughing and then translating for others who didn't understand what I'd said. The feeling in the carriage was one of camaraderie. Even though I was surrounded on all sides, and mostly by men, there was a great deal of respect and I didn't feel at all threatened.
By the time we got on the bus it was 7.30 and then began the crawl of stop and go traffic to get out of the city. I wondered about all those people in their cars trying to leave the city to get home - are they workers who face this every day? In a city of more than 20 million people I guess they spend a great deal of time on the road to and from their place of work, whether in a bus or a private car. We arrived back in San Juan Teotihuacán at about 9.00 after a totally unexpected day.
The campground was now full. During the day a caravan of 12, mostly big rigs, had arrived and our little truck camper felt somewhat dwarfed - quite a difference from the first day when there was only us and Glen there, and Australians were for one single time in the majority! We were exhausted after the day in the city but were not destined to a restful night. These big rigs can't manage on the meagre electricity supply that the Mexican grid provides and so have to run generators to keep all their essential equipment running. Even though there were no bells calling to mass so early on Saturday, the generators made sure we were awake bright and early - with very little emphasis on bright!
Fortunately the caravan members were taking a 2 night trip into Mexico City where they would stay in a hotel, so once they had left late morning we could set about relaxing and recuperating. We had decided to leave for San Miguel on Sunday and spent Saturday getting the energy to do just that.
The drive to San Miguel shouldn't be such a long day - just drive toward Mexico City, get on the toll road to Queretaro, turn off just before it and drive directly to San Miguel. Somehow these things are never as easy as they appear to be. I think we may have been let down again by our road atlas, showing roads not built yet, and I think we were let down again by signs not being where they would be most helpful - we even saw huge signs on one highway obscured completely with cloth advertising signs hanging in front of them! Whatever the reason, we ended up on roads that were going in the wrong direction and even when we 'felt' we were heading in the right direction, we were heading up the side of mountains into slums with no way out. (On one of these roads we came across the highest tope we have seen so far. If a normal car had tried to cross it straight on it would have resulted in a see-saw with no wheels on the ground!) We finally managed to backtrack and find the right road, which was signposted when coming from the other direction - go figure! - but it added over an hour to our journey.
Once we hit the right toll road the going was easy and we arrived in San Miguel de Allende without getting lost again and even managed to follow the directions directly to the campground. It is 'hidden' behind a red gate, which we missed the first time, but after doing a lap of the block I rang the bell and it was opened by the beaming face of Maria, one of the most beautiful Mexican women I have seen. She runs the campground and tennis courts with her sons, Walter and Hans, and it is another extremely friendly place to be. Once we had parked, almost all the residents came up to introduce themselves and welcome us. The people who travel here in Mexico are different than we have met anywhere in the USA or Canada. They are totally interested in what you are doing and want to help you get used to where you are, providing all the information you could possibly need. Have I said this before? - I love this country!


 
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