As my flight back to Scotland was departing from Mexico City, I had my last remaining days in the capital. Seeing as there were still some things I hadn’t done yet, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
Taking the Bus From Guanajuato
Primera Plus to Mexico City was one of the better journeys I had during my time in Latin America as the bus was on time and it only took about 5 hours. My only complaint was that they insisted on putting my backpack which wasn’t very big into the compartment.
Staying in the Historical Centre
The historical centre is very different from the Condesa neighbourhood which I had lived in for 5 months. The historical centre is much more crowded and touristy. I stayed in Viajero Hostel which is a stone’s throw away from Zócalo. If you’re visiting CDMX as a backpacker tourist, I recommend staying here, but I insist on making sure you get to see all the different areas of the city.
Watching Lucha Libre: Mexican WWE
For 400 pesos or £16, I managed to get a ticket for the lucha libre which is one of the more well-known aspects of Mexican culture. It’s worth watching and is very similar to WWE in that the fights are choreographed and are exaggerated for comical entertainment.
Making the Trip to Teotihuacan
One of the most famous archeological sites in Mexico is the pyramids of Teotihuacan and it is an hour bus journey from the terminal in Mexico City. To get there you must go to the north bus terminal which is outside the Autobuses del Norte metro station. Head to the left and you’ll see a ticket stand, a return ticket costs £4 which is really cheap. Unfortunately the bus itself is rather uncomfortable and will fill up, there was even a guy playing guitar for tips which was quite amusing.
Make sure that you get off right outside of the site and you will be 2 minutes away from the entrance where you must buy a ticket. A ticket normally costs about £4, however thanks to the fact I had my La Salle card with me, I got in for free.
Once entering, you’ll realise that this is one of Mexico’s most visited sites, it is fairly crowded and there are loads of noisy vendors trying to sell tourist tat. Furthermore, there was a time when you could take the stairs to the top the pyramid, however for some reason, the stairs have been fenced off.
There are two main big pyramids, the pyramid of the sun and the moon. These pyramids are both huge in size, the pyramid of the sun is 75 meters tall while the other one is 43 meters tall. This is quite impressive when you take into account that this site is possibly almost 2000 years old.
Risking my Stomach to Eat Tacos
After a long day of looking at some pyramids, I knew I wanted to eat some taco al pastor. I wanted to take the risk of getting Montezuma’s Revenge as it would possibly be the last chance I would get to eat tacos for quite some time. I found a place on Avenida 5 de Mayo which has countless places to get real authentic tacos and in my opinion, the more rustic the taqueria looks, the better the tacos will taste. You can get 6 tacos for less than £4 which is a very good price.
Returning to Condesa
On my last day, I had to return to Condesa to get my luggage, I had to take my luggage around with me while trying to find a place to get some coffee. I had around 20 kilos on my back which tired me out in the heat. A good place where I once went with my friends for some coffee is Boicot cafe which is right in the middle of Condesa, I had chilaquiles which would be the last chilaquiles before heading home. I spent the rest of my day buying souvenirs for friends before taking an Uber to the airport.