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Ola Buenos Noches (hello and good evening (9:40pm local time)
Viva Mexico!!!!
Loving Mexico, especially the culinary delights and my waistline continues to expand.
I am currently in Mexico City hanging out with the other 30 million people that live here. Pretty mind blowing to think that 1.5 of the entire popoulation of Australia is crammed into one big city.
But before I talk about Mexico City I should give you are run down of where I have been until now. My last blog was from Puerto Vallarta on the Pacific Coast which was very nice but very touristy. On my last day there I took a day trip out to Sayulita. Just 35km north of Puerto Vallarta (but 1.5 hours on the chicken bus (definition of chicken bus - not first class by any means, comes with no airconditioning and stops at every one horse town between point A and point B but is much cheaper than the 1st class buses, however there is not always the option to take a first class bus)). The beach was just beautiful and I went for my first swim in the Pacific Ocean. The temperature was perfect and the waves just big enough to have a bit of fun. Spent a couple of hours on the beach just enjoying the sun, surf and sand. Had lunch before I headed back into Puerto Vallarta which consisted of Tacos, one vego and one chicken. Looked good and tasted good but ended up being no good as I spent the next couple of days feeling very ordinary. However I cannot blame it solely on the tacos as I was advised a couple of days later that I shouldn't be cleaning my teeth in the local water by which time I had been doing?so for about 6 days.
Spent the next couple of nights feeling ordinary in a beach town called Melaque. A nice quiet little beach town with little tourists (as it is off season), however because I was not feeling the best did not really appreciate it plus I was staying in a hovel which didnt make my stay any much better. And to top all of this off there was a RED TIDE. This is when the seaweed dies and comes in close to shore turning the water red and yes there is also a stench. Not good for the upset tummy I can tell you. It only lasts for a few days and doesnt stay all day but you definately dont want to be near the beach when it happens. Fortunately my one day here it cleared up so ended up being OK.
NOTE:The only good thing about being sick is that you stay well under budget as you dont eat (or you eat very little - I spent a whole 70cents for the? day (plus $15us for my room)on a packet of saliditas (saladas)).
Left Melaque for more sun and sand further down the coast. Was going to go to a place called La Ticla which was an even smaller beach town but the Red Tide was in (as it was for about 200km) so I opted to continue to travel further down the coast with another traveller that I met on the bus to a beach called Playa Azul. Luckily the red tide was bearable here as there was no stench but the water was a bit brown (but clean). Made the trip on a chicken bus (and yes there was a real live chicken on the bus). It took me 9 hours and the roads where rough and windy along the coast line. The scenery though is beautiful. Banana, Mango and Lime plantations are plentiful and I have never seen so many mango's ever. They are yummy but our Aussie mangoes are certainly hard to beat. Of course it is all very cheap with both mango's and banana's costing about 25 cents each.
Spent 5 nights here and it was really nice and relaxing. Played in the surf, sat by the pool, ate off the street stalls and got to know the locals a little. There wasn't much to do and it was quite nice. OH and the doughnuts were fab. Big and fluffy and only 60 cents each. A guy comes along the beach with a big tray of them, chocolate ones, sugar ones and also churros (but not as good as the ones in Tijuana). I am not normally a big fan of donuts but these were bloody good (hence my ever expanding waistline).
My travel plans (which really I have none) then took a turn. I was planning to keep heading along the coast but my new found friend (Jason from Vancouver and nearly as old as me) was heading to Mexico City to retunr home, so I decided that I would venture inland and check out the biggest city in the world (or so they say). Spent one night in a colonial town called Patzcuaro. Really quaint and could of easily of spent more time here. Ate more donuts here and they were only 60 cents for 4. Ate like three in one go and now I am kinda done with donuts (well at least for the time being). Also had the most amazing chicken dinner. It was like nearly 1/2 chicken with fried potatoes and carrots, cabbage (everything gets served with shredded cabbage) and some?sort of enchilada. Filled myself to the brim and it didn't even look like I had touched my plate. It was very yummy and it didn't have any bad after effects on me.
Headed to Mexico City on Thursday. What a crazy place. Arrived into the north bus terminal (they have several bus stations) and caught the metro to the historical town centre. The metro? is only 20cents for as long as you want to stay on it. Once you go out of the metro sytem though you pay again. Good value if you ned to get across town via several stops. Some people stay on there all day and try and sell you stuff like crappy pop cd's.
It was raining when we arrived into Mexico City and much cooler than on the coast (I have even been wearing my fleece since I've been here). Nice to see the rain for a change as it has been a long time.
Spent Friday in Teotihuacan where the 2 big pyramids are (even bigger than the Egyptian Pyramids. They were very cool and well worth the 1.5 hours it took to get there. Lots of stairs to climb and my calves are very sore today.
Once back in Mexico City went and had dinner. Hanging for a salad so ordered a tomato, cheese and advocado salad. It was yummo and included cactus. It is quite nice, a lot like capsicum. After dinner we went and saw some Mexican Wrestling. How funny was this. It is totally fake wrestling where they put on face masks and lycra and fool about in the ring for a bit.? Would love to of taken some photos for you all to see but no cameras were allowed.
Today has been pretty low key with just some wondering around the streets eating street food including?fruit salad ($1.20us), corn kernals with mayo and chili ($1us), hot chips ($1us)?with runny cheese, mayo, tomato sauce and of course chili and ham and cheese filled tortillas (cannot remeber the mexican name for them) ($1us). Tummy is so far so good - keeping my fingers crossed. Tomorrow I am going to try Tlayuda which is a blue corn wheat flat bread with boiled cactus, cheese and tomato. Is sold on the streets out of tubs(will try and remember to take a photo). It is so cheap to eat off the streets and a lot more exciting than resturants although it is nice for a change.
The big highlight for tomorrow is that Shakira is performing in a free concert in the square just a few hundred metres from the hostel door. Can't wait!!!! They are expecting up to 100,000 people and there are already teenagers camped out for it.
Plan to spend a few more days in Mexico City as there is a lot to see and do. Have no itenary so hey I can be here as long as it takes then I will make my way back down to the coast to spend a few more weeks in the sun and the surf.
For now ADIOS AMIGAS
Fi xxx
PS - My Spanish is still really crap. Might need to make a bit more of an effort.
PSS - sorry about the spelling and the grammar but the internet is really slow and takes too long to go back and edit. (have alreay been on here for 1 hour and 20 minutes (thak goodness its free))
PSSS - Can't work out how to get the right day on the blog (it's actually Saturday 26th although it says Sunday 27th)
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