Mexico, Baby!

Mexico has always been one of the countries in my travel bucket list. And I am so delighted to have this dream come true as I was accompanied by two of my great friends, and I was able to put the Spanish that I have learned for the past three months to the test! I am proud to say that after almost a month of planning our Mexico itinerary, my work has paid off in the best way.

First Stop, Guanajuato!

Guanajuato was a city that looked surreal in pictures. It was just so vibrant, you wouldn't think it existed.

But it certainly did! The entire town was full of colour, it was pleasing to look at. The houses all had unique shades of red, blue, orange, pink, green, purple... It was so full of life! The town was not too big, and everything was almost a walking distance away from each other.

We arrived at Guanajuato in the evening, where we stayed in an Airbnb for a night. The house was so beautiful, with its own balcony, rooftop and garden. You could see a nice view of the town through the window. It was a bit sad that we were only staying there for an evening, since it felt so homely and tranquil.

The view from outside our Airbnb!

When a new day came, one of our first stops was at the Grand Basilica. The way there already had a spectacular view. There were also a lot of things going on in the streets. On that day (the 9th of November), there was an arts event in the town. People gathered in the streets to make chalk art. We saw people work on it from the morning til evening, and the end result was amazing!

The Grand Basilica is the most historically important church in Guanajuato, with its powerful shade of yellow with a cherry-red domed roof. Right outside were different shops and merchants that sold hand-made crafts.

The Grand Basilica

For our little snack, we ate ice-cream at La Garrafa Nieves, which is a popular ice-cream shop in the town. We bought one of their signature ice-creams called Beso del Diablo (Kiss of the Devil), which pretty much was just coffee-flavoured, with nuts and cherry. We wanted to try their tequila-flavoured ice-cream, but unfortunately, it was sold out.

We also went up the funicular, which was a cable railroad that brought us up at the top of the town where the famous El Pipila Statue was. From up there, you could see just how picturesque the town was. It was truly a sight to behold. Even the way down was pretty, especially with some of the walls having intricate paintings!

El Pipila Statue

But it was not only lively through its colour, but also through its music. Guitarists and singers were playing all around the town, performing what sounded like traditional Spanish songs. As my friends and I were eating at Santo Cafe (which serves great food and has a fantastic view of the town by the way), I waved at two performers from above the balcony. They waved back, smiled, and began to sing once again.

The view outside Santo Cafe

Towards the end of the day, we took an Uber to San Gabriel de Barrera Gardens, which was around a 10-minute ride away from the town. It originated from the mining exploitation at the end of the 17th century. It is now an aesthetic botanical garden with a lot of beautiful sights and flora all around. When we were there, the place was quite empty, which gave us a lot of opportunity for good picture-taking. It was probably because there was actually a wedding in one of the areas at the garden. We talked with one guest from the wedding and she invited us to go in and take a look! We didn't go inside in the end since we thought it would be a bit intrusive, but we did take a peek from the outside! The venue looked amazing and the people seemed to have such a great time in there!

We then had a quick shopping spree at Mercado Hidalgo which was back at the town. This was a huge marketplace, which was build in 1910. There, you could find a lot of stalls that sell tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, groceries, handicrafts, earrings, souvenirs, bags, and much more handmade items. I was really fascinated by the skulls, which were decorations for Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Every stall sold them, each a different size, colour and pattern.

Finally, to wrap our night up at Guanajuato, we watched the Callejoneadas near Teatro Juarez (another important note: this theatre only opens from 10am-1:45pm and 5-7:45pm. Also, depending if there is an event of performance, the theatre won't be open to the public, so it's important to check the schedule times!).

Callejoneadas was a musical spectacle performed by a group of Mexican singers and musicians. This was such a beautiful performance as you were able to witness the communal culture in Mexico.

We followed them as they walked around the city to perform, and they encouraged us to sing and dance along with their music. We also met a new friend during this performance called Sam, who came all the way from the United Kingdom! It was an unforgettable end to our day there, and right after that, we began our 3-hour Uber ride to Mexico City!

Nice to meet you, Sam!

Second and Final Stop, Mexico City!

Our first destination in Mexico City was Teotihuacan (which means the place where Gods were created), which is an ancient and abandoned Mesoamerican city was settled as early as 400 B.C. and became the most powerful and influential city in the region by 400 A.D. It was an hour away from the main city using an Uber.

We were only able to visit the Pyramid of the Sun, which was one of the famous pyramids in the city, because the Pyramid of the Moon was closed on Sundays.

The Pyramid of the Sun is believed to have been a temple dedicated to the Sun. There, people worshipped the water deity called Tlaloc. It was a long queue to get up the pyramid, but the view at top was definitely worth it. You could see the whole city from up there! At the highest point of the pyramid, some tourists were reenacting the old, worshipping ritual of Teotihuacan by touching the center of the pyramid with one hand and raising their other arm.

While going down the pyramid, there was a Mexican family that approached one of my friends to take a picture together. It was hilarious to see a family of around five people taking turns to take a picture with her! We then chatted with the family in Spanish as we took our time going down. They were so friendly, and even invited us to join them in their trip and have dinner! Unfortunately, we couldn't go with them since our plans did not overlap, but it was still touching to see how welcoming people were in Mexico.

After that, we went to a restaurant a ten-minute walk away from Teotihuacan. There, we ordered Margaritas, rabbit meat, tacos, and buñuelos, which was a cinnamon tortilla dessert. The ambience and decorations around the restaurant were so colorful and festive, which made our stay all the more enjoyable!

Finally, we headed back to the city. We wanted to go to the Frida Kahlo museum, but sadly, the tickets were sold out. But that led to a spontaneous, and even more fun experience. We instead decided to watch Lucha Libre, which is professional wrestling in Mexico. It was such an entertaining and amusing experience, since the wrestling match looked more like an acrobatic, wrestling performance. The wrestlers would be leaping high up the air to belly flop on their opponents. Sometimes, they would even just slap them on the chest, and their opponent would dramatically fall. It's not like what you see in MMA or UFC fighting.

Apart from no one being seriously hurt in the match, there were also six opponents in the arena rather than just two. They were divided into two teams, each having three members. One team would be wearing colorful clothing, who I assume are the good guys, since they get more cheers from the crowd; and another wore darker clothing, which are the bad guys as seen from all the boo's they have been getting.

As we headed out of the match and went on our Uber, we asked our driver if the match was real. He said that some parts our an act, but they definitely do feel some pain from the attacks they get from their opponent.

After that, we stopped by Mercado Roma, which is a public market with gourmet food from various cuisines. There, we tried the famous Churros from El Moro. I also tried a grasshopper taco from one of the taco stalls! Surprisingly, it just tasted like barbeque.

Cinnamon churros from El Moro

Our final stop for the day was in El Zocalo, which is the heart of Mexico City. The nightlife was beautiful to look at. Since the Day of the Dead had just recently finished, some of the decorations were still there. They had a lot of colorful lights hung up, along with crosses that had the names of loved ones written on it, such as Mi madre (meaning my mother). Marigolds surrounded the decorations in honour of these loved ones.

To end the night, my friends and I drank tequila in the hotel, which was funnily enough, an interesting bonding experience. We wanted to try it, especially since it was a popular alcoholic drink in Mexico. Fun fact: there is a literal city in Mexico called Tequila.

Now, for those who are interested or will be going to Mexico, here are a couple of tips that could help you get better prepared! You must learn from our mistakes...

1. Exchange enough cash. Depending on how far you're going to travel around in Mexico, cash is VERY important. There are so many toll gates in Mexico. If you'll use an Uber, you will need to be the one paying the toll gates, and not all of them allow credit cards. In fact, I think we spent more money on toll gates than we did on food and souvenirs. So CASH UP!

2. Research on your souvenirs. If you're going to buy souvenirs, it is surprisingly difficult to find them in Mexico City. My friends and I were just lucky enough to come across ONE stall in the middle of the city in Santo Domingo Square. There was an abundant amount of souvenirs in Guanajuato though, especially in the marketplaces. But in Mexico City, we stopped by this marketplace called La Lagunilla Market, but a lot of stalls were closed. That's when we found out a lot of shops don't open until around 2pm. There was a bustling marketplace just near that as well, which looked very similar to Mong Kok in Hong Kong, but they had ZERO souvenir stores. So make sure you know where you should get your souvenirs!

3. Learn survival Spanish. Not many people that we have encountered in both Guanajuato and Mexico City knew a lot of English. It would definitely be useful to know some Spanish, especially how to order food, ask for directions, and how much certain items cost. Plus, the locals would be delighted to hear tourists speaking in their language!

Even though we only stayed in Mexico for three full days (excluding the night we arrived and the afternoon we had on our last day), we were able to explore so much and meet so many interesting people. I was especially pleased that I was able to communicate in Spanish, and that the locals could understand me! It really feels like an immersive and authentic experience if you are able to communicate with the locals there.

It is difficult to match the festivity and life in Mexico, and I think that's why it now holds a special place in my heart.