Ruta Maya: pt 1

Hey guys. How you doing? Well. As most of you know, a few days ago I returned from a 17 day trip around México. Let me begin by saying that it was absolutely fantastic. You should all try it some day. Though chances are that unless you go on exchange to Mexico you won't get to do it with 86 other crazy exchange students, therefore it won't be nearly as much fun as my trip was =P

So yeah. This trip was pretty crazy. It involved lots of pyramids and old cities with cathedrals and (multiple) town squares. I have so many awesome photos you would not believe, but I'll post those after I’ve gone through the entire journey otherwise the posts will be far too long. As I am now going to take you through a day by day, blow by blow account of my incredible journey (Mr Rafidi, if you're reading this, you should fully use my blog as a text instead of stinky Lionheart. My travels are so much more interesting than being stuck on a boat for a year. mwa ha ha)


Day One: 20 April: Leaving Mazatlán

So this day we didn't really do anything except meet all the exchange students and catch a bus to Mexico City. Which, by the way, was actually pretty fun. We left Mazatlán at around 1pm and got to Mexico City at 6am. So yeah. It was a fantastic bus trip full pinche brasileños who wouldn't let anyone sleep because they were too busy partying and watching Deep Impact at 3 in the morning. So yeah. That was fun.

Highlight: Meeting Alice Rice, an Australian girl from Sydney who is currently living in a neighbouring district here in Mexico. Her and I are going to be travel buddies from now on.


Day Two: 21 April: C.D. de México

SO. Like I said, we arrived in Mexico city at 6am. When we arrived at the hotel we took our stuff to our rooms, came back downstairs to eat our complimentary breakfast, went back up to our rooms to sleep for an hour, then came back down to leave for a day full of activity (that unfortunately didn't involve going to Teotihaucan). By the way. I was rooming with three fantastic German girls throughout the trip of whom I will post a picture in the next entry along with all the other photos =)

OK. First stop in good ol’ Mexico City was el Palacio Nacional (the National Palace), la Catedral (the Metropolitan Cathedral) and the Markets. This was all situated around el Zócalo, the Central Square in Mexico City, which just so happens to be the second largest in the world after Red Square in Moscow.

So. After running rampant in Central Square for awhile, we headed into a more arty part of the city for lunch. We then had a free afternoon, which, for me, consisted of wandering around the markets with the New Zealand, el Australiano and the Canadas as I was too knackered for Art Museums and the like. (This is why we should have spent another day in Mexico city *nods*)

But yeah. From what I saw of it (which wasn’t much) Mexico City looks absolutely fantastic. In the center everything is so beautiful and green. Even on the outskirts where the slums are, there are trees. And grass.

And yeh. In the night time I was boring and slept.

Day Three: 22 April: C.D. de México a Oaxaca: The day before my birthday

Hehehe. So yeah. Today we didn’t really do much except drive to Oaxaca, which took basically all day.

Leaving Mexico City was pretty surreal actually; driving out of the city took us 2 hours (it actually takes 6 hours to drive from one end of the other). We’d be driving and driving with the curtains down and open them after awhile and we’d still be seeing buildings. Pretty psycho. Big place. I’ve decided I’m going to live there one day.

Yeah. Bus trip. Long and filled with Brazilians dancing down the aisles and lots of Spanish dubbed movies etc. We arrived in Oaxaca sometime around 5 or 6 in the afternoon. Boy do I feel sorry for anyone else who was staying in our hotel that night. Once we’d arrived everyone either jumped, or was thrown into, the pool. I narrowly avoided being thrown in, but I think Timm took pity on me because I was in jeans and let me run away. And yeah. We had a big toast to the beginning of the voyage, which involved every country saying ‘cheers’ or some sort of national chant in their language and taking a shot of tequila in front of everyone. And yes, I am sorry to say that us Aussies toasted with Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!

Day Four: 23 April: Oaxaca: My 18^th Birthday

So. My birthday started at 12am. We’d been up causing a ruckus, setting up speakers and dancing in the hotel, when it turned 12am. Suddenly I was bombarded by Brazilians and people from various other nationalities and well yeah. I had happy birthday sung to me in approximately 20 different languages… That lasted for about an hour. Then I was ‘ju ju’d by the Brazilians (which involves crazy Brazilians surrounding you and jumping up and down yelling craziness in Portuguese). And yeah. Lili, a really sweet Swiss girl (who I was rooming with) brought me a muffin… But it got shoved in my face (as is customary in Mexico) and then it got wet. So I didn’t really get to eat any… But yeah. I didn’t go to sleep until about 3. Twas good.

Then it was rise and shine (at 7) and off to Monte Albán, which is a rather famous, rather large archaeological site in Oaxaca. We pretty much spent the morning there... And Alice and I got lost and kept the bus waiting for like 20 minutes... Which we ended up doing multiple times throughout the journey. We almost got left behind so many times… (Sorry guys. And thanks for waiting)

Anyway. After that we went into Oaxaca town and went to a chocolate factory… and did a fair bit of sampling (mwa ha ha ha). Then through the markets and Kristina and I ate crickets (chapolines). They actually tasted pretty good I thought… Just the fact I was eating a cricket was a bit weird. Though they were pre-killed so that was ok.

Yeah. In the night we went out to eat. We being Kristina, Alice and I, along with random other exchange students. Then we went back to the hotel and they threw me a big party in a German girl’s room. And yeah. This night I think I went to bed later than the night before…

Anyone seeing a pattern here? We seriously averaged on 3 or less hours sleep a night the entire trip. Needless to say, I slept for like. Three days when I got back. I’m still recovering actually. Yeah. I have the flu. Pretty sick. But so does everyone else so its ok.

Oh yeah. On my birthday... they succeeded in throwing me into the pool fully clothed. Yuck.

Anyway. That is the end of the first installment. Its already been something like 1 187 words, which is enough for one entry. So. Stand by for more of Niki’s Ruta Maya Adventures. Next episode coming soon.