Mexico was such an interesting and surprising place it is hard to narrow down the trip into 5 top experiences, but amongst all the cool stuff we managed to do in two weeks some moments stand out. Some of these memories are experiences, some are places, but all of them offer a taste of the many sides of Mexico and start to show the huge diversity in this amazing country.
- Lucha Libre
- Tamezcal
- Cooking course
- Archaeological sites
- Freida Khalos house
Lucha Libre is something that most people have heard of, the masks, the drama of the wrestling is something that to me screams Mexico. So when I had the opportunity to go to an actual live lucha libre show I jumped at the opportunity - what better way to spend an evening?
For those who don't know, Lucha Libre is a huge thing in Mexico. It's essentially wresting with more drama. All the wrestlers are characters, you have the rudos, or bad guys, and the técnicos, or the good guys, and they form the basis of the sport. Every match is a new episode of a much longer story. This is what makes it such a fun sport to watch and follow, the drama and rivalry combined with the spectacular and painful looking moves makes Luche Libre the ultimate spectator sport.
Tamezcal
The experience of a Tamezcal was simulateously one the most terrifying and most invigorating things that I have ever done. It was something that I had never heard of before and went into not know what to expect, but even if I had understood a little bit more what Tamezcal was I don't think I would have been any more prepared.
Tamezcal is basically a Mayan sweat lodge ritual, normally reserved for warriors and pregnant women - times where great physical and mental strength is required. It is an ancient tradition and is done in the same way now as it was done hundreds of years ago.
When we decided to do a Temazcal ritual all the staff at our resort seemed very surprised and said how brave we were. I thought they were just being a little bit patronising to the foreigners, but minutes in I realised that this really wasn't for the faint hearted.
We were taken to a quiet part of the resort where there were a few tiny mud huts next to a huge fire pit ful of red hot volcanic rocks. A shaman greeted us and told us to strip down to our swimsuits in preparation for the cleansing before we went into the hut, at this point I thought that the spiritual ritual was all pretty funny, but the smiles were wiped off my face pretty quickly.
Once inside the hut, even before anything had started, was a completely different atmosphere. It was dark and cool and almost silent; there is something sobering about being squeezed into a tiny hut with a friend, a shaman and a complete stranger. Once we got into the hut and said the first few chants the shaman's assistant brought in the first piece of burning hot volcanic rock to start producing the steam which would be the main feature of the Tamezcal. We were told that we would open the door 4 times, once for the present self, once for the past self, once for the future self, and once for the part of us that has no time. Each time more rocks would be added and it would get hotter. This is a tiny space so when the cloth door is closed and that first splash of herb inflused water hits the rocks, the heat that rushes towards you is overwhelming. Since I was the only woman in the Tamezcal I was in charge of saying when it was hot enough and the shaman should stop adding water to make more steam - this wasn't something that I was very good at judging and I immediately felt like I was going blind from the burning steam. Once the steam had engulfed us and we were as used to the heat as we were ever going to be we started chanting with a drum and waiting desperately for when the door would briefly open again before another rock was added to make everything even hotter. I never knew it was possible to sweat so much and at times I thought that I was going to have bail and leave; but I'm so glad that I persevered because the experience was like nothing else I've ever done.
In the dark and the steam the shaman made us talk about our childhood, those we were thankful for, those we need to forgive, and those who we would want to forgive us. With a load of strangers it was very intimate, and also made me realise how priviledged I really have been in my life.
Every time another rock is added you have to endure the increasing heat for a little longer, so that by the time the fourth opening of the door I have never been so happy to see the light and fresh air. After we left the hut we were taken to a natural cenote pool of cool water to relax and get over the experience. For me this was the weirdest part of the experience becuase the combination of the cold water on my dehydrated and boiling body, combined with the natural whirlpool effect of the pool made me feel like I was having an out of body experience - I could literally feel my consciousness leaving my body and floating above me. Anyone who knows me will say that I'm not the spiritual type so this was a truly unique thing for me.
I wouldn't say Tamezcal was a fun experience, but a worthy one? Definitely.
"If you told me when I first met you that we would be screaming in a sweltering hut in Mexico I dunno if I'd believe you" - Alex
Cooking Course in Oxaca
Every trip I do always has some element of food focus and Mexico was no different. In fact, for the first week food was the entire focus. Travelling on the food tour with Intrepid (more information here) was a fantastic way to get a deeper understanding of Mexico and really get to experience the full range of the Mexican cuisine. Throughout the trip we went on a taco crawl, visited Mezcalerias, ate churros from one of the oldest churros restaurants in Mexico, and ate fresh ceviche my the sea; but by far my favourite experience was the cooking class we took in Oaxaca at a little cooking school called Casa Crespo run by a lovely man called Oscar.
Every trip I do always has some element of food focus and Mexico was no different. In fact, for the first week food was the entire focus. Travelling on the food tour with Intrepid (more information here) was a fantastic way to get a deeper understanding of Mexico and really get to experience the full range of the Mexican cuisine. Throughout the trip we went on a taco crawl, visited Mezcalerias, ate churros from one of the oldest churros restaurants in Mexico, and ate fresh ceviche my the sea; but by far my favourite experience was the cooking class we took in Oaxaca at a little cooking school called Casa Crespo run by a lovely man called Oscar.
The day was spent sourcing ingredients at the local market
and then cooking up a storm in the kitchen. I thought that the cooking course
would be pretty basic but we ended up cooking a 6 course meal full of moles, two kinds of handmade
tortillas from scratch, alcaparrado chicken stuffed peppers, squash flower soup,
ceviche, mescal sorbet, Oaxacan chocolate ice-cream, and a delicious hibiscus agua
fresca to round everything off. The whole thing was extremely hands on and,
although we were quite a big group, everyone had a chance to get involved. I liked
making the tortillas and cooking them on the big stove, apparently if the tortilla
puffs up when you flip it then you are ready to get married…mine sort of half
puffed up so what does that mean?!
At the end of the course we all sat down to enjoy the fruits
of our labours and were presented with a certificate (cheesy but also kind
nice, right?). For the avid cook among us, Oscar also emailed us a little
recipe book so that we could recreate the experience at home, anyone up for a
Mexican feast at Casa Clem?
Freida Khalo's House
This was a bit of an unexpected highlight for me. I knew who Freida Khalo was before I went to Mexico, and I appreciated her art, but I was always a bit sceptical of this monobrowed woman who a lot of people seemed to idolise so much. I knew a little bit about her history but I didn't understand why a woman who stayed with her cheating husband for so long was such a feminist icon. This all changed in Mexico.
There are a number of spots in Mexico City that are steeped in Khalo's history and we went to the Freida Khalo museum in the house where she lived for many years with Diego Riviera. The whole place is done remarkably well, when we were there there was an exhibition about Freida's extensive clothing collection and that in itself explained so much about her life and struggles that shaped her as an artist and a person. The rest of the house was left exactly as it was the day Freida died, the only additions were the rooms of art work showcasing her best works. When we went it was incredibly busy, but it didn't really matter as entry to the small house is very well controlled. I'd definitely recommend buying tickets before arriving as the on-the-spot ticket queue was insanely long and I'm pretty sure it didn't move at all the whole time we were inside!
Archaeological Sites
One of the biggest draws of Mexican culture is it's Mayan, Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztec cultural heritage. After all, these were some of the most advanced societies of their time and gave us some of the world's most important inventions – chocolate anyone? – but all too often people visiting Mexico stick to the coast and the pull of Cancun. I loved Cancun and the relaxing part of my trip, but some of the most memorable days in Mexico were spent exploring the history and ancient culture of the country.
The two major archaeological sites in Mexico are Teotihuacan,
just outside Mexico City, and Chichen Itza, close to Cancun. Both are stunning
and definitely worth a visit, and both offer a very different experiences.
Teotihuacan is pretty much left as it was found, there are
crumbling rocks everywhere and it is absolutely massive; we spent an entire day
walking around and didn’t even cover everything. A word of advice – take some hard-core
sunscreen and a hat. The whole place is completely open and the sun does not
mess around in Mexico. Despite my burnt legs the remains for this ancient city can’t
fail to impress. The main Avenue of the Dead is the centre point which leads from
the Pyramid of the Sun to the Pyramid of
the Moon. You can climb to the top of both from incredible panoramic views,
just don’t underestimate how hard it is to climb such a lot of extremely steep
and crumbling stairs in the heat, I pretty much crawled up the steepest
sections of the pyramid! While the two pyramids are definitely the stars of the
site, there is plenty of other buildings to explore and discover, I would
really recommend on reading up of some history before you go (or eavesdrop on
some tour groups) because knowing what you are looking at makes everything a
lot more interesting. My Lonely Planet guide book had a good section on
Teotihuacan so that I could play tour guide to Alex, at least for a little
while!
With Chichen Itza we had a slightly different experience because we did it as part of an organised tour from our resort in Cancun, and in the end it was a pretty good option for us. The day tour included all transportation, lunch, Chichen Itza entrance with a tour guide and time at a Cenote (a kind of underground sink hole pool). My favourite part of the day was actually having a tour guide in Chichen Itza to tell us about the history, explain what we were seeing and answer any questions we had. While the Chichen Itza site isn’t as big as Teotihuacan, it is much better preserved and restored. This gives you a better feeling of what it may have looked like at the time; although one side of the famous Kukulkan Pyramid is left as it was found making for an interesting contrast. One of the most interesting parts of the site was the Great Ball Court, sort of the Mayan equivalent of a basketball court – except the loosing team are all sacrificed to the gods. Maybe not so much like basketball after all… The Mayan ball courts have always interested me, the hoops are inverted and placed about 4 meters off the ground, the aim was thought to be to get the ball through the hoops without using the hands – no easy task when the ball weighs 9kg! This is just one of the things that captured my imagination and Mayan history is so, so interesting; with Chichen Itza being the perfect place to learn a little bit more about it. With the site being so close to Cancun and Tulum there really is no excuse to visit Mexico and not take a day out from the sun bathing to visit this incredible place!
TEOTIHUACAN GETTING
THERE : We took a bus from Autobuses del Norte station in Mexico City,
which is the easiest and most cost effective way to get to the archeological
site. In the station go all the way to the left hand side of the station and
look for the window selling tickets to “Pyramides” or “Zona Arqueologico”. The
journey takes about an hour depending on the traffic and your outbound ticket
is for a specific bus so don’t miss it! On the return buses go from outside either
of the exit gates.
Bonus Experience: a private mariachi show
This experience isn't so much something we did but more something we stumbled across or crashed; but it was so much fun that I had to include it!
When we went back to Mexico City after our tour we stayed at this incredible hotel called Hotel Geneve. It is done up like a old fashioned British hotel and is absolutely stunning, we were definitely a little out of place in our backpackers gear!
One night we decided to go for dinner in the hotel restaurant and it just so happened that a guy had organised a celebratory dinner for his parents anniversary. There were rose petals surrounding the table, candles everywhere and, as is necessary at any special occasion in Mexico, a Mariachi band turned up to serenade the couple. We offered to vacate the restaurant but the manager insisted that we stayed to enjoy the show too, and enjoy it we did!
The bad were so incredibly charismatic that the whole experience was so much more than just a musical performance. Even though we couldn't speak Spanish very well, every song was full of passion and performed in such a way that you knew exactly what it was about. Songs were sad, then happy then funny. It really was the perfect way to spend an evening!
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