Picture Above: Teotihuacan

Click HERE to see more pictures from this trip.

Here are some of the highlights from my trip:

• Ate 60 cent tacos at street vendors. Es muy delicioso!
• The city needs an exhaust pipe. You don't know air pollution until you get there.
• Walked hundreds of stairs to get to the top of Piramide del Sol. The first set of steps were very steep and required extra effort. We were panting when we reached the top.
• The stars seemed closer than ever at night.
• 2 nights before going to Mexico, I watched "King Kong" and "Narnia" in the US movie theater. On the 2nd night, walking down the streets in Mexico City, we saw both movies played on the street vendor's small TV. Many vendors were selling King Kong and Narnia DVDs.
• Waited 3 hours (from 6pm to 9pm) for the 3 hours bus ride from Mexico City to Taxco. On the bus, it was showing some rated R movie due to violent scenes, and on the way back, they showed "Man on Fire" in Spanish (there were also kids on the bus).
• Visited Museo National de Antropologia and saw many cool sculptures and artifacts from the Aztecs and the Mayas. Outside in the park, we rented a row boat and paddled around the lake.
• Taxco was a small town on the hill, famous for producing silver. It was a nice and beautiful town with a huge contrast to great air quality.
• The hostel we stayed at in Taxco was up on the hill close to the cathedral. In the morning, it offered a breath-taking view of the city.
• Almost couldn't find a place to stay in Taxco. We borrowed a couple's "Lonely Planet" and looked through the list of hostels/hotels in Taxco. Called many of them but they were all booked. Finally we got one and it was a very nice family-run hostel up in the hill in Taxco.
  

Suggestions of where to go and what to see:

• Museo National de Antropologia - located near Chapultepec/Zona Rosa.
• Teotihuacan - 1 to 1.5 hours away from Mexico City, offers amazing ruins such as Pyramid of the sun and Pyramid of the moon. Take the metro to "Autobuses del Norte" to buy bus tickets to Teotihuacan. Since it only takes about 1 hour, booking ahead is not necessary unless it's during peak season.
• Taxco and Grutas de Cacahuamilpa - Taxco is a nice little town on the hill and is known for producing silver. Grutas is a national park in Mexico. It offers great views of stalactite and stalagmite formations in the caves. To get to Grutas from Mexico City, take the subway (metro) south to "Tasqueña" station, and go to "Autobuses del Sur" to buy bus tickets to Taxco. Ticket is about 10 US dollars one way, and takes about 3.5 hours. Booking ahead is recommended. After reaching Taxco, take another local bus to get to Grutas. It takes about 1.3 hours. Taxi takes 45 minutes but costs more.
• Temple Mayor - located near Zocalo. Ruins. The ruins itself weren't that interesting but the museum (Museo del Templo Mayor) was pretty good. The entrance fee includes both the ruin and the museum. Student discount available.
• Palacio Nacional - located near Zocalo. Palace. Diego Rivera's murals. Free.
• Castillo de Chapultepec - located in Chapultepec. Castle.
• Museo de Frida Kahlo - located in Coyoacan. Take the metro towards "Universidad" and get off at "Coyoacan."
• Basilica de Guadalupe - north Mexico City, metro get off at "La Villa." church, park, garden. Free.
  
  

Suggestions of where to stay:

Unfortunately, I don't have a good experience with the hostel we stayed at in Mexico City, so I can't really give a recommendation here - except for where "not to stay." I booked "Hostel Amigo" (sucks, don't stay here!) near Zocalo for 3 nights. They offered free airport pick up, so that was nice. However, the hostel was a party zone. If you are into smoking, drinking, and partying all night, you will be in heaven; but if you were like me, who want to get a good night sleep in order to do a full scheduled activity during the day, you will be doomed. People were still chatting and laughing loadly at 2:30 am. I originally booked this hostel because of its high rating of 94%, but I naglacted the fact that those who gave out good ratings for this hostel were all party animals. They partied all night and had a lot of fun in the hostel and therefore had given it a very high rating. The cleaness was over-rated too. Since I've stayed at many hostels before, by comparison, it was definitely not as good as the rating it received.

The hotels and hostels in Zocalo areas are generally cheaper, but Zocalo is not the safest area. Zona Rosa is better, but a bit pricer. There are many restaurants and bars (gay bars too) in Zona Rosa, it's also where many foreigners hang out. You can easily find Asian food and other internaional food in the area. However, if you want the cheap street vendor tacos, Zocalo is the place to be.

If you have extra money and would like to stay in a hotel, Mision Zona Rosa is not bad. It is fairly close to Zona Rosa. The room is old but clean. The bed is quite new and firm. Check out is at 1pm.


Other Tips and suggestions:

• Always be aware of your surroundings.
• Make sure you bring a student ID if you are a student. Many discount are offered for students and teachers. You don't need to pay extra to get the international student ID (ISIC). Just bring your original ID with valid stickers.
• The bus from Taxco to Grutas doesn't come very often. One alternative is to take the taxi, which is a bit more expensive but you save about 1/2 hr or more. Not a bad option.
• Try to book the bus tickets from Mexico City to Taxco ahead of time. Also, if you plan on staying a night over at Taxco, (I recommend it!) book the hotel/hostel in Taxco early too.
• Click here for a map of Mexico City subway system. (metro)

Visit the 5 days backpacking trip in Mexico photo album!