Last days in Mexico City and on to Guanajuato

After day tripping around Teotihuacan, we had four more days in Mexico City. Unfortunately most of those days I was sick with a head cold, and spent most of the time in our tiny hostel room. I must admit I did appreciate having some downtime, after being so busy ever since we arrived in the capital. By Thursday I was ready to go again, and we took up an offer of a free walking tour of the Museo Nacional de Antropología (National Anthropology Museum).


A Squirrel we met on the way

The museum is huge, and contains many archaeological and anthropological artifacts from the pre-Colombian heritage of Mexico. There were different sections in the museum for the Aztecs, Mayans and Teotihuacan civilizations, but my favorite section of the museum was upstairs where the different states of Mexico were showcased. It showed how diverse Mexico is, and the dress, customs and handicrafts of the different areas.


Us in the Museum's Courtyard


A traditional sport in one of Mexico's states, where men hang by their legs from ropes attached to a really tall pole

The Anthropology Museum took up most of the day, and still being partly sick, we collapsed at the end of a long day. The following morning we ventured out on Mexico City's subway (at AUD20 cents how can you go wrong!) and found ourselves at a huge market. Somebody told us the day before that they'd seen alligators for sale at this market, but we couldn't find them. Mexican markets are exactly how you would imagine them, loads of fresh fruit and vegetables. We are looking forward to finding a place with a kitchen so we can have a go at shopping for vegies in these very colourful markets.

On Saturday we left Mexico City for a smaller town 5 hours north west, called Guanajuato. We are now pretty much right in the centre of Mexico.



Guanajuato is a funny little colonial town, with cobbled one-way streets, brightly coloured houses very close together, and quaint little shops. There are also mazes of tunnels around Guanajuato that were originally used to divert water, but have now been rebuilt to handle the town's traffic. As all of the street's only go oneway, in order to go in the opposite direction it is necessary to doubleback through these old dimmly lit tunnels. It is kind of fun.


View from our hostel terrace


Nyall exploring one of the hundreds of callejons (alleyways) in Guanajuato

We've done quite a bit of exploring around this pretty little colonial town, and we have really appreciated being away from the hustle and bustle of Mexico City. We've visited two museums, both of which were a bit weird. One told of the legends of Guanajuato, and the second was a mummy museum which showcased some mummies that were dug up in in the 1950s. It was really creepy, and I won't put the photos up here because they are just a bit too scarey (if you're interested you can click on "photo albums" towards the top of this page, then "World Trip 2009" which will take you to all of our photos from this trip, but I have warned you that they are gross!).

Nyall has had a bit of an upset stomach since we've been here, so the past few days have been a bit rough on him, but hopefully he will look back and like it here as much as I do! It is such a pretty town with bright houses, nice gardens, cheap restaurants and friendly people. Even at night the town is alive, and we feel so safe walking through the streets. Although we like it here, we are missing the beach. We had such fun at the beach in Queensland before we left Australia, that we have been craving the ocean ever since. We will probably stay a few more days here before heading west towards the Pacific Ocean later in the week.

If you are ever in Mexico I recommend that come to Guanajuato. I really can't give it justice in this blog how nice it is here.