FEBRUARY 15, 2012: From Coyoacan, after an hour tour at the Blue House, at the Frida Kahlo's Museum, we decided to go to Xochimilco since we still have some ample time to go there. Xochimilco is just adjacent to Coyoacan but we have to turn around in order to hit the freeway which was very congested during that time at 1430H.
Well, we were not wrong with our premonition because the traffic was indeed neck-to-neck and was a rat race. Ricky turned around and took the side streets yet we have no luck because the traffic was really congested and crowded. We decided to go back to the freeway and run it's course even though the traffic was bad.
After an hour-and-a-half of enduring the ever unforgettable and nagging traffic in my life we arrived at Xochimilco looking harrassed because of the stress brought by the traffic to us yet we were so ecstatic to start our experience at the calm and quiet river.
Parking was also not visible at the main entrance so Ricky decided to go to the back entrance on the other side of the town and there we found a parking but the area has not that much tourist anymore because it was already like 1615H and almost closing time. We never had the chance to roam the plaza of Xochimilco and visited the famous church of the town because we can't find any available parking near there.
I saw some colorful gondola-like-boats lined along the side of the sleeping river. There was not one line but four lines of floating wooden flat boats, like a rectangular-platform-canoe along the sides of the river. They called these boats "trajineras". It was very colorful to look at from up the dike where we are standing and I can't help to snap several pictures to post it online.
There was a guy on his early fifties with a thick moustache perched above his upper lip who persistently offered his services to row a trajinera for us for an affordable $125.00 (Mexican dollars) for one hour. Ricky transactioned it with the guy for he is the only one who can understand and talk Spanish fluently and from there we started our memorable river adventure.
The boat was made of a rectangular wood, flattened, and looked like a canoe-like-raft almost the size of a three king size beds. It was hallow at the center with a height of two feet and somewhat inclined on both ends. It also looked like a rectangular gondolas reminiscent of the ones in Venice, Italy. There was a rectangular gazebo-like-cover in the middle of the raft enough to accomodate three benches on each side with maybe five people being accommodated in each bench. The boat was painted with bright hues of yellow, red, and orange making it attractive from a distance.
The center has an elongated table which spans the whole length of the three benches of both sides made for eating, drinking, and conversations. On the front side of the boat was an arch adorned beautifully with artificial flowers in bright colors while the rower stands at the opposite end holding a long pole trying to hit the bed of the river in order to pull and steer the boat at a forward straight direction.
The guy's name was Efren and he introduced himself to us first then started to row the boat going down south the river. While rowing he was talking to us about the rich history of the river and why there were a lot of nurseries at the side of the river called the "chimechecas".
He told us that long time ago when the Aztecs were still inhabiting the delta, the river was the center of trade and commerce. All the best goods and products from the different parts of Mexico were been brought there and sold or bartered for another goods. Commerce had commenced from there through viva voce from the people who made trade there. Then the word of the mouth had spread Xochimilco as the center of commerce in ancient times in the entire country.
He also told us that because of the rich and fertile soil of the delta that had drained all the nutrients and minerals from the surrounding mountains and the nearby Popocatepatl volcano from the north making Xochimilco conducive to growing a wide array of floras and palmettos. Later on people had adapted to cultivate the rich soil and plant various flowers, vegetables, and trees for business. That's why up to now there were several nurseries being spotted all along the length of the river. Ricky had also told me that Xochimilco supplies almost 70% of the flowers in the whole Mexico.
There were small tug boats with vendors selling mementos, clothes, flowers, vegetables, fruits, Mexican staple foods, etc. There were also mariachi's lining the sides of the river and some were on the tug boats trying to ask or beg for raft's customers to hire them to sing traditional Mexican songs. It was a very fun experience. The river appeared quite polluted and latent, not flowing at all either.
The ride lasted for one hour and it was very relaxing. I was just snapping pictures and was listening to our rower's very explicit explanations about the river's rich history. It was quite very informative to know right there and then. We ate corn-on-a-cob slobbered with mayonnaise and drizzled with chili powder and a little salt and had enjoyed the rowdy and bouncy music of the singing mariachi's on the other three boats joined together nearby, filled with tourists and travelers eagerly eating and listening to their interesting music. The conjoined three "trajineras" monopolized the entire dimension of the river.
I can still remember my previous river ride at the Loboc River in Bohol, Philippines which was exactly the same as this. It was also reminiscent of my travels in San Antonio, TX doing the "River Boat Ride" on the manmade canals of the city. Xochimilco is a very interesting place in Mexico full of bright and colorful "trajineras" and rich in history and culture.
After one hour, Efren turned around and guided the boat to where it was been parked before. When our boat had parked, we bade goodbye to Efren, thanked him for the interesting ride and educational explanations of the place's history, and tipped him abudantly. We then went to our parked car and decided to beat the traffic in going back to our hotel in Zona Rosa. Our day was full of unplanned experiences yet a very unforgettable and memorable one.
I am glad Ricky brought me to Xochimilco and experienced another breathtaking river adventure with a Mexican twist. The colorful rafts or "trajineras" were very pretty to look at and the relaxing ride was enough to have eased up our stress from the traffic earlier that day. The traffic didn't even hinder our plans to explore the place and honestly we had a one-hell-of-a-fun ride as well as a worth remembering and notable river experience of our lives.
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