My first day in Mexico City was filled with excitement. Seeing my best friend for the third time had made me so eager and happy. We bonded so much despite of my lack of sleep, because I had worked the previous night before I left Los Angeles for my flight to Mexico City. He was very kind and extremely congenial in picking me up at the airport and letting me catch some much needed nap after that. Then he traipsed me around the city that night after I woke up.
The following day he brought me to the Somouya Museum where we enjoyed the vast collections of Rennaissance and Baroque arts as well as the well renowned sculptures of Auguste Rodin like "The Thinker" and "The Martyr" among others. He also showed me the plush area of Mexico City wherein swank and ritzy shopping centers can be found. I relished our adventures that day despite of the nagging traffic around the city. We had a cozy one-on-one walk at the Chepultepec Park and the adjacent Mexico City Zoo, wherein we enjoyed watching a Panda eating bamboo. This is the first real Panda I've ever seen and her name is Xin Xin, born via artificial insemination. She's very adorable.
He also allowed me to take the pictures of the arts and sculptures on the streets, which I have longed to do during my previous visits in the city, but because we didn't have much time before, I haven't done it. Now I had enough time to do it so he left me on the streets and gave me enough liberty and autonomy to capture the pictures of the intricate and stunning statues created by Jorge Marin, a contemporary Mexican artist, in the middle of the streets of Mexico City. Mission accomplish on that!
My last night in Mexico City was capped with a visit at the male strip club which had given me some total whole new experience as an adult. I just hunkered there and dote on the view of male dancers dancing on the stage in colorful small tight undies gyrating their chiseled and sculpted muscular body on the stage. I also enjoyed watching the audience drooling at the dancing go-go boys gracefully moving on the spotlight-filled platform. It was an out-of-this world experience for me to be there but it's all good. Being an adult and a professional had given me a chance to witness the wantonness of human flesh as well as maybe being receptive to my sensuality as an adult person. It was intriguing but it was a totally different spur-of-the-moment experience.
Our sojourn to Cuernavaca was been inevitably unplanned. We missed one day of our trip because we spend it in deciding whether he has to drive his car or take a bus. He was hesitant on what to do, not until I blew up myself. Then we had a minor disagreement about his indecisions and uncertainties which I bemoaned to start. I was just infuriated because he was dubious of what to do until he told me that he lost his driver's license and can't drive outside the federal state of Mexico City. It was just a minor asinine fall-out with a slightly muddy situation, so I told him that it's much better for us to take the bus. Had he told me at the outset, we should have talked it out and decided immediately on what to do. It takes two heads to decide, I told him.
So we ended up taking the bus at the "Terminal de Autobuses de Pasajeros de Oriente", commonly referred to as TAPO, which is a main bus terminal in the eastern part of the city, and catch a chartered bus going to Cuernavaca that afternoon. From Cuernavaca we will then connect to Taxco the following day, because it was already close to twilight, and the last trip to Taxco was probably closed as well by the time we arrived at Cuernavaca.
When we got to Cuernavaca it was already gloaming and he was still skeptical on what to do. He wanted to take a taxi to Taxco because I told him that we will be forfeiting our hotel reservation there. I was furiously enrage at him during that time because I was indignant at his bewilderment and ambiguity. I pacified myself of my fuming anger and tenderly told him, because he and I were already tired and drained out, that we have to spend the night at Cuernavaca and just cool-it-off there because it won't do us any perks.
From the bus station we asked a taxi, driven by a burly-moustached middle-aged Mexican-Indian-looking guy, to drop us to a nearest affordable and convenient hotel. There we spent the whole night simmering off our unpremeditated indignation and stinging remorse, plus the fact that we were both tired already, I was just tight-lipped about the whole fiasco. I felt that he was extremely miffed and discontented about the whole situation, so I tenderly pat him on the shoulder and gently told him that it was okay. I told him that we have to rest it off and forget about it the next day.
We slept our day's trouble off and woke up freshly invigorated the following morning at 0600H. He woke me up with a gentle jolt that early morning waking me up and telling me that we needed to get ready. He told me to get up because he wanted me to see the whole town before we leave Cuernavaca later that day. So I woke up and took a warm shower then changed. After that I packed our things hurriedly so that we can leave them at the reception while we were strolling the whole town. We left the hotel after leaving our luggage at the front desk and then took off and wandered aimlessly around the yet sleeping town. The placita was still highly blanketed with a thick cold fog as if we were walking on a cloud. It was resplendent there in the morning devoid of the busy traffic.
The weather that morning was breathtaking and it was exactly apt for cooling off our boiling emotions from last night's fiasco. What a coincidence of course! He brought me at the heart of the town, we cruised the zocalo and placita, checked out the mercado, perused the vintage and exquisite churches, ambled at the side streets, and rambled at the sublime gardens in the churchyard. We ate some "tamales", a staple Mexican early morning grub, sold by the nuns at the front of the church and took a lot of pictures of the whole town for my online album.
We went back to the hotel after our early morning saunter around the town and then called a taxi to drop us off at the bus station. There, we inquired about the schedule going to Taxco. We were informed by the lady at the counter that the next trip will be leaving by midday. It was 0900H when we were at the bus station and we still have to wait for three hours, so we decided to hire a taxi going to Taxco, tagging along with two more passengers where we divided the fare evenly among each other.
The trip to Taxco was very amusing and audacious. I saw the bucolic picturesque-countryside of the state of Guerrero, the fresh cut rose flowers of varied hues being sold at the side of the highways, and the hilly paved roadways on the way to Taxco which was very intimidating. It was indeed a thrilling and riveting ride. When we got to Taxco we were excited because the narrow cobblestoned pavements were brimming with pilgrims and revelers trying to witness a peculiar cultural celebration of the Holy Week. We were also excited about what to experience, see, and feel when we're there.
Taxco was a very fascinating mountain town. It was nifty there. We got a very affordable hotel near the Centroville, near the happenings, where the whole day procession will be held. The cobblestoned streets were crammed with people of all walks of life. The tricky-puzzling-hilly streets were very treacherous and perilous. The Beetle taxi ride on the curvy hilly streets was surprisingly venturesome. I loved the white painted houses lining the edges of the mountain roadways that uniformly gave the town it's own unique arrangement and imposingly majestic view.
The food was absolutely fantastic there. We sipped margaritas like there's no end. The quality of food were sterling and top-notch despite it was very reasonable. We were there at the height of the Holy Week celebration and we had witnessed a different form of cultural celebration being held there annually. It was very interesting and engaging to observe. The procession was also similar to what we celebrate in the Philippines although it had dawned to me that I am not in my homeland.
Taxco was a very sprawling progressive town in the state of Guerrero, very crowded at that time because of the Holy Week celebration. The pulchritude of the world renowned Santa Prisca Church accented by it's two towering and intricate belfries was one of the pride of any Taxcans. It was very solemn to be in there. The gaudy antiquated wooden altar carved magnificently and gilded enormously was the prized possession of the church. It was very dazzling and charming inside!
Having the crowd at the center of the town had limited our explorations in the vicinity so we decided to catch up at the outskirts of the town by hiring a ramshackled Beetle taxicab drove by it's astute yet courtly and charismatic young driver. He brought us to an arcane and occult countryside to peruse a landscape where a clear falls should be seen literally, but we did not saw it in actuality, because of the limited rain that had happened in the area during that season, which eventually had dried up the water sources of the falls.
Instead, we saw various natural earth basins containing deep aqua blue waters in different shapes and sizes around the surroundings, inside the jungle, which looks like blue bangles intertwined with each other as seen at the top of the hill. Thus it is called "Las Pozas de Azules" which simply means as "Blue Fetters". It was gorgeous to look at from our vantage point. There were a lot of people swimming, bathing, diving, wading, basking, and floating in it. It was very mesmerizing to be there. We also helped a hunchback boy financially, who served as our tourist guide that time. Our handsome perceptive young driver was even kind enough to give him a ride and drop him off the the exit of the barrio.
After exploring the outskirts of Taxco we went back to town thinking that the celebration was over then retrieved our luggages at the hotel hiring the same cab to drop us off at the nearby bus station using the uphill alternative route, because the main Centroville was still been closed due to the Holy Week celebration.
We left Taxco that afternoon taking a bus back to Cuernavaca to reroute ourselves that night to Oaxaca which was roughly seven to eight hours bus ride. We explored Cuernavaca again because we still have an ample five hours left to wait before the bus will leave the town that night. We decided to sip drinks at the acclaimed and laid-back "Casa Blanca" at the center of the town. We stayed there for an hour sipping mojito and watching people coming by.
After that we strolled the town and then went back to the bus station and waited for our bus to leave. We left at 2100H and spent our whole night, sleeping at the comforts of the first class airconditioned bus going to Oaxaca. It was a smooth ride and we tried to recoup our energies after a two tiring days stay at Taxco roaming its innards and bowels as well as its extremities. We slept like babies not minding where the bus goes.
We arrived at Oaxaca early at 0630H and the town was still fully blanketed by a very thick fog. The colonial town appeared so progressive and was very methodical. The colonial buildings appeared very old yet the town emerged to be drawing a lot of tourists because of it's colonial aura and various archaelogical sites that had lured the tourists in. I myself was captivated by it's serenity and simple yet unique cobblestoned streets, as well as the vintage and impressive architectural structures sporadically scattered around the place.
The tour at the nearby towns were very didactically interactive starting off with the weaving factory in Mitla and then by the mezcal factory in Matatlan. Watching the 2,000 year-old cypress tree in Santa Maria was also a very intriguing experience. Visiting the discrete archaeological burial sites of the Zapotecs in nearby Teotitlan was very historic despite of the scorching heat of the sun. All these excursions were very educational and interestingly mind draining.
Because of time constraints, we have to skip visiting the archaic ruins of Monte Alban and the most sought Dominican Monastery nearby. I was extremely devastated because I will be missing Monte Alban, which is one of my primary goal in coming to Oaxaca. It was the reason why I was in Oaxaca but now I will be missing it. I was thinking that maybe Oaxaca just wanted me to come back next time to visit it, who knows.
Because of the lack of time, the group decided our last stop which is the "Hierve del Agua Azul" which is situated on top of the mountains in the Oaxacan countryside. We trekked a very winding and tricky slopes of the barren mountains to just pay homage on this very enthralling place wherein a sulfuric water basin on top of the mountain was being found, as well as the stable calcitic ledge on the side of a mountain with white calcite sludge appearing to be flowing at the edge of the plateau, majestically looking like a huge white water fall dropping down the side of the mountain. It was a grandiose site to reckon with, honestly. I didn't regret to come there actually with the group.
From there, we left the place at twilight and when we arrived in Oaxaca proper it was already dark, ready for us to venture another exciting bus ride going eastward towards Chiapas state. Next stop will be the magical town of San Cristobal de las Casas. We left Oaxaca at 2200H and we slept our fatigue off from our whole day tour without even minding what was happening along the road. When we woke up it was already dawn in San Cristobal.
The moment we step foot there after alighting from the bus, the challenge we were facing in looking for a hotel during that early cold and foggy morning was very imminent. We hired a taxi eventually and asked for help where to drop us off. Fortunately, we got a hotel that's willing to cater for our early morning needs. Whew, traveling really entails a lot of challenges and adventures and frankly we like it that way. The raw surprises we were experiencing were just surreal. Never in my mind I can imagine that it was happening. I have to pinch myself sometimes to let me know that I wasn't dreaming.
San Cristobal is a very likable rustic town filled with Mexico's indigenous Indian people. I like it there because the people were just happy going. We were lucky because there was a fiesta when we arrived there that added to the lively surroundings of the place. We geared ourselves for the tour by looking for a tour bus and luckily we found one that would bring us to the Sumidero Canyons in Tuxtla.
Our visit at the lake in Tuxtla de Gutierrez had send us to check the famous majestic gigantuan canyons of Chiapas itself. The view from the lake was very stunning and beautiful despite of the scorching heat of the sun, which we did not really felt, because of the cool breeze of the afternoon air that were dancing and bouncing in between the canyons. I ended up having a mild facial sunburn which I thought was my unforeseen remembrance for this unforgettable trip.
The trip to Chiapa de Orzo, checking out the whole town was also a productive one despite of the nagging heat of the late afternoon sun and the drenching sweat which had soaked my shirt necessitating me to buy a new T-shirt at the sprawling mercado. We toured the market place and checked out the famous crown gazebo at the center of the zocalo which was one of the trademark of the town of Chiapa de Orzo itself. After the trip, we went back to San Cristobal and enjoyed the party for the night.
Partying at San Cristobal was great on a Sunday evening. The cobblestoned streets were teeming with partygoers, young and old, men and women, fat and thin, etc. It was madness! We stayed at this very slick restaurant, stayed there to eat our dinner, and then mingled with the crowd listening to a folk and pop singer singing and strumming his old-vintage guitar on a makeshift stage at one corner of the restaurant. It was fun!
Early that following morning we left the still sleeping town, and took a bus going to Palenque to see one of the famous Mayan ruins, the "Palenque Pyramids", where the renowned "Tower of Inscriptions" was being located. The ride took long hours, climbing the steep mountains of Chiapas State. I didn't even felt that we were ascending on the mountains not until I felt dizzy suddenly. My friend had told me that we were on the highest peak in Chiapas that's why I felt sick. It didn't even dawn on me that it was a high altitude area, but it was very thought-provoking.
We arrived there three hours past noon and it's almost nightfall already so we decided to stay at the hotel and catch more sleep so that the next day we will have a lot of energy in perusing the pyramid area, like treasure hunters. Hehehe.
The following day we woke up early in the morning preparing ourselves for the tour of the pyramid ruins. The van had picked us up at exactly 0800H sharp and dropped us off at the north entrance. He then instructed us to meet him at the south exit after lunch so that we could tour more around the area. We have an ample three hours time to roam the area.
Our day at the "Mayan Pyramid Ruins" was been worthwhile and rewarding. Despite of the nagging heat of the sun I still enjoyed the drift. It was the most pleasant and enjoyable adventure I've ever had. We enjoyed the stunning sites of the ancient pre-Columbian ruins. The crowd was awfully crazy. There were a lot of tourists here and there and it's just madly insane. The ruins were all remarkable and I took a lot of pictures which I already posted in my Facebook account.
In the afternoon we convened at the south exit and then we continued on our trip at the falls of Misol-ha which was about forty-minutes ride from Palenque. The falls was massive and we enjoyed trailing the paths underneath it and feel the cool misty water dropping from the basin on top of the plateau, cooling our warm and blushing faces. The small azure basin at the base of the falls was very cool to look at and again I took a lot of pictures of it for my online album.
After staying there for one hour we left the place and continued onto our next stop which is the "Roaring Cascades of Agua Azul" which was roughly another forty minutes drive from Misol-ha. The place was enormous with a very stunning view of the cascading clear blue waters of a river coming from the top of the hill. It was riveting and at the same time enchanting.
The crowd was even immense compared to the ones at the pyramid ruins. The place appeared commercialized defeating the stunning and gorgeous view of the cascades. Despite of the burgeoning restaurants and memento stands at the entrance and sides of the river it was inevitable not to appreciate the beauty of the roaring cascades from the bottom of the river, flowing down from the top of the hill gracefully gliding down to its base, creating a loud, thunderous, and roaring speedy-white-rapids that sounds like a prodigious and blaring outdoor orchestra performing and creating a resonating splashing sounds from a distance. It was awesome if being viewed from the top of the hill. The scenery was very impressive. I also took a lot of pictures of the cascades and posted it online.
We left the place close to twilight and it was already dark when we arrived in Palenque grabbing our luggages at the hotel and called a taxi to drop us off at the bus terminal. From Palenque we took a chartered bus going to Villahermosa in Tabasco, and from there we took an airconditioned bus back to Mexico City.
We had no time to roam around Villahermosa when we were there. We just stayed at the bus station and waited for the time of the departure. We left Villahermosa at 2300H and slept at the bus while on our way back to Mexico City.
We arrived in Mexico City the next morning. The ride was very smooth and uneventful. We took the subway from the central terminal and alighted at the "Insurgentes Platform" near Zona Rosa. We then dragged our luggages towards the Century Hotel where we will be staying at for the rest of the day. We rested at the hotel for roughly two hours, took our warm showers, and then meandered around Mexico City for the last time.
It was already night time when we got back at the hotel. Few minutes later, my best friend decided to bring me back at the stripper's club in Polanco, one of the elite places in Mexico City. There at the club we regaled ourselves with the dancing go-go boys stripping their habiliments one-by-one in front of the crowd. There were sporadic amount of audience inside the club at that time and we enjoyed feasting our eyes watching at some of the dapper and well built strippers from all over Mexico. My friend had told me that the club was well known in the city. I felt lucky he brought me there again on my last night.
We went back to the hotel past midnight never realizing that my friend had cleverly negotiated one of the guy from the club for us to meet at the hotel and the rest was history. Hehehe. That was I think the icing of the cake for this adventure and I thanked and appreciated my friend's effort to make my vacation unforgettable and memorable. Can't complain actually.....
The next day, he dropped me off at the airport and then I flew back to Los Angeles still denying that I am going back to the real world again. To sum it up, my vacation was a blast. I just can't forget all those beautiful and wonderful places we've been, our magical and amazing adventures around the country, our inevitable minor arguments although there was never been a major one, and our unyielding and indomitable drives to make everything happen despite of the challenging odds intrepidly accepting the challenges that arise no matter what.... we all have done it with bright colors and sparkling stars. It was insane and yet it was hilariously fun. Can't trade any of it.
I always believe that any experiences I have couldn't be bought by money as well as couldn't be stolen from my memory because they were all imprinted at the back of my mind. And as I age, I won't just forget it totally because it will still remain there forever until my brain will shrink, wither, and reduce it's size because of old age, still the remnants of my memory will still be there, intact and unexplored. I am glad I made this life-changing journey (although all of them were life-changing anyway) that had greatly affected myself a lot, well all of my journeys had affected myself enormously, as what I have painstakingly observed.
Hopefully, things will be great again and I will set another journey next time where in I can get more personal and intimate with my travels. Next time, I am aiming at accomplishing a very challenging goal and hopefully it will be more experience filled and educationally stimulating, as well as fun infuse of course. Life is always a promise and it is good to feel it that way. I promise you Mexico that I will be back and I can't wait until it happens. See you next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment