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Tale
Three - A day trip around Mexico City - by Malik
Being short of time and with a long way to go, I thought of
an ambitious plan. First, I would check out and leave my carry-on
luggage with the hotel and I would go to Teotihuacán
(a ruin, north of the city). Second, I would get stop on return,
at the gates of The Anthropological Museum. Third, I would take
a long walk back to the hotel via "Champs Elysees"
of Mexico. Fourth, I would collect my carry-on, rush to North
Terminal and take a night-bus to Oaxaca. That appeared "feasible"
and I booked a half-day trip for US $20 for the first phase.
While awaiting the tour-van, I realised that I was in for 12
hours of sight-seeing and another 8 hours of bus-ride! If it
turned out to be "backbreaking", I thought, I would
be less enthusiastic in my next odyssey.
Soon the tour bus arrived. There were 3 trippers already in
the van, an Italian gay couple huddled together and a lonely
girl from Colombia. I looked forward to a pleasant day. The
van driver-come-guide, Ernesto, knew his job well and kept us
in good humour all the time.
The Cathedral
First stop was at "La Villa," with two Basilicas of
the Virgin of Guadalupe. There was a large gathering of believers
and curious tourists. The new Basilica had a circular floor-plan
giving easy access to almost 10,000 people flocking on ceremonial
days. Religious relic - "Juan Diego's cloak with image
of the Virgin" was pasted on the wall which could be viewed
by taking a moving side-walk gliding beneath it. The old Basilica
was in the same compound. It was sinking; its eastern wall had
torn out from the main building and visibly reclined to one
side.
The Ruins
The "ruins" were well out of the city giving us much
needed fresh air and open space. Due to rainythe season, the
entire route was lush green in dire contrast to a massive stone-paved
Teotihuacán, some 50 km away. We reached there in about
an hour and after a brief narrative, the guide gave us two hours
to explore it. He pointed to three sites: Citadel, Pyramid of
the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon, all connected by Calzada de
los Muertos or Avenue of the Dead. The avenue was long and the
sun was hot. I donned my hat, took two big gulps of water and
treaded on the 2 km monumental avenue. The Columbian girl, Siomara,
decided to join me as the gay-couple had wandered off. Holding
hands, we headed towards Sun-Pyramid, an awe-inspiring, 70 m
high structure with 248 steps.
I had no problem in climbing up while the girl started huffing
and puffing after about 50 steps. A little rest on the way enabled
her to gain her strength and to continue. Soon we reached the
top and joined a crowd of visitors singing, praying or enjoying
the breathtaking view of the archaeological sites and the greenery
around it. There was a surprise in store for me. A group of
school children was awfully absorbed in a talk. Yes, a live
class was going on, many were taking notes and raising or answering
questions. Being a teacher myself, I wished I could speak in
such historical settings where I had only to point out with
my finger rather than using an OHP or a white-board. I conveyed
my 'wishful thinking' to one of the teachers who was gracious
enough to ask me to address the students. I had no idea what
to say and just asked them for a joint photo. All hell broke
loose, all stood up to my left and right, shouting "whisky,
whisky". It appeared that the Mexican equivalent of "Say
Cheese" was "Whisky".
National Museum of Anthropology
On the way back, the Columbian girl gave me her email address
and invited me to her city Barranquilla which, she said, was
just on the edge facing the Caribbean Sea. The van dropped me
near the Museum.
At first, it did not look like a museum. A huge stone image
of the Rain-God greeted me at the gate. Once inside, I was amazed
by a stout column, covered with symbolic sculptures, supporting
a vast, water-sprouting pavilion. The museum buildings, surrounding
the spacious central courtyard, were constructed of volcanic
rock, wood and marble. These were two storied; the ground floor
contained 23 halls, each encompassing a specific geographic
region or culture like Oaxacan and Mayan. Upper-level halls
exhibited ethnographic displays of real life as of now. I walked
by reproduced people, temples and villages evoking real life
scenes. These halls were located directly above the rooms devoted
to the corresponding ancient culture. It was a massive mega
museum like Hermitage of St. Petersburg, Russia and required
at least three days to complete.
Terminal Norte
Unfortunately, I had to leave half-way through as visiting hours
were over by 7 pm. Walking leisurely on the Reforma Boulevard,
I reach the hotel, collected my gear and asked the door man
to fetch me a taxi. The one he got, asked for a staggering amount
of 80 Pesos ($8). When I opened my mouth in awe and wonder,
he said that it was a safe taxi. The alternate was to ride a
Green Beetle for only $2.50 and take the risk of being robbed.
I took a chance and reached the terminal safely. While I was
locating a bus to Oaxaca, I met an American returning from the
same place. He advised me not to take a night bus as the route
was winding through jungles with a lot of banditos. Though he
had no personal experience, he told many stories of masked men
waiving pistols and machetes. The alternative was to stay for
the night and board a day-bus. That meant an additional $40
or so. Relying on the law of probability that chances of being
robbed were only 1 in 100, I kept up my program. A penny-pincher
(or the more graceful word 'budget tourist') had to take such
risks to save the dollars for an extended tour. One cannot have
a cake and eat it too.
Hafeez ur Rahman Malik, Karachi-Pakistan.
Submitted: 7 September 2002
Next: Tale 4 - Oaxaca City |
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Malik
- Pakistan
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