Tacos, tequila and tortas

I knew from the moment I saw the iridescent blue water as our plane flew over Cancun that I’d love Mexico. And it did not disappoint. We landed in Cancun after an 11 hour flight from Europe feeling rather tired and gross. We were meeting my friend Lauren at the airport, but with neither of us having wifi, and having inadvertently failed to have a synchronous conversation about where we would meet, there was a mild amount of panic when it materialised that our broad plan to meet in the arrivals hall was rather flawed. But we eventually found each other and the three of us took a 45 minute bus ride south to Playa del Carmen, where we would be staying for 4 days. Playa del Carmen is a seaside resort town located along the Caribbean coast of the Riviera Maya, in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, known for its beautiful beaches and coral reefs.

We stayed in a nice boutique hotel with a rooftop swimming pool. We spent many hours each day lying by the pool, often accompanied with a cocktail or two. After a European winter the sun and warmth felt long overdue. Although Dylan had to work while we were there, it’s safe to say it wasn’t all bad for him. He set up his laptop by the pool and managed to relax too.

Our hotel was one block away from Fifth Avenue, the pedestrian street that runs parallel to the beach, filled with restaurants, shops, bars and nightclubs. We ate Mexican food three times per day — breakfast at the hotel, and lunch and dinner at one of the many restaurants. We had a couple of meals on Fifth Avenue, but also ventured into the backstreets for a more authentic experience. Invariably, there was little English spoken away from the main street so we enjoyed the opportunity to practise our Spanish. Capitalising on the near-perfect weather, all the restaurants and bars are open to the street, so our evenings were well spent drinking margaritas while watching the world go by.

One day Lauren and I took a ferry to Cozumel, an island off the coast. We spent the day at a beach club, enjoying our beach-side table service of margaritas and quesadillas and the crystal clear blue waters for a refreshing ocean swim. When we boarded the ferry to go back to Playa del Carmen the sun was sitting like a giant golden orb on the horizon. Sitting on the front deck of the ferry, we watched it sink below the horizon on the ride back and as we neared the ferry terminal in Playa it dropped out of sight, as if swallowed whole by the ocean.

After 4 days in Playa, we headed back to Cancun to take a flight to Mexico City where we would meet up with our friend Sophie and her husband Dani who now live in Mexico City (CDMX). Flying into CDMX was such a contrast to flying into Cancun. With a population over 22 million it is home to nearly as many people as the entire continent of Australia. I have flown into other enormous cities before, but you usually get a sense of the city’s limits as you fly over. But Mexico City is a sprawling city of unimaginable size, and its indeterminate city limits are obscured by the infinite sprawl. Or maybe it was just the ever-present layer of smog obscuring the city’s edge. Pollution levels are very high in the city, with recommendations to avoid exercising outdoors. Other than the pollution, the altitude also makes exercise difficult. The city sits at 2,200 m above sea level. Leaving from sea level in Cancun and arriving at that altitude did not agree with me — for the first few days I had a throbbing headache, was nauseous, constantly fatigued and had trouble sleeping. But tequila and tortas make everything better.

Having lived there for a year now, Sophie knows all the best places to eat. We went to nice restaurants with both traditional and more modern Mexican cuisine, and also places that only a local would know about. On the first night we arrived in CDMX we went to see a ballet at the Castillo de Chapultepec. It was performed on a stage in the foreground of the beautiful castle, a historic building that sits on a hilltop in a large park overlooking the city. Unfortunately, however, we only saw about 10 minutes of the performance because it rained, but it was beautiful nonetheless to see the castle lit up at night high above the glowing city. Afterwards, we went to a very unassuming place for tortas (Mexican sandwiches) called Tortas al fuego. They were unbelievably delicious, and only cost about $3.

During the day, Dylan was working and so Lauren and I hung out with Sophie, visiting local markets, walking around the trendy suburbs and riding the turibus (the hop-on hop-off bus in CDMX). Lauren and I also visited the Anthropology Museum, which was fantastic. It had displays from every region of Mexico, containing significant archaeological and anthropological artefacts from Mexico’s pre-Columbian history.

I was surprised by Mexico City. For its size, it was less hectic than I expected and it was very clean. Parts of it were so beautiful with parks and streets lined with lush gardens and many restaurants and cafes are located in beautiful old art deco style buildings. The food scene is fantastic and we even found great coffee near our Airbnb.

A highlight of our Mexico experience was going to watch Lucha Libre — a unique form of wrestling characterised by colourful masks and costumes, rapid sequences of intricate manoeuvres and complex submission holds, and notably, aerial manoeuvres where the wrestler catapults themselves towards their opponent, often using the ropes of the ring like a slingshot, or simply diving right through them. We had seats right near the ring and the atmosphere was electric. There is loud music playing, the crowd is absolutely wild (no doubt aided by the beer that is delivered directly to your seat) and the moves are captivating. The choreography is highly stylised but it is incredibly entertaining.

Mexico is an incredible place. We’ve only scraped the surface and definitely want to return. But for now, I’m off to Cuba to join Dad and Sue for 2 weeks and Dylan is heading to Chicago. As there is almost no internet in Cuba, Dylan can’t work there so he’s unable to come. It’s a shame, but perhaps having a place in the world where you can still be disconnected isn’t something to be entirely disappointed about.