Mexico City a city of contrasts

Mexico City is a massive city, with approximately 9 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area of over 20 million, making it one of the largest cities in the world. Our first stay was in the historic center, mostly the district best suited for tourists. However, in Mexico City, the center was crowded with people, very hectic and loud. The streets were filled with all sorts of nonsensical knick-knacks being offered for sale.

As in many cities, there was also the opportunity to take a Free Walking Tour here and we decided to go on the tour in a different district, La Roma. We started in La Romita (also part of the La Roma district), formerly one of the most dangerous areas of the city. This was due to extreme poverty and the resulting street gangs, but a lot of money was spent to renovate this district. Which was successful, when we arrived there, it was like a different world compared to the adjacent historic center. It was quiet and clean. The streets were lined with old, large trees and it almost felt like walking in a forest rather than in the center of one of the largest cities in the world. So we decided to look for accommodation in La Roma after our excursion to the outskirts of Mexico City.

After three nights in the city, we took the bus that took us 1.5 hours south to Tepoztlan. This is a smaller town surrounded by nature and mountains. We stayed at a hostel in the countryside. This was again one of those places where you could forget about time and just live day by day. The hostel had a large property with a campsite, views of the mountains, a large kitchen, and most importantly a cozy campfire place. We spent a wonderful week there, hiking and relaxing in the garden. Every evening all the residents gathered around the campfire and music was played, and the occasional beer was drunk.

Slowly the time with Lukas came to an end and we had to make our way back to Mexico City. This time we had an Airbnb in La Roma, which provided a completely different experience. We really liked it here, you could just leave the house and stroll through the district for hours, try delicious Mexican street food, or browse through the numerous small shops. We also visited an acquaintance (a dentist working in Mexico City whom we had met in Peru on the Machu Picchu Trek). He took us to a typical Mexican event, wrestling. This spot enjoyed great enthusiasm here and it was a really fun experience to sit in a large stadium and watch the insane show.

We were very happy about Lukas' visit and had a wonderful time together. On February 29, he flew back to Austria and we set off with a night flight to Medellin in Colombia.