Mexico City
Okay, I'll admit it. I was a little aprehensive about coming to Mexico City. Easily ½ the people that I've talked to, who've been here have been pick pocketed, or hassled in some way.
I expected a very dirty, dark, dangerous place with questionable characters on every street corner. It's the largest city in the world, and with the stories I heard, I assumed the worse.
My bus pulled over a ridge and I got my first look at the city; it spawled out as far as the eye could see. Which, incedentally, was not so far - pollution and all.
From the bus station, I got on the Metro and headed into town. It was at this point I realized that I had no idea where I was going. I had visions of coming out of a station into the worst part of town. Which for a city of 29 odd million, must be quite bad.
You see, I'm not actually travelling with a guide book. I don't recomend this, it is well worth the $30 or so. It's difficult to buy one, in you language, out of your country, without one. Kind of a catch-22, really.
I had a peice of paper, somewhere in my bag, on which someone had scribbled the Hotel he would be staying at. Luckily I found it (yes luckily, you haven't seen how I organize my bag), and I fluked out by finding the hotel quite quickly.
I'm impressed with Mexico City so far. It's not the dump I'd thought it'd be. It's no Singapore, but it's no Calcutta either. The traffic isn't completely clogged, and getting around seems quite easy. The metro is fairly clean (for Mexico), and even has some nice touches. For instance, one connecting tunnel I went through had pictures of wildlife, then pictures of the Mandelbrot set (it's a math thing), then pictures of the Sun, and then the tunnel had a dark
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