MEXICO CITY

Nice easy flight and on arrival the advantage of a very fair system the city has installed to prevent taxi drivers ripping off tourists. You go to a kiosk, tell them your hotel. pay a very reasonable fixed fare, get a ticket, and give that to your taxi driver - job done. Our driver obviously forgot that as he took us on an unscheduled tour of the town until he realised I was using my satnav and starting to make snide comments - at which point he turned his on and we went straight to the hotel, which required a 180 degree turn around. Old habits die hard I guess.

Lovely hotel in the Historic Centre of town near just about everything (Punta MX, $85 incl bf). Out for a quick walk round. First impressions good. The place is SO clean, no litter anywhere, street cleaners with old witches brooms everywhere. Lots of people out promenading, open air dances taking place in squares, the effect of Carlos Slim (2013 the richest man in the world) seen in little things like an outdoor statue park with about three by Rodin and half a dozen by Dali, God knows what they are worth, all outside, quite astounding.

Then, being in Mexico, we enjoyed a Sushi dinner. Just like we had done on Holbox, and did again the following day. No idea why the sudden love of Sushi, it just sort of became a tradition out of nowhere, We also followed up on our more long standing tradition by checking up on the Big Bus Tour. Definitely available (unlike boring Holbox village) but bad reviews due to Mexico City's appalling traffic causing hours of delays to their service - so we booked a walking tour instead.

Walked for hours, across and along virtually traffic free roads, no traffic. Another Covid change. And masks!! To say Mexico City denizens like a mask is a massive understatement. 100% voluntary mask wearing. You could literally spot tourists hundreds of yards off as the only folk unmasked, and obviously the silly sombrero helped too, or was that just Sara.

We then walked some more, to visit where I had stayed back in 1980 (my last visit) in Zona Rosa, then on to the smart and trendy Roma district (and a nice drop of Sushi, obviously), before topping off at Condesa. About seven miles in all.

Roma, which is probably the nicest and smartest part of town is shown on the right. Lots of lovely roadside restaurants, beautiful houses, trees and quiet roads, good sushi. We walked about seven miles that day before downing a bottle or so of wine and boarding an Uber home.

Out of interest it turns out the slurs against our dear old Big Bus Tours being ruined by heavy traffic were a load of baloney. The pic on the right is a main street at 8.00 on a weekday morning. Not five, but gone eight. Imagine that in London. And there are 22,000,000 people in Mexico City. Lazy bastards, get up, get to work!. I blame Covid.

The next day we hired a driver and went 45 miles out of town to see the famous pyramids at Teotihuacan which were just as advertised, bloody massive and very impressive, almost as impressive as our lunch venue, a spot I'd picked up off some random review, La Grouta, a really Mexican family party venue in a massive cave not far away. This time we did do the proper Mexican menu, and very good it was too. Drive back via the airport to get our Antigen tests for the USA, both show negative at 16.00 on Monday (that comment will become relevant later in the story).

Next up was getting Sara 'cleansed'. Normally she manages this herself, but sometimes we need to call on outside contractors.

On the first evening we had spotted a group of traditional dancers in Aztec warriors costume in the main square (biggest town square in the world you know, or at least you do now), and they were cleansing long queues of people, which caught Sara's eye. Our walking guide had explained that despite the population being Catholic (thanks to that kind old Spaniard and Aztec killer, Hernan Cortez) they also valued old traditions and that the cleansing was a serious issue to those taking the five minute 'cure'. So Sara joined the long queue, grasping a bundle of twigs which she would later be beaten with (it takes all sorts). She finally reached the front where a big and be-feathered Aztec set her on fire. She still smells of smoke!

Watch the video below if you don't believe me. This is just a small part of the ceremony with big chief Crocodile Bonce blowing smoke in poor Sara's eyes, beating her with twigs, blowing a conch shell in her shell-likes, and all the while repeatedly telling her off for dropping her arms. All in the name of increasing her 'good luck' and polishing her aura. I think that is what he said anyway. Frankly I could hardly hear him over the noise of people coughing.

After all that pyramiding, lunching, covid testing, and at least one of us being thoroughly cleansed, it was time for bed and a catch up with Corrie.

Just out of interest most of the 22 million inhabitants of the city live outside in the Colonias Populares, which sounds nice but means 'lower class neighbourhoods'. Seen from the air it is an amazing unbroken sprawl with no gardens of trees, just concrete, climbing the hillsides for miles. Poor them.

By the end of that second day, and having walked miles and miles and miles, we were pooped. Mexico City is crazy high at 7,400 feet. It is actually advised to take it easy and watch for altitude sickness (really), so what do we do? We get pooped! So we stayed in and had an early and well deserved night in. Up at a sensible hour for a nice breakfast and an Uber (they are so easy) off to the airport for our flight to Las Vegas ..........................

LAS VEGAS