So on the 27th I go to the beach of Cancun to kill time. Just seven hours left… The water is beautiful, however I don’t really like Cancun. For me it is too expensive and touristy. I get a haircut, which is certainly overdue. Only six hours left… I shave, which is certainly overdue. And I wait. In the evening she is supposed to arrive. You all probably have a romantic picture of a reunion on the airport. The truth is yes and no. Yes it is romantic seeing each other after a long time. No because everyone runs around without a plan. There were two exits and we were running around until we found each other. After that was done we could finally enjoy each others company. Then it was romantic.

We head straight to Tulum on the next day. Tulum is quite touristy as well and I have to adapt to the prices I wasn’t used to for a month. We rent a bike and go to the beach and to the ruins near the beach.

We are having a blast and want to go to a Cenote- a water sinkhole as well. We quickly check on maps and the next one seems only a 15 Minute bike ride away. Great so as we proceed to drive there we stumble upon one issue. The only way is through a highway. No problem, ONWARDS!

So after fifteen minutes cycling on a highway we arrive only to see that the entrance is 300 pesos. So around fifteen bucks. God damnit this area is really on another level of tourism. We decide to just go back. So back on the highway on our stylish bikes. What a hassle. You only realize how stressful a highway is when you are outside of a car. The air sucks. It is loud as fuck and really stressful. Hopefully never again on a bike…

The next day we decide to go to the Chitchen Itza. We book a tour that is unfortunately completely overpriced. It’S gringo season anyways… We still have high hopes though. We head on the next day. This bus is huge so they take a lot of people on the tour. The first stop is an upselling tourist point per excellence. Nothing valuable to see here except the selling practices they use. Man I already feel fooled. They sell all sorts of things with different practices. Fake Mayan birth certificates, Bottles of a bad liquor with your picture on it, and plenty of souvenirs I have seen all over Mexico. Only 20x the price… After that painful experience we can finally see Chichen Itza. These old ruins are always quite impressive. The engineering and the architecture is something special every day. Especially how sound travels on these.

The tour did also include a visit to the Cenote- a water sinkhole in the jungle. These are all over the Yucatan and Quintana Roo and other states of Mexico. Basically the whole jungle has underground moving water. On those Cenotes the ceiling just collapsed. The Mayans believed these were doors to the underworld and had spiritual meaning when you die. Some of the Sinkholes are 100 to 200 meters deep. So it is literally a way to the undergrounds. Today gringos swim in it, because it is clear water and super fun.

Later on we head to Bacalar. We want to celebrate New Years here and heard it is a nice place. Finally the prices are reasonable again. On the 31st of December we walk around an Sally isn’t feeling well. We think it is fine and go swimming. A few minutes later I see her sprinting to the toilet. Oh oh…. She throws up. This is the first of many times this day. So New Years was exactly spend on the toilet for her. What a pity after waiting this long we still celebrate New years separated because she wanted to sleep. At exactly 0:00 a clock she texted me that she threw up again. What a way to start the new year. It can only get better from here!

For anyone of you if you see this picture you would say it is definitely the sea right?

WRONG! This is a sweet water laguna where Bacalar lies. Unbelievable, I know right! You don’t even get salty after going out. There are wild mangroves growing and a lot of piers where you can enjoy the water. We rented a Kayak and explored the Cenotes that were also connected to this lake. The color drastically changes once you cross over and you can see that suddenly the ground is not visible anymore and the water switches from a light blue to a dark blue. What a crazy world. Scary to paddle over it as well! We enjoy the days here as this place is something special.

Next time we will cross the border of Mexico to Belize and get stuck in between the borders for an hour. Stay tuned as we approach another paradise. As I reflect on my stay in Mexico I realized I spend about 5 to 6 weeks here. The country is huge as fuck and even I switched places about every 3 to 4 days I still haven’t seen all of Mexico. What a crazy and diverse country that is partly westernized with it’s own take on Christianity, Spiritual Wellbeing, and food. What a lovely place!

The nature is stunning and out of this world. The big pine forest have some interesting plant life beneath. Big agave plants, a lot of blooming plants, big succulents and hummingbirds just to name a few. It is a place that doesn’t even feel like Mexico again. When the sun goes down the temperature drops to 6°C. This is giving me proper vibes for Christmas. At night it get’s really cold. As you can see the hostel is mostly carved onto the mountain. The rooms are not heated. So to sleep properly you take on your sweatshirt, you add another sweatshirt, wear two kinds of pants and then hide below the 6 big blankets they give you. It’s cozy then!

I decided to do the Temazcal ceremony. As it is so cold it is the perfect place to do it as it is comparable to a rural sauna. The ceremony takes an hour and is hold into these clay huts. The stones are heated in a fire and then shoved into the middle of the hut – the Temazcal. It is supposed to be a rebirth and an orientation back into the universe as the hut should resemble the mothers woumb. As we go into the Temazcal it is at room temperature. Carlos the guy who is doing the ceremony today is starting with the first round.

He uses different local herbs such as eucalyptus. Yes I know eucalyptus also grows in the Mexican forest crazy right? Each round there are beautiful songs sung about the moon, the sun, the people and some other stuff I didn’t understand. Each round more hot stones get loaded into the hole in the middle of the Temazcal. A bucket with different herbs is brought in and the process is repeated. So imagine you start to go to the sauna, but instead of doing 15 minutes you go in at a very low temperature heat it up and do an infusion sauna every 5 minutes. For an hour long as the whole thing heats up. After that hour you jump into a cold bucket of water with a lot of flours inside to cool off. Your rebirth is done and like after going to the sauna you feel amazing and reborn. I was fighting a cold at the time and my nose was running 24/7. After this is my nose was free and not running for at least another hour.

The village itself is beautiful as well. You can walk around, but remember to be out of breath every five minutes if you are not acclimatized like me. You find some very special cafés and get really good hot chocolate. Another part that is finally giving me Christmas vibes. Most of the cafés and restaurants are colored in these vibrant colors.

Even if you do nothing you can stick your head through the clouds let your thoughts spin and relax with a beautiful view. As I was fighting a cold at the time I had difficulty. But I also have a lot of difficulty sitting still. I don’t know why but even when I am sick I can’t relax. I need to see this beautiful planet so I joined a beautiful hike up the mountain. I need to see how big this planet is and how much nature there still is. This is at least what I tell myself. I can’t stress enough how crazy the nature is. It reminds me of the jungle, just with pine trees.

After three magnificent days it is time to drive to Oaxaca City. The ride down is nice as the pressure in my ears finally pops. Can you imagine the joy of hearing properly after three days? Also pretty crazy is how fast the landscape changed from this green forest to the drylands of the inland of Mexico. For me it is just mind boggling how many different climates Mexico has. And in a time frame of one hour you change it. I join this small hostel outside of the city. The hostel is actually a villa and it has been transformed into a hostel. It is a super awesome place as it has a a really beautiful yoga studio located in it. The hostel itself has a big community feeling because there are just 15 people chilling in a house. We start to prepare a Christmas dinner.

The group is becoming a fun little family to spend Christmas with. Everyone was cracking jokes or a cold beer while preparing for the dinner. On the 24th of December we decide to go out in the evening. We head into the city center to have some drinks. The city center is really colonial and very beautiful. Unfortunately I haven’t seen much of it as we were busy with the Christmas dinner. The Christmas lights even give it the extra touch. Meanwhile a Mexican is riding a trike in a Santa Costume around town. Oh Mexico you never disappoint.

On the 25th we have our Christmas dinner. The mood is high we have mulled wine, coffee with Mezcal a few beers and white wine. This huge feast of a Christmas dinner is also finally taking place. Even though I miss my family and friends especially on Christmas, I still enjoy the vibe and hanging out with the other travelers. To top it off we decide to watch the sunset on top of a mountain. You can see all of Oaxaca City from there and it is just stunning. Until things turned sour.

As it got dark we wanted to go down. A guy dressed in a ski mask approaches us. As Elliott, one of the guys, is saying to the person “Hola amigo, feliz navidad – Hello friend, merry Christmas” We hear a loaded gun sound. Fuck this is not happening! As the guy comes closer he tells us to sit down. He goes over to Elliott and ask for his valuables. Elliott is promptly responding that he only is having white wine and proceeds to offer it to the robber. What a legend. Then he goes to the next person which is promptly responding that he has no money. I’m thinking damn he is going to be pissed because he got nothing as of now. He points at my left pocket which bulges out because I have my film camera and my smart phone in that pocket. I am trying to figure out a way to keep my phone. So I reach into my other pocket and pull out my wallet. I give him some 500mxn Banknotes. He asks if that is all and I tell that this is all. However there were clearly banknotes left in my wallet. Why he didn’t take the whole wallet is still a riddle to me to this day. But good for me no extra hustling and doing all the paperwork to get a new card. He seems to be satisfied and leaves for the others which are still a little further up. Phew that was close with my phone!

I tell the other guys that we should leave immediately. The others say no since one of the wives are up there. Understandable… In this time I put my phone, my camera and my wallet into the backpack. Apparently the other haven’t had any money and he didn’t find any of the phones from the rest of the group so he comes back. I promptly drop my backpack on the mountain. My heartrate is at a crazy rate and I can’t feel my feet. He proceeds to feel the pockets of us. Shit he found Elliotts phone, which was hidden in the underpants. He gets to the next person and finds another phone as well. Since I have dropped the backpack and it is dark enough I just step up three steps to him with my arms at the side. He feels my pockets and then my private parts. I just act a little upset as he touches my private parts which in return is supposed to distract him more from my backpack lying around. He is shouting at us to get out of here as quickly as possible as he finally seems happy with what he got. Now as we walk I can’t feel my body properly which makes walking down a little harder… The shock and the adrenaline is still ravaging inside me. I am just glad that I managed to fool him and just gave him money and not my phone.

We head down of the mountain. The feeling is terrible but at least we are in a group. Imagine going through this alone! We go down and every barking dog, every car and every person seems distrustful in that time. This is a sad feeling and the complete opposite of what I was feeling beforehand. The people I met before were all very helpful, super friendly and often even inviting for a beer or some food. Now when a motorcycle drives by you get afraid and distrustful. It passes us and I see that it is just a food delivery. This feeling is so sad because these guys are trying to make an honest living by delivering food and you are now totally distrusting them.

Being very open has given so much more in the past so I won’t let this one guy destroy the trust to the 999 strangers that have helped me, invited me or just talked to me in a curious humane and interested way. You can’t take it personally because then the distrust and racist thoughts will win. Imagine doing an armed robbery on a few tourist on Christmas. Your life must be completely miserable to do something like this! I just wish him the best and hope he finds happiness himself and isn’t plagued by feelings of envy, jealousy, hate and money. Maybe he has a family he needs to feed. Whatever it is. His life must be far worse than mine. So I won’t let it get to me personally. This was a wakeup call. That I am still in Mexico. That these things can happen and you should think about what you are doing. In the end it is just about the money. What are a few 100€ and a few lost phones in comparison to the grand picture. Nothing! So it was an unpleasant experience, but an eye-opening one to be a little bit more careful in rural areas. We all had a bit of trouble sleeping the night. Every dog and every sound made you awake. A Christmas I will remember for sure…

The next day I meet Felix. One of the Mexicans I met in Compostela. He is taking some vacation in Oaxaca as well. Life works in funny ways sometimes. We meet up for some hot chocolate and some sweets. It’s nice seeing him again. This is exactly what I mean. I said yes to this one thing to drive to Compostela it maade waves through Mexico City and now Oaxaca City. I got some Mexican friends and an inside into the local life again. For free. Just because I said yes one time. So please say yes sometimes and don’t let the bad players ruin the fun for everybody else! Then those people will win!

Until next time!

At 12 pm is siesta and lunch. You lay down in your hammock to relax from that intensive surf session. All the muscles are sore so you have to recover. Everybody seems to do his own thing until either the second surf session comes or some other activities like fishing or hanging around. I always went for the second surf session of the day. Everybody comes together again to watch the sunset. At some nights there are bonfires at the beach or the riverbed. Luckily the night into my birthday there was one. So as I miss my girlfriend, my friends at home and my family, it is still nice to spend my birthday like this. You can say it is a present to myself. Turns out there is also the Geminid meteor shower visible from the December 4th to the 16th of December. Most visible on the night of the 13th to the 14th of December. The constellation Gemini is the radiant of the Geminid meteor shower, which means that it is the meteor shower’s point of origin. What a beautiful birthday gift! However at first there were clouds and I and some other people I met were quite disappointed. The sky luckily cleared and we went to the beach to watch this beautiful spectacle. I saw about 40 meteors as the crickets sing their nightly song. I was left with a wonderful birthday and an amazing feeling of being at the right place at the right time. Definitely special as I dose of into the night.

After those beautiful six nights I’m leaving to Puerto Escondido. For that I have to take a Bus to Tecóman to catch the night bus to Mexico City. After waking up several times and falling asleep again I arrive in Mexico City. Shit I forgot how cold this place is as I still have my shorts on, while everyone is wearing long and warm clothes. Since I have the whole day I head into the centrum. I text Sèan and ask where he is. In Germany we have a saying. “Alle guten Dinge sind drei” – “All good things are three”. It seems to be correct this time. He text’s me back and it turns out we are only 500 meters apart. GREAT! As I have the current thought, that the world works in funny ways sometime he proceeds to invite me into the hotel, where he is staying, to have breakfast. So we enter this fancy hotel and I just got the most premium breakfast for free. The coffee treats me well after having a rough and cold night at the bus. Since I spend the last few days in this hippie town the contrast to the current situation is quite strong and amusing to me. Seeing these fancy people while I lived like a caveman the last few days is the perfect contrast to keep on going as I catch a flight in the evening to Puerto Escondido.

When I got to Puerto Escondido I got undecisive again. I am running out of time since I have to be in cancun on the 27th of December to finally meet my girlfriend again. Despite that I have heard of an amazing place up north from Puerto Escondido. As I shuffle back and forth I decide to spontaneous go. Even if it is for a short time. Because fuck it, why not? I am only here once. It is quite easy to get to Chacahua. First you take a bus along the road. Then you take a “collectivo”- a shared big taxi to El Zapotalito and from there you take a boat through the mangrove jungle for 45 minutes. This boat tide itself was already worth it, as I cheer myself up to have made the right decision again. These mangroove water paths are miraculous.

The village is located at an peninsula. Only connected through boats. There is still everything on it. pick-up trucks, motorcycles etc. There is not much to do except enjoying the nature and chilling in a hammock or eating. Since my back is hurting like crazy from the last few nights in the hammock I opt for a cabana – a small room. As I check out the places unsure what to expect and walking around without a plan I found the perfect spot. A hut that is overlooking the ocean. I can see the waves from the toilet and the bed for only 400 pesos. Wow what a SCORE! I find out later that construction is still going on on that place. This explains the price.

I rent a surfboard for the days. I again go twice a day into the water. On the meantime I nurture myself by cold coconuts, loads of avocados and bananas and some occasional fish tacos. Time moves different in this place. One morning I was feeling extra energetic and decided to run along the beach. I didn’t expect it to be this exhausting but I underestimated the energy it takes to run through the sand. After 15 Minutes I stop completely sweaty. Damnit I still have to run back. I force myself through this agony of pain back to my cabana. Whew I made it. Totally sweaty and exhausted, but I made it! Time for a cold coconut as a treat. Later after my two surf sessions I watch the sunset.

It is time to go back to Puerto Escondido and further up the mountains. As Christmas approaches, I have a desire to be in colder territory. The mountains of Oaxaca sound to good. So I pack my backpack again to be on the move. In what a marvelous world we live in! Until next time!

I end up on this mountain bike track. In the end I made it to San Pancho beach. From there I have to cross a small river. I try to go bare feed afterwards which is a dumb idea since the sand is scorching hot. The waves are firing and I like the town more then Sayulita. More pro surfers ripping those crazy waves and doing airs I have only seen on youtube videos before.

I meat Sèan again for dinner. However I need to make a decision soon on where to go next. Travel directly to Puerto Escondido or seeing this small other town. Regarding this I have been very indecisive. I asked a lot of Mexicans and got very different reactions. The beach town is located at Michoacán. For anyone who doesn’t know why this state is very controversial here is the citation for traveling to Michoacán from the official website of the US government.

Michoacan state – Do Not Travel

Do not travel due to crime and kidnapping.

Crime and violence are widespread in Michoacán state.

US Government

Hmm this doesn’t sound to good to be honest. Some of the reactions from the locals were not encouraging either: “ARE YOU CRAZY?” “DON’T RISK YOUR LIFE!” but from all the surfers it was “Oh yeah it’s awesome. Definitely go. You are going to have a nice time.” So I decided to go anyways. Making my way down took me three days. From San Pancho I came down to Punta de Mita again. I visited the crocodile surf spot again and had one of my best surf sessions. From there I made my way down to Puerto Vallarta.

Puerto Vallarta had some huge beautiful sights I didn’t expect. Like the Zona Romantica. I hiked up there although I was a little sick to enjoy the sunset. The next day I take a 7 hour bus ride to Manzanillo. This is a less touristy place as I can directly see reflecting in the prices. Here I end up in an Airbnb that is also a popular local restaurant with the best burgers and chicken wings in town. The next day I take another 3 hour bus ride to my destination. Being the only tourist in the whole bus makes me feel a little weird. as we approach the State Michoacán I thought the bus would be completely empty. Boy was I wrong there were more people tagging along then there were seats and the bus was completely full even in the aisle.

I arrive to the sunset and feel a little bit lost and don’t know what to think. Now I only have to walk for half an hour to the village and I finally made it. We will see if this was worth traveling 3 days for as this is totally of the beaten path! There isn’t even cell phone service. As I walk this small road towards the village I am greeted by 1000 Banana Trees and 1001 coconut trees. After arriving and finding a place for my hammock I can admire the place.

There are these small houses with palm branches on the roof which you can rent or you just put up a hammock at one of the many camping spots. There are surf boards lying everywhere and everyone is super nice. I meet Tom in his bus. He made a full on Goa and Trance Studio out of this old school bus.

He proceeds to tell me that he is throwing a rave at the beach later and I should come join. Which I did. Three DJ’s rocking the turntables over the night. All out of his bus directly at the beach. Now that is what I call passion and commitment for a party. I don’t have enough cash so I ask around on where to find the next ATM. From most people I just get weird looks. I get told by the people that the next ATM is a mere 45 minute drive away. FUCK! What do I do? Something to worry about the next day…

As the next day approaches I try to figure out how to get some cash. After talking to almost 50 people I found a person who is willing to drive me for a fee of course. So as we embark to the first place it has no cash. The driver seems a little pissed and says I need a beer. Do you want one as well? As I’m angry myself I agree. He proceeds to stop in one shop and gets two beers. He’s driving while drinking his beer. After a while he says the same thing and we stop for another one. We arrive at the ATM and then drive back where the same procedure happens. Since I am already a little tipsy and get headache from not drinking enough water beforehand I decline on the third and forth one as we cruise back to the small town. Hey I am liquid again for the mere price of 40€ for the driver and a three and half hour journey… Imagine going through this every time.

The rest of the time I just spent surfing two times a day truly admiring this place. It is deep tugged away behind the mountains connected to a clear river totally of the beaten path. The birds, the wind and waves are singing you to sleep while one person silently plays on his ukulele and you drift of into the dream world. It’s great! The people are very friendly and always helpful. So I encourage you to stop labeling people as criminals just because the state is controlled by drug traffickers. The people are just normal people who live in this conditions. They still care, are honest and hard working. So if you look past the label you just see humans like you and me. Only difference is their circumstances.

Until next time!

There is a famous surf spot nearby of Punta de Mita. To get to the spot you just take the bus or hitchhike down the road. You get off and try to find the entrance. Then you walk through on wooden beams dodging the crocodiles. Congratulations you made it to the spot. It’s that easy!

After enjoying Punta de Mita I am trying to hitchhike to the next town Sayulita. As I wait on the road with my backpack for one minute a person with a broken windshield picks me up. He is currently smoking a joint and is driving to Puerto Vallarta so he can only take me till the next crossing section. I wait for another minute and a guy with a motorcycle picks me up. I thought I was done with sitting on the back of a motorcycle. Turns out I’m wrong. Me again with shorts and flip flops cruising on the back of this motorcycle. This time the driver is chill. He doesn’t even want money. So I get off at the next location and wait another minute till a Pick-Up truck comes and picks me up. This is too easy! I arrive in Sayulita faster than the bus! Nice.

This town is something different. There are a lot of tourists. A certain hipster type so to say. That hip that when you walk into a bar the probability is quite high that someone is laying on the table and getting a tattoo. So there is all these mustache wearing, oat milk latte drinking, organic eating alternative people. I thought they came all for the surf. I was wrong they came for the parties. Not exactly my kind of traveler I like to meet. Nonetheless I meet Séan in a small bookshop. We talk a little and I go about my day. As I stroll around the city wondering if this is still considered to be Mexico I get a text from Séan. “Hey I own this old VW Beetle you want to come to a festival in Compostela. I know a few people there where we can sleep, I am leaving in half an hour.” Damn! this is what I am here for. Seeing some locals and not some pseudo alternative people. So I agree while hurrying back to pack my things. Either he is going to harvest my organs or we are going to have a good time!

As we cruise to Compostela in this crazy thing of a car Séan, from Ireland, tells me he had traveled on a motorcycle from Alaska to Argentina. He has a big interest in these old cars and knows how to fix them. As he tells me this story the car breaks down and we are stranded at some road. “Don’t worry” he tells me “I know the problem.” As he picks up a hammer and steps outside of the car. He bangs the hammer against the front three times. Get’s back into the car and starts the engine with no problem. “Those god damn pumps” as we cruise further into the mountains. We meet with some friends of Séan. We go to the ‘Lord of Mercy’ Festival. Sounds boring in a 20.000 inhabitant city?

It is not. First there was a parade. Trucks with Mariachi bands on them were driving by. Half of the trucks and a Jesus statue were getting stuck in the overhead wires of the street. So there is people pushing these cables with sticks. Super funny to watch. I bet my colleagues get a heart attack if they see this.

After the parade we go to the church. There is a Mariachi band inside as well. Interesting to see a church so far away where the prayer just sounds the same as back home. Well just in Spanish. Afterwards we go to eat something.

Afterwards the real party is getting started. There are a lot of drinks. On the main square in front of the church there is a big firework. Food is everywhere and already a lot of bands playing music. Here is a short impression of the whole thing.

After the firework the party was getting started. As there were more and more mariachi bands coming and playing it seemed to me like a tight competition. If you would move 2 meters you would hear a different band playing. All the senses were overstimulated by the smells the sounds and the lights. As I was comparing this city to my own hometown which has twice as much people I could see a difference. Actually this town was feeling more alive and the bands played all through the night. While back at home someone would complain at 11 in the evening because of the noise. These guys are party animals! Something incomparable… We dance and drink and dance more. My eyes are already falling down but there is no sign of stopping.

At 5 we get the locals breakfast, which was intestine soup of the cow. So there is all sorts of chewy and soft stuff in the soup which is you won’t really know what it is. I just closed my eyes and ate it. I am here to try something different ain’t I? Even if my face is saying something else I ate it all like a champ and then it was finally time to go to sleep.

This happens if you say yes to certain things. You get to experience the friendliness of strangers and get to live some adventures. I could have stayed in Sayulita and meet more pseudo hipsters. In my opinion this was more fun and more enriching. Seeing the real locals party. Comparing the similarities and the differences. It just shows me that even if the culture is totally different humans are all the same. They strive for connection with friends and strangers. They all want the same. A happy life filled with love for friends, family and strangers.

The base is usually with some meat or some mashed cooking banana, mashed potato, guacamole or some cheese. The toppings can be cilantro, onion, cabbage or potatoes and you can get some salsas on top. The flavor combination is always good.

As my body is trying to adapt to the altitude, I get sick. Oh oh it is dawning on me that some tacos shouldn’t have been eaten that day before. I get a fever and food poisoning. I go to sleep at 5pm and get into the cycle of running to the toilet, drinking water, questioning my life choices and falling back to sleep over the next 14 hours. After that first contact with Mexico I head to Anthropology Museum to meet a friend from my hometown. The world is working in bizarre ways sometimes. You fly half across the globe and meet someone from your hometown. Apparently the sister is studying here for a semester and the whole family just visited. So we meet up.

The next day I meet with Alan, a colleague of mine. We watch the “Lucha Libre” together. The wrestling has a big fanbase here. Everyone loves it and goes crazy for it. The atmosphere is great while everyone is shouting, cheering, or stomping for his favorite wrestler. A lot of drinks or nachos get passed around the ranks and the wrestlers definitely know how to get the crowd rallied up. Afterwards we end up at a taco place and had a really fun evening. But man they can put anything in a taco.

Afterwards I try to figure out where to go next and what to see in the city. I am following Alans tips and head to the castle Chapultepec. From here you can have a stunning view above the city. This was the only time you could see that this city was build in the basin of a volcano. You can see that it is completely surrounded by mountains. This is also a good place to see how absolutely fucking huge the city is!

The markets are also something strange to experience. You can go and buy all sorts of things. Normal fish and meat or some fruits and chilies. Or some weird stuff like scorpions, cockroaches and crickets with garlic. Depending on the market you could even get a decent flower bouquet.

As I get the hang of it how this place functions I walk down the main road during sunset. This is also something Alan recommended. It is a beautiful walk. You can enjoy the sunset while seeing some nice sights and people. There is definitely a lot to see in this city.

As I walk around I stumble into this open rave. I see that it is just held in front of an government building. As I join the crowd I get immediately asked if I want to buy some weed. I feel like I’m in Amsterdam. Everyone is selling pre-rolled joints, grinders and whatever else you need for rolling joints. As you near the crowd you can already smell it a block away. The police is also there and enjoying this spectacle. Crazy stuff! Later I find out, that this is a protest against the cannabis laws in Mexico. Now this is a protest I can get behind. No violence, just people dancing and enjoying themselves.

I top of my journey with a trip to Teotihuacan. It is super interesting to see a culture that had ancient civilizations that had no influence of Europe till the late 14 hundreds. The place was an old city that could have inhabited about 2 Million people. For the time it was a huge metropolis. These ancient sights always intrigue me. They give me more questions than answers. How did the people actually live? What was their daily life like. How did they manage to get this big city going? How did the city actually look? So many questions on which you can just wonder as you will never fully know.

You can just walk around in their ruins and listen to the archeologists. They usually have some insight about the rites and processes in the city. However they also never have the full picture. It is just super interesting to have different cultures develop with different gods and behaviors.

All in all Mexico City is quite diverse. I’ve seen some Rock and Hippie Mexicans, as well as some Ravers and some dancers. In my opinion the city has great food and very friendly people. From some locals I hear that this city had a tremendous change in the last 10 years. Beforehand it was the capital of murderers. You could not use your phone in the metro as it would be stolen. You could not go to certain areas in the city as the police was not even entering it. Now hipsters can flock to the city and enjoy it’s beauty to the fullest while being very safe. I never had an issue. Even in crowded metro spaces people were very friendly and always helpful! Quite a drastic change for 10 years.