24th-25th-26th/12/09 Christmas Mexican Style

24th
Spent the whole day doing nothing except preparing our gigantic feast for christmas dinner.
On the menu was roast turkey with cranberry sauce, with side of braised almond and butter beans and crushed garlic and rosemary potatoes. This was follwed by indulgent chocolate cake with vanilla bean ice cream.

During the day we had created an amazing gingerbread house (pictures below) and watched a movie like little sardines in one bed.

Our table looked beautiful for the evening and the atmosphere was increased with an old favourites cd of christmas carols with the likes of frank sinatra and bing crosby. All in all a rather luxurious evening of wine, champagne and good company.

25th
Another late start but what is christmas about if not sleeping in!!!
We decided to head to Xochimilco......the hardest place in the whole world to find!!!
After one hour of searching in the general area of Xochimilco for the canals, a fat man on a little pink bike approached the car obviously sensing that we needed assitance!!

He removed a laminated card from his shirt which to us immediately became formal identification of an important person. He led us on a windy trail through the town of Xochimilco until we arrived at the canals. After an amazing parking fete perfomed by Javier in which 5 cars fit snuggly in the size of a bedroom!!! we arrived to our boat/gondola.

(Some furry locals hanging by the canal edge)

The canals are very old and were used before the spanish invasion about 500 years ago to transport food, flowers etc... The whole of mexico city is built on a series of lakes and the governmnet has preserved this tiny corner of how Mexico used to function, quite similar to Venice in Italy. The water of the canals are used to grow flowers and vegetables all of which can be seen conveniently from the gondola.

For 16 dollars you get a hour and a half ride in these boats/gondalas up various canals. Throughout the journey various smaller boats approach you and offer to sell food, beer, drinks and flowers. We found a very special bonsai tree which was 5 yrs old and only 20$.

(Lady Selling flowers)

(Our Bonsai that we purchased on the canal)

The owner of our gondola was a 12 year old boy who mastered a 4 meter pole with which he steered, rowed and fended off other boats which frequently collided with ours.

A few songs with a floating Mariachi band was a great end to the journey.

The rest of the evening was spent with a lovely family with amazing bbq and hot fruit punch.
We attempted to change our bus tickets to platinum class on the way home from the BBq but failed so we are now doomed for our 22 hr bus tour to Playa del Carmen.

26th-
Just spent the day buying food and preparing for our horrific 22 hour bus trip. Danni was very sick, and spent the day sleeping, hopefully she will recover before this trip.
We had an early celebration for Javier's birthday including amazing pizza and pasta and then life changing drinks at the W hotel. Pre warning all those who are hassling us we will not be blogging for the next week!!!! talk to you soon!!

21-22-23/12/09 Veracruz Jungle adventure.

21st-
Katherine was rushed to the doctors with her continuing stomach pains which would have been fine except blood and urine tests  made us very very late for our punctual bus.
We had to ask a taxi driver to leads the way as we counted down the seconds before the bus left. We ran with suitcases from the other side of the terminal to get there on time and they closed the doors right behind us. It was a very close call as a lady arrived one minute after us and was not allowed o the bus!!
because of the intense excercise of running all of us coughed for about an hour after sitting down hahahah, we have definately lost any fitness that we previously may or may not have had.

4.5 hours on a bus is not exciting to sit through let alone write about so we shall just say it was unpleasant and leave it at that.

(to make the bus ride better we read out loud Twilight for a few hours......sorry to the other bus patrons)

On arrival to the bus terminal in Xalapa(a town in veracruz) we were waiting for the rafting companies  to turn up. What was supposed to be a fifteen minute wait at the most turned into an hour and a half. To compensate for his extreme lateness he drove the car at a ridiculous speed through the jungle which had us all gripping our seats with fear but laughing about the situation.

As we arrived to the Base camp of the rafting company and checked into our tents we discovered that base camnp and tent were definately understanments. This base camjp consisted of a huge swimming pool, a spa, a massive bar decked out with tribal statues and made from bamboo, a huge rock climbing wall, becah volleyball courts, huge buffet, army training area, and amazing jungle. It was so luxurious!!
Our tents were not really tents at all. Apart from their trikangular shape, a large wooden floor housed 4 beds with hanging mosquito netting, it looked like something out of an indiana jones movie.

Once we checked in we waited at the bar to have our first drinks of the journey but were sadly dissapointed when no one came!! We decided that Monday was similar to a weekend in these parts but after harrasing the office lady, we had some beers and cokes(katherine on antibiotics) and played foosball and pool until the end of the night.

22nd-
Woke up at 7:30 for an amazing buffet breakfast at 8am.
Today was the start of our adventures.
We had a quick safety run down about rafting in the 3-4 level river and then piled into the back of a large ute which held our raft which we rode to the river.
As unpacking and preparing for the rafting experience of a lifetime, The ute became bogged in the mud of the bank. We all tried with our large Aussie muscles to help the guide push the truck out, but failed.
We decided to leave him there as we begain our river descent.

To Begin with Tiff and Dani were i the front of the raft with Belinda and Katherine behind and the guide steering at the rear. We tackled numerous large rapids with a few near death experiences but had an awesome time. The weather was perfect and the water cooling as it splashed over us.

On our journey we jumped out of the raft for 2 swims and the Belinda and Danni jumped off a 3 meter cliff into the river.

After three hours we had reached the end of the river and were offered beer and coke for the drive home,
just when you think it was too much adventure for one day, we were informed that after lunch we would be repleling off a 20 meter cliff into the jungle.
We were pretty pumped to begin with until climbing the huge hillside to reach the repel site. Danni went first as she was the bravest. We were all smiles watching her venture over the edge until she slipped and rolled on her bum over the edge of the cliff. In true Danni style she laughed all the way over as we nearly pulled our hair out.

Next was Tiff and then Katherine and then Belinda. Dani and Tiff had a second go and then we returned to the camp.

Once again quite proud of ourselves we thought the day was done, but we were led to a huge rockclimbing wall where our agility would definately be tested. Katherine began but did not get even 2 meters off the ground before passing the torch to Dani and then tiff. None of us could get up this wall!! Belinda the monkey shamed us all as she gracefully climbed to the very top of the wall and tapped the bar.

The rest of the afternoon was filled with tanning by the poolside and drinnking pina coladas in the spa.
Dinner once again was amazing and followed by some bed tiome reading of twighlight in the tent.

23rd-
Woke up again at 7:30 but not to peace of the jungle birds but instead to the intense pounding of bongo drums that the guides were carrying, yelling in many languages to wake up and prepare for the day.
after brekkie, we drove into the jungle for 30 minutes past many donkeys and working men.
This would be our next adventure.
Ziplining through the jungle canopies may not sound like a challenge but pushing yourself off a ledge 30 meters above the ground is not an easy task.
Although attached to a cable you still feel a rush when leaping off the platforms but then  jiust a sense of freedom. 700meters of cable in total, across 7 zip lines we flew from tree to tree.
We had one close call where Katherine clearly weighed down the cable and did not reach the end where she could be pulled to safety. hanging in the tress with the worst wedgie of her life (from the harness) and sanother man hanging very close behind her she was eventually saved but will probably never mentally recover.

The guide thought he would be sneaky and dropped us off the last platform to the ground at a very fast speed,

all in all a great day of adventure

20th/12/09 Bullfight

20th-
After our night of dancing we had a huge sleep in until mid day.
The plan for the day was a bullfight at 4pm in the Plaza del Torros.
Unfortunately Katherine felt unwell so couldnt join in the fun but we promised to buy her a famous mexican snack which was her favourite as she slept for the rest of the day.

The rest of us arrived at the bullfight just on time. We scalped Katherine's ticket and entered the stadium to our seats. This fight was not filled with the most famous fighters and so the crowds were not as large as expected. Usually the stadium is completely packed with excited fans, just like any AFL game.

The rules and regulations of a bullfight are far more complicated than we had forseen and luckily Javier could explain the whole process in detail to us. There were three bullfighters who fought 2 bulls each and then thier team which aid to tire the bull before its death.

Beers, pizza and tequila kept us warm thoughout the fight.

An amazing stir fry was cooked by us for dinner!! every vegetable known to man was in this dish and it was great, a nice visit from Sam as she brought us CD's that she had made for us with some Mexican and spanish music!!.

18th-19th/12/09 San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato

18th-
Our journey began at 10:30 am where we all piled in the car for a 3 hour journey to San Miguel de Allende. Tiff drove for 1 hour on the freeway until reaching a restaurant mid way in the journey. The restaurant is renowned for its Barbacoa which is lamb cooked in cactus leaves for hours....yummmmmmm
The meat was incredibly tender and once again eaten in tacos with onion, coriander, lime and salsa.

After more driving we reached San Miguel and our house for the next few days the Villa Xilmco in the mountains above the city. The view was amazing and the furniture so intricate and mexican.

(The House)

(The View!!!!!)

After exploring our house we piled back into the car and headed down to the main square of the cobblestoned town. It was like a little Italian village with balconys over small winding stone streets. All of these mexican towns have a central square with a gazebo for a band and is used as the main socializing area of the town.

(Centre of the Town)

To kill some time after looking in millions of shops we went for some drinks in an awesome little bar which overlooked the city. It was called Azultec and the drinks were amazing as well as the view. We were invited to a techno party by the rather handsome young waiter but had to decline as it was a few days after we were leaving.....shame.

We then had a lovely dinner with some of Javier's French Canadian friends which was amazing food and even better atmosphere. A small band consisting of a  percsussionist, bass guitar, violinist and acoustic guitar played fast music of various origins and kept us all entertained.

We proceeded from red wine at the restaurant to free tequila shots and scarves/beanies at a rooftop bar called bessito, it was amazing with a river through the bar, a waterfall from the top level to the street and a glass walkway with cactii underneath, scary to walk on, but cool.

We then explored a few other clubs with no luck and called it a night!! we returned home at 2am.

(Meerkats in Mexico!!)

19th- We had breakfast and had a quick visit to the house of our new Canadian friends before heading to Guanajuato.
It is required that on enetering Guanajuato that all tourists must pay for a tour guide to decipher the city which is a labyrinth of tunnels. The first place we visited was a old silver mine. The mine still operates today and winds kilometers underground. It was previously operated by slaves which had an average lifespan of 6 years after beggining work, climbing tiny ladders up to the surface with 80kg or rock on their backs led to many deaths. 300 kg of this rock would gain 1 gram of silver.

(the tiny ladder.....)

Our next destination was an old torture museum. Run by a priest in the 1500's the centre was a punishment for aztecs which did not wish to convert their religion to christianity. The most shocking part of the tour is that the heads and bodies in the torture devices were 100% real and mummified with their torturous expressions. luckily this practice only went on for 3 years and killed 150 people. The walls are made 4 meters thick so that no one could hear the screams and crys from outside the building.

The next destination was a museum of mummies. The soil of Guanajuato is renowned for its preservation of bodies. After 100's of years a busy cemetery had to be excavated to make room for new burials. Hundreds of these bodies were found still preserved with clothes and hair remaining. It was interesting to read the individual stories of these people 100's of years after they had died.

We had lunch in the central square after exploring the underground road system which is amazing and built with coblestones and then headed off for a four hour trip home.

A huge night planned with friends and a reservation at a very exclusive club filled the evening back in Mexico City.
We were once again picked up in the chouvered car and driven to this club. Luckily we were on the list!! as the line was a block long. So we walked straight in to our reserved table.
The menu had a ridiculous amount of inflation due to the status of the people who frequent it. The cheapest bottle of tequila was bought at a tiny price of 150$ US (ridiculous) but much fun was had dancing and singing to both american and mexican music. Something that we think Australian clubs should work on is that wiaters bash their way through the dancers on the d-floor to take drink orders so no one has to wait in line at the bar!!! unfortunatley we could not afford any more hahah

We returned home at 3:30am, good effort!

16th and 17th/12/09 Mexcio City Exploring

16th-
Started the day off at a reasonable hour of 10am with huge cheap mochas and waffles, we then walked to the national auditorium of Mexico to wait for the Turibus to explore the city.

We had many encounters with Australians also waiting for the bus which is always a shock when in a strange place, an hour and a half later the bus, which was running on Mexico time appeared despite its scheduled 30 minute depatures.

We drove through all the suburbs of varying wealth and history, next to Chapultapec park and zoo with its huge castle, past heaps of museums and art galleries, down the main street of Mexico with numerous monuments and the most important the statue of independencia!!!

After many slaps by low hanging trees on the top deck of the bus we decided a nice stop would be the Zocalo, which is the main square of ther city and holds the houses of goverment.

We visited churches, and Mcdonalds for a toilet stop before returning to the bus for more exploring. After travelling the whole turibus route we got off at hard rock cafe where we ate our body weight in greasy American food and some pina coladas.

Our night began with a trip to one of Javier's friends houses where we had nibbles and played with chihuahuas.
We then drove down the main drive of Mexico at night where all the trees where lit up with fairy lights and the largest christmas tree in the world was in full show!!

We then drove to the Condesa (a suburb) where we went for some drinks at Javier's friends bar called the T-Gallery, some awesome music was playing. That led to more drinking, some dancing and then passing out at home.

17th-
This is a relatively boring day with many failed plans for the morning but eventually reaching our destination in the afternoon, the markets of cuidadela.
After hours of walking through souveneir shops we returned home and began getting ready for a night of partying.

Our first party destination was Paulina's house for pre drinks, after purchasing ridiculously cheap alcohol we consumed it all!!! Belinda was in very fine form and forgot for the whole evening that she was Australian as she aquired a mexican accent!!! this brought much hillarity to the evening.

After pre drinks and Belinda's swift move into drunkedness we drove to the first party in a large chouvered car. Arriving in style unfortunatley did not make the bunch of rowdy bachelors any more respectful. Little did they know that Kathetrine could understand all the lovely things that they were saying about us in spanish....... A few good stories came from that party. The house was owned by a bunch of young artists and Belinda made a discovery in the shower of many beautiful canvases which she proceded to pose with for 20 minutes with her photographer Danni-elle. Belinda also thought it would be a nice idea to borrow a sheep from the elaborate nativity scene inside the house. A nice gesture as Javier collects sheep but probably inappropriate for the week before christmas. A few stern words from Katherine led to the return of the sheep by tiff into its rightful place.

On return to our chouvered car, we drove another 40 minutes to Santa Fe where we were invited to a posada which is a christmas celebration. A different family will hold one of these celebrations for each 12 days of christmas. We stayed for approximatley 5 minutes and then went home for 3:30am.

The night did not end on our return to the "safe" suburb of polanco. We were dropped on the corner of our street when a young policeman thought he might have a crack at getting us all into his car..... Luckily one person in the group knew that policeman in Mexcio cannot be trusted and a swift run alllllllll the way down the street led us to safety despite much yelling and whislting from the men behind us.

our hearts beating out of our chests but we had a good sleep!!