Ciudad de Mexico - Part I

As I mentioned earlier, this blog is meant to be a travel blog as much as an INSEAD blog. The idea is that both go hand and hand, and that a student that pursues an INSEAD education is likely to be very much into travel and moving around as well.

As I prepare to leave North America, I thought it is high time that I visited the largest city in Latin America and in North America - Mexico City.

When you live in the US, everything you hear about Mexico City is negative.
1) It's dangerous
2) Nothing to do
3) Polluted
4) Unhealthy/Unhygenic
5) Poor

Of course people in the US have this impression of pretty much any non-European city, or one that is not in what they consider to be North America (they don't count Mexico).

I decided to go anywways as the fare was really low, it was a long weekend, and I found a sucker (I mean friend) to come along with me. Also I remember travelling somewhere and meeting some people from Mexico on the train and them raving about Mexico City and the nightlife/food/etc...

So off we go, and bang 5 hours later i'm in the heart of Latin America....by myself...speaking really really bad spanish....with 20$US and a bankcard. Somehow I find my way to the hotel, after being conned into spending 250 pesos from the airport, even though I realized I didnt need to be in an SUV that seats 7 people. Could have probably got the same ticket for 150 pesos, but hey at least I made it to my hotel in the Zona Rosa, and that by all accounts was a miracle. The area around the airport was dodgy to say the least. At the time i was thinking I might have to spend all day in the hotel and get a tank to go places. As I got closer to my hotel the area got better and actually looked very safe.


Area Around Airport


We stayed in an area called Zona Rosa. It used to be the posh area of the city with all the embassies, but that has now shifted to Polanco once the metro started running to the Zona Rosa. Now Zona Rosa is home to some cool boutiques and cafes. It is also home to the gay district of the city. Now personally that's not why i was staying there, but I'm sure that goes along with the place being very clean and colourful!
Zona Rosa Pics





independence monument - was right outside our hotel.



Polanco - Posh district of DF. This is where the posh restaurants, clubs, stores are located. Most embassies are also located in this area of the city.



friday night at awesome bar...voted one of top 20 in world. The bar is at the Hotel Habita, which is a great Art Deco hotel in Polanco.





While Mexico City is known as the most polluted city in the world, it sure didn't feel like it. High altitude is tough to deal with but the pollution isn't that bad compaired to other places I've been to. They must have instituted some tough laws to get rid of the pollution. I wouldn't even put it in my top 5 most polluted cities. Here is my list:
1) Cairo
2) Athens
3) Beijing
4) Shanghai
5) Delhi

Here is a pic of Mexico City Skyline and the "horrible" Smog...LA is much worse believe me.


While in Mexico City they tell you not to use normal taxis since they rip you off or better yet may or may not kidnap you. We decided not to take this risk, so we were left with either taking ridiculously priced hotel taxis or taking the metro. The metro is safe clean and efficient. Unfortuantely it is not air conditioned....so it STINKS. Anyhow it costs 2 pesos per trip (so like 20 cents). I dont know how they can operate such an efficient and clean system on so little, but whatever it is the CTA in Chicago needs to learn from these guys.
Mexico City Metro Runs on Wheels like Montreal


notice wheels are not on the track




Another cool thing about the Metro is that all stations are identified by symbols. The station near where we are staying:


A list of stations on the line we used:

Some interesting pictures there. There are so many stations, and each has a symbol related to the area in which the station is located. The toughest neighbourhood called Tepito has a boxing glove as it's symbol! Maybe they need to change that to a gun?

Here are some pics of the famous plaza called Zocalo in central Mexico City. It is the largest plaza in Latin America and the 4th largest in the world. We arrived and there was a stage in the middle. I was just telling my friend jokingly that maybe it's Shakira or Ricky Martin or someone like that performing. Later while sitting and having a drink with some people we met we find out that indeed Shakira is performing that night. Free concert in the biggest plaza in Latin America???? How could we not oblige. We stayed and had the time of our lives. I have never seen so many people in one place ever in my life. It was RAMMED. We tried to bribe our way to a roof, but apparently the American Dollar doesn't carry the weight it used to. Next time I'll bring Euros. Anyways here are some pics of the Zocalo, surrounding areas and finally the Shakira concert!




lineup leading into the Zocalo Plaza for the free concert. It's day and the concert starts at 9pm.




Will Rain Damper the celebration?


These Aztech Ruins were part of a much bigger plaza that resided where the Zocalo is now back in the day when Motazuma was king!




Market to the North of Zocalo. If you keep going North about 5-6 blocks you will hit an infamous area of the city known as Tepito. It is a black market where anything goes. The police takes a laissez-faire approach to the area. It is one of the most dangerous areas in the world.


Rooftop view of the crowd at 4pm.


People filing in.


View towards the other side from the Holliday Inn cafe on top of the Zocalo plaza.


About 3000 of the 210000 people trying to enter the concert.



7:30pm and the place is packed.


View of Stage


That's what 210000 people looks like!


Ok so in Mexico we are tall compared to the locals, so we thought we would be able to see the stage clearly, until we discovered the mexican telescope. It's basically a device made from cardboard that costs 2$ that is raised up in the air and acts as a telescope. Great idea, except when 200000+ people raise it, it's impossible to see anything for ANYBODY. They have to restrict sales of this thing for it to be of any use.

AND IT WAS ALL WORTHWHILE :)...wow Shakira!!!

And so ended the first couple of nights. We thought we had already had a great trip. I mean we were having a blast, had a free Shakira concert in the main plaza. We had met some locals, and had drinks with them....what could be better? Well the best was yet to come...stay tuned for part 2!