It smelled of exotic flowers, freshly cut grass and coffee. A cheerful breeze played with the skirts of Coca-Cola salesgirls, and on a tree near the rent-a-car office a parrot squawked happily. We were loading our luggage into a Volkswagen 'Beetle'. One of the locals peeled himself off the wall and, casually adjusting his wide-brimmed hat, walked over to us. In broken English he offered his services as a guide to the local sights to the 'gringos'.
Having bargained for $20 a day plus meals at our expense, Diego, as he was called, helped us finish loading our luggage and set off with us to Mexico City. When he found out where we were from, he was terribly surprised. 'Oh, Russo! Journaliste!' But in principle, striking up a conversation about Russians with a Mexican is not appropriate – nobody is interested. Their idea of us is: cold, snow and the mafia. Of the Russians he knew, which Diego strained to recall, there turned out to be two – the president and Kournikova.
In the largest city on Earth, by the most conservative estimates, 24 million people live. That doesn't count the campesinos (peasants) who flock to Mexico City in search of a better life. There is a queue for unskilled jobs. In the subway, airports, and shops the floors practically gleam – a whole army of cleaning women wields rags more efficiently than any machines. In museums, instead of the familiar and 'dear to the heart' pensioners, sturdy young men sit as guards in the halls. They can earn at least some money, and without straining themselves too much. So for our Diego we were simply a gift of fate. The army also pays, so there is no shortage of takers, especially from the villages.
Every new Mexican president invariably promises to defeat the country's two main sores: poverty and corruption. Poverty is visible to the naked eye, and what really exists is crime. Houses are protected by intercoms and doormen. Villas have security guards, Rottweilers, electronics and electrified barbed wire. And yet, they still steal and rob. And then there is the street. Now there is a free-for-all!
When in the crush of the metro or market someone extracts your wallet from your pocket, that's, as they say, your own fault. But it also happens that in broad daylight, right in the city, a bus is stopped and, in the best Hollywood traditions, three or four young men 'quickly but without rushing' rob the passengers and the driver. Just in case, Diego advised putting shopping money in a sock, and to keep a 'decoy' wallet with 200 pesos in a visible place to distract; a smaller amount might offend them.
Historical heritage – pyramids
Los Piramides – perhaps the only word worth learning in Spanish if you are going to Mexico to walk the trails of ancient civilizations. Mastering just this one word, you can confidently set off to the ancient cities of the Mexican Highlands, the virgin jungles of Chiapas, or the plains of Yucatan. Rest assured: you will be understood, and you will get where you need to go. And there are plenty of pyramids in Mexico.
After spending the night in a hotel in the very center of the city and paying only $30 for a room for two, we headed to Teotihuacan. From experience, we knew that in tourist places there are always plenty of locals selling all sorts of things. So it was this time. It seemed that the entire population of the town capable of independent movement had come out to meet us. Hang from head to toe with some hand-made gods, little axes, postcards, sombreros and ponchos, they trailed after us, drearily offering to buy at least something. The main thing was not to give in to the desire to make contact with them.
Teotihuacan was the capital and the largest city of Mexico before the Spaniards arrived. And, according to legend, it was built by giants to turn people into gods. Here are the Pyramid of the Sun (the third largest in the world), built around 150 AD, and the Pyramid of the Moon – around 200-600 AD. You must not be lazy and climb these structures: 248 steps up – and the whole world is at your feet.
Actually, climbing the pyramid is worth it for several reasons: first, unusual sensations from this event are guaranteed; second, the pyramids offer a stunning view – including of the small figures of people scurrying below. Third, it is a good opportunity to test how susceptible you are to mass hysteria: at the center of the pyramid lies a plaque that everyone yearns to touch, and this is accompanied by a mad crush, shoving and jostling. Unlike the Egyptian pyramids, the Indian ones were not burial places but served for rituals, so they are not pointed but truncated. At the top a sacrificial rite took place, and the sides of the pyramid were oriented by remarkably keen-eyed ancient astronomers to correspond to the required positions of the heavenly bodies.
To be continued.