Mexicola

The last of my travel blogs, for a while at least. Thanks to a recommendation from a friend, we headed from LA to Huatulco, a sort of proto-resort on the south coast of Mexico. You get the feeling that in about ten years’ time, it’ll be an insufferable tourist trap, but for now it retains plenty of charm. The people are lovely, my fair-to-middling Spanish got a good workout, we drank lots of margaritas, ate a colossal quantity of tacos and swam a lot. And that’s about it. That’s what holidays should be like.

Life's a bitch

Mexico reminded me somewhat of India – same friendly and generous-hearted people, same air of endearing anarchy (particularly in Mexico City, of which more in a moment), same… creative approach to problem solving:

Fridge goes up...

Fridge wobbles slightly...

...fridge comes down

While Huatalco was beautiful and relaxing, more interesting – from a writing point of view, at least – was the day we spent in Mexico City. For a city with a bad reputation, it’s a great place. We stayed with a French couple who had a small B&B and a large Nick Cave fixation, all good news from our point of view. If Mexico recalled India in general, then Mexico City most definitely reminded me of Bombay – it has a similar air of good-natured chaos, and is also as friendly and welcoming a big city as you’ll find. While it doubtless has its dodgy areas – as does any city, really – it’s a shame the whole place gets tarred with the same brush.

The area we stayed in – Colonía Santa Maria de la Ribeira, part of Cuahatemoc – was great, full of crumbling colonial grandeur and also an air of renewed possibility. Even on a short walk around the area, you saw plenty of old buildings that seemed to be being refurbished and renewed. There was also some amazing graffiti:

Sadly, we could only spend a night there. But we’ll go back at some point, no doubt. For now, it’s full steam ahead in NYC. There are certain moments when you get the feeling that you really should be enjoying them as much as possible, because they may not come around again for a while. The last time I felt so strongly like this was on a beach in Greece, floating on gentle waves and looking up at an empty sky. On some far away beach. I felt the same in Huatulco. Perhaps that’s as good as it gets. And lots of hard work awaits.

Soundtrack:

Brian Eno – On Some Faraway Beach