Cabo San Lucas (Mexico) - I once saw Sammy Hagar eating a waffle

CABO SAN LUCAS (MEXICO)
07 March - 10 March 2017

Another infamous Spring break location, we actually arrived in Cabo during Spring Break! Say hello to Schoolies on Steroids. In actual fact I find that American youth, and Americans generally, are soft when it comes to the consumption of alcohol. In Australia its our birthright to go out, get smashed, chunder and talk about what a great night 'that you can't remember' you just had.

Arriving in Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo was to be our repose from the 2.5 month backpacking adventure that we'd been on. Not that we needed a break into tranquility but the art of backpacking can promote a type of weariness and exhaustion from movement such as sleepless overnight bus rides, ordinary accommodation, odd travel connections and other budget style hang-ups. We really had nothing to complain about though, perhaps I just needed an excuse to head to Cabo for a few days and this is what I created, hope it suffices?

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Mt Solmar - Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Beautiful white sand beaches, fecund waters and spectacular arching cliff's at the end of the Baja peninsula, it's not a bad place to provide a backdrop to marvellous resorts, restaurants and bars that will assist you with your need to fill to the brim with quality margaritas. Cabo San Lucas doesn't exactly have it all, but it certainly has a hell of a lot, and there's nothing but appreciation being offered by Casa de Elisher.

What really captured my imagination was the deep blue waters of the Pacific here. A rich, majestic, deep colour that bounces the sun off it like glass and offers the perfect foil to the desert like, rocky surroundings of Land's End. Down here it feels like there a rock desert that just plunges into the ocean, overwhelmed by its on self-induced aridity. It makes for a dramatic & picturesque, if not somewhat desolate scene in parts. But that's what makes this part of the world spectacular and Cabo San Lucas plays beautifully into those vistas.

Mt Solmar - Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Mt Solmar - Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Mt Solmar - Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Looking down at 'Divorce Beach'

Mt Solmar - Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Looking down at 'Divorce Beach'

Mt Solmar - Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Looking down at 'Divorce Beach'

Mt Solmar - Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Looking down at 'Divorce Beach'

Margaritas, tacos, sun, sand and ocean. The magnificent pentaverate.

There's a lot here to enjoy and even more so than Cancun on the Caribbean Coast. The beauty is undeniable. On one of our days we climbed up to the top of Mt.Solmar, the peak on the southern side of the marina in Cabo. A relatively easy walk, albeit affected by the baking sun, the views up and down the coastline are absolutely stunning. Again, the contrast of the glorious Pacific Blue ocean against the fabled stone arches at Reserva de Lobos Marinos and the harsh, sparse coastline gave us some value for enduring that beating sun.

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Margaritas! You bet!

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

The other side of the peninsula also has Lovers Beach and Divorce Beach, basically two sides of the same coin. One that opens up to the northern side of the peninsula and another to the southern side, for some reason there were a lot more people hanging out at Lovers Beach than those on Divorce, even though in my opinion the Divorce side was much more agreeable in terms of the type of beach and the waves rolling in.

The famous El Gordito looking for food - Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Sometimes you just get the right amount of luck

With the water acting as the major draw-card here, everything imaginable is available to those wanting to spend time on the Big Blue. Inga & I took the chilled option for our second to last night and took in an all you can drink sunset cruise.Now, its no surprise that cruises of this elk are plentiful in Cabo but what may surprise you is that its worth the ride. Having been on many a sunset cruise I can say that this ranked highly. Great views, free flowing alcohol and quite a fortunate whale sighting to boot. We had everything we needed in a 2 hour boozed fuelled event that left me bleary eyed and dancing to Cisco on the way back to the dock - apparently I like it when the beat goes Duh dun Duh.

Sunset in Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Sunset in Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Sunset in Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Sunset in Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Sunset in Cabo San Lucas - Baja California - Mexico

Early morning flight - on the way back to Mexico City

So to you Cabo Wabo, you're a cool little guilty pleasure that we're going to keep up our sleeves for the future. I don't know why you don't have a Hard Rock Cafe anymore, it's made for you but maybe one day I'll be there again and spy Sammy Hagar eating a Belgian Waffle.

Mexico City (Mexico) - Hardwired to self-destruct

MEXICO CITY (MEXICO)

05 March - 07 March 2017

Planning our trip to Central America happened at around the same time that Christmas was starting to stick its head over the garden fence, meaning that it was close enough for us to feel its presence. Somehow in those weeks of planning and contemplation when I was trying to conjure up a present for Inga, I came across the understanding that Metallica were travelling around the same parts of the world that we were going to be in as they took to their Hardwired to Self-Destruct World Tour. And hey, didn’t I just have the greatest piece of luck, Metallica were going to be performing at Foro Sol, Mexico City on 05 March! All it took for me to lock in these tickets as a Christmas present was a small tweaking of our entry and exit into Havana, and there it was, Metallica in Mexico.

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Years earlier Inga & I had written out a bucket list of bands that we wanted to see together. Looking back now, we’ve seen nearly all of them since the writing of our list but back then, Metallica was an early tick on the ‘completed list’.

Getting into Mexico City worked perfectly, a flight out of Havana to Cancun and then the connecting flight to Mexico City.  This was the key element to getting to the concert on time, and with budget flights you can just never be so sure, delays & cancellations are just part of the game when you’re flying on the cheap. So I breathed a *sigh* of relief when our flight from Cancun took off on ti,e.

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

In Mexico City we stayed at the Hotel Sport Aristos CDMX, which I have to say was just a stroke of genius. It literally is the closest accommodation that you can get to Foro Sol stadium and it came as a God send both for getting back home after the show but also prior to the event. What I didn’t know when I was picking up tickets  before the concert was their requirement to see my passport as it was the ‘only form of viable ID’ that a foreigner could offer as acceptable identification. So, had we not been located within striking distance of the stadium then the hassles of having to get back into the city and then out the stadium once again would have been completely horrendous.

Mexico City does it right

Concerts in Mexico City. Wow. CDMX, you guys know how to do it right!

Admittedly, the crowd at Foro Sol was not as raucous as an Argentinian crowd but the passion and emotion was still there. But even before the main event, the merchandising available was just on another level. Now both of us have been to many concerts, in many parts of the world, but here at Foro Sol the choice was remarkable. I’m not sure of all of it was entirely legitimate but considering we were actually in the grounds of the stadium then there had to be some associated with legitimacy, right?

Another thing they got right. Queues, or rather, the lack there of. Now there was 65,000 people on the night we were there but we could walk straight up to a bar and order drinks, we could walk straight into a bathroom without having to wait in ridiculous lines. How is it that a venue like this can manage so much better than any Australian event we’d been too…here’s a hint….more staff, more facilities. You can cater for the masses if you have all these elements in place.

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

Metallica - World Wired Tour - Foro Sol - Mexico City - Mexico

The parade of Molten Black trying to make their way home

How were Metallica? 

They certainly beat all my expectations by an extremely large margin. Personally I was never a major fan of this band in my earlier years, there were occasional songs that I’d come across that I'd enjoy but the ‘black army’ never aligned to my sense of self and neither did their music….but, as the day to their concert approached I gradually got into them more and more so by concert time I was more excited about Inga’s present than she was Of course being such a major global band theirs a universal appeal that exists for a reason. There's a connection they've formed through their music that obviously speaks to a couple of generations of teenagers and angry 20 somethings. From their music, to the show, the spectacle and the crowd, this was one fantastic night and I’m certainly glad that we had the opportunity to see them perform here, the atmosphere, to  throw in a line of absolute cliché, was electric.

Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico

Plaza de la Constitucion - Zocolo - Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico

Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico

Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico

Plaza de la Constitucion - Zocolo - Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico

CPlaza de la Constitucion - Zocolo - Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico

Teotihuacan

The day after the epic show at Foro Sol, I suggested that we head out to Teotihuacan, an ancient Mesoamerican city located very close to Mexico City itself, about 40kms north-east of the city, known as an architectural site of significance because of its fantastic pyramids and one time populous.

An extremely impressive location, I would say easily that this site is far more impactful visually than the more famed Chichen Itza in the Yucatan.

Teotihuacan - Mexico

Teotihuacan - Mexico

Teotihuacan - Mexico

Teotihuacan - Mexico

A fairly vast complex, it's estimated that at its zenith, approximately 1500 CE (Before Common Era), it was the 6^th largest city on the planet with a population of 125,000+. From my own perspective its the scale of the complex and the nature of the structures that made this a true highlight, especially when comparing it to equivalent locations that we went to, only surpassed, I believe, by Tikal whose location in the jungles of Guatemala made it feel more mysterious and exotic to me.

Indeed the history of Teotihuacan far more mysterious than that of Tikal, as is the reason for its existence. The origins if its founders are uncertain and it existed as the largest centre of Mesoamerica almost 1000 years prior to the Aztec epoch. All these elements should make this location more popular than it seems to be. Certainly it is known well enough but it has none of the ‘parade’ and circus associated with Chichen Itza.

Teotihuacan - Mexico

Teotihuacan - Mexico

We spent a fantastic few hours walking around, climbing up the Pyramid of the Sun, which is the largest structure of its site in the Western Hemisphere, (standing at 66mtrs). It dominates the central –eastern space at Teotihuacan residing on the Avenue of the Dead and being the main draw card of the site. Certainly climbing to the top of the structure is as challenging as the awe it inspires, standing at 2300mtrs above sea level each step you take feel like three on a stepper in the gym.

A truly great experience and one that I’d be happy to do again when my son gets old enough to understand what he’s looking at.

Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico

Ciudad de Mexico - Mexico

Mexico City

We didn’t allow ourselves a lot of time in Mexico City, so leaving any great observations to the last time I was here and the entry associated with it, what I did find on this occasion was an abundance of culinary options. It’s Mexico of course and the food they’ve given to the world is magnificent, but, perhaps it was the lack of my own  observations on my last visit here in 2011 but it seemed that food offerings were everywhere. Cheap, delicious and in plentiful, this has to be a culinary hot spot that is cruising under the radar at the moment!