Yaaaaa! Finally got to ride the cable cars! The last time I was in Mexico City the plans for building cable car lines and making them part of the transit system had just been announced. Today there are two cable car lines just outside Mexico City, run by the State of Mexico, known as Mexicable and 2 more lines within the city (with 2 more about to be completed) known as CableBús.

I took the subway (Line A) all the way to the end in Iztapalapa and then switched to the cable car. This is the newest cable car line, it opened just over a year ago, and is the longest cable car line in the world, about 11km long.

Improving mobility for residents of Iztapalapa was one of the goals in the area rejuvenation plan and another subway line was not feasible due to the amount of hills in the area. Cablebús Line 2 creates a circumferential connection between the end of the subway Line A and the end of the subway Line 8, carrying passengers for 40 minutes up and down several mountainsides. It’s spectacular and costs 7p, about $.50can.

“Are you stupid, why would you go there??”

That was the first response I received a few months back when I asked residents of Mexico City on Reddit if I would be safe wandering alone in Iztapalapa. Residents of Mexico City are known as Chilangos, my question brought a lot Chilango opinions out.

Iztapalapa is the neighborhood on the east side of Mexico City, I don’t know what the correct terminology is, what one Latin American country finds offensive another finds totally normal, so I don’t know if Iztapalapa is called a favela, or a slum or a bario or what but it’s one of two areas of Mexico City that are considered no-go.

Of those who responded to my question about personal safety in Iztapalapa the answers seemed to fall into two camps, respondents from wealthier areas of Mexico City had mostly never been to Iztapalapa themselves and assured me that going was stupid and dangerous. While Chilangos who actually live in Iztapalapa responded with what sounded like much more reasonable responses, namely “come early in the day, leave all your possessions at home that you can, don’t stay in one spot too long, use your brain”.

To me those responses sounded more measured than “if you go you will die!”. So I decided to head out to Izta early this morning and see what I could see, if I felt unsafe I could always hop back on the subway to safety.

I also wasn’t just going to Izta to see the scary part of Mexico City, that would be gross. There are four different sites within the area that I want to see as many of in a day as I can: the CableBus, the Elevated MetroBus, the Fire Pyramid ruins and the Central de Abasto Market.

Another reason I wanted to see the area was because of how much I kept hearing about the residents fighting, and recently succeeding, in making their home a safer place.

In the past decade residents of Izta have embarked on about half a dozen programs to try to improve things.

Initially a taskforce of women residents of Iztapalapa was convened and given powers by the mayor’s office, they were instructed to produce a list of recommendations after 90 days study.

After 90 days their list of recommendations included just one item: lighting.

The entire initial budget was spent on installing new lighting to make main avenue’s through Izta into safe corridors. The newly lit streets are the easiest in Mexico City to spot from a plane and residents call them “the best lit streets in the world”.

The lighting project worked, crime along these newly bright corridors dropped to a fraction of what it was before and the project was such a success that the city and federal governments, with help from the United Nations agreed to launch at least half a dozen similar new projects.

The police had mostly abandoned the area and were invited back in with the Mexico City government agreeing to over doubling the police presence, half a dozen safe injection sites were opened, a dozen gigantic community centres (known locally as UTOPIAS) were opened, residents began projects to painting their houses in intense purples and greens and pinks as well as over 7,000 new murals.

As a direct result of these efforts Iztapalapa has gone from consistently being one of the most dangerous areas in all of Mexico to no longer being listed in the top 15.

I spent one day, walking just over 20kms, in Izta, so I realize my impressions are microscopic. Having said that my time there was absolutely wonderful, at no point whatsoever did I ever feel I was in any danger or any less safe than in any other part of Mexico City. I’m not saying the area is perfectly safe, it clearly isn’t. Just that I feel common sense can counter a significant portion of the danger present in a neighborhood like this.

When compared to other parts of the city, the people I saw were absolutely more engaging with me, more interested in me, and absolutely refused to believe I did not speak Spanish. Perhaps because they don’t see as many people wandering around that look like me as the rest of the city sees but I was greeted over and over again incredibly warmly, I was offered the best seating, in the shade, at taco stands and licuado stands. People in the markets insisted I take samples and talk to them and I rarely felt any pressure to buy anything, more than once I looked to buy after sampling and was waved away.

I was called “American” probably half a dozen times, when I would shake my head the next comment would invariably be “ahhh, Britain!”.

The two gentlemen in the pics below were my favourite, in a small alley market they showed me every step of the chicharron making process, posing for pictures, being very silly, tearing up one of their whole roasted chickens so I could try some (it was staggeringly good chicken).

I didn’t actually get many pictures, the most common advice I got was about being careful with a camera, both because it marks you as an outsider and because the residents are not keep on a camera in their face.

Of the four sights I wanted to see I only made it to the CableBus and to the Central de Abasto Market, I will make individual posts about those. I didn’t make it to the new elevated bus line or the Fire Pyramid, I likely will not have time to go back this trip either and I am totally bummed about it.

I’m getting addicted to the “comida corrida” lunches that many cafes serve, a simple, cheap four course meal where you can pick your items from a small menu.

Who doesn’t love a mystery fruit that doubles as a weapon. Found this spikester today in the market.

NOSE – Both sealed and split open there really isn’t any smell.

TASTE – Hmmm… maybe it needs to be riper, not sure. Tastes like not much, a bit banana, I guess.

DOES IT GO WITH TAJIN – Nope!

The layout of the streets around the centre of Mexico City today is mostly exactly the same as when it was the capital of the Aztec empire. Thanks to this and good record keeping by the Spanish I was able to stand at the corner of Republica de El Salvador and 20 de Noviembre today which was the exact spot where Cortez and his entourage were standing when Moctezuma II came down from the palace to meet him, on November 8, 1519.

This would have the Spanish view, the Cathedral in the distance would instead have been the largest Aztec pyramid. As soon as the Spanish took control they enslaved the Aztec religious class and forced them to raze the pyramid and build the Cathedral with the stones.

Further to the south, near the edge of Mexico City proper is the Cuicuilco Pyramid. The giant pyramids at Teotihuacan get all the press but the cool kids make the trek to Cuicuilco for O.G. pyramid action. (plus I’ve already been to the Teo pyramids)

Cuicuilco is much smaller than Teotihuacan and at first glance is not in nearly as good of shape either. There’s a reason for this however, Cuicuilco is likely about 1,000 years older than Teotihuacan and is believed to be the first significant building constructed by anyone in central Mexico. It’s the grandfather of all other Mexican pyramids.

As it’s not really on the pyramid map I had the entire place to myself the entire time, just me and one security guard. I sat in the shade for a couple hours beside the 3,000 year old building and just chilled. I love stuff like this, experiences like this, so insanely much.

The pyramid continues below ground for several levels but they are lost under the hardened remains of the lava flow that ended the time of Cuicuilco being a rival to the nearby Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City).

South of the university is an ecological preservation area which holds the Centro del Espacio Escultóric, a gigantic stone artwork, like a modern Latin American Stonehenge. I don’t think I understand it’s purpose and after reading the artist’s statement a few times I’m more confused. Doesn’t matter though, I really enjoyed it. I had the place to myself, (liking things no one likes the things does have it’s advantages) and just wandered around for about an hour, it’s really impactful and I cannot possibly explain why.

Spent the day wandering the massive, MASSIVE campus of the U of M. According to my phone I walked over 20kms, in 30c heat, across the literal thousands of square acres that make up “University City”, I am sunburnt and done.

The entire campus was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007 due to the architectural style that only really exists on this campus. The buildings and grounds have a style that blends Modernism and Brutalism with a huge dose of Mesoamerican influence.

After a few hours I asked a student, in my best awful Spanish, if there was somewhere I could get lunch, she tentatively pointed me to a building. I headed over and walked into what turned out to be the Cafeteria for Students of the School of Chemistry, sooo….

I was, absolutely, the only non-student in the dining room, and boy did they stare, most fun I’ve had so far.

Same produce market before, the one where the fruits are not marked, except the watermelon…. the watermelon has a label.

Grabbed two of these wrinklepusses, no idea at all.

Sorta looks like a lemon-pear, if that existed. The smell is sorta familiar, a bit orange-pineapple.

NOSE – Mild, biting, orangey lemony.

TASTE – Ahhhhhhhhhh, it’s some kind of passionfruit! It’s very tart, the typical passionfruit flavour is muted and there is definitely a strong citrus overtone. It’s goooooood, it’s not like regular passionfruit good but nothing in this life is.

DOES IT GO WITH TAJIN – Dear God no.