Hi, and welcome back to my Mexico City adventures.
I left off my last post by saying that we left the hotel at 5 am on Saturday morning. You may be wondering what we were doing up that early (or, for some, that late)…
We watched the sun rise over the Teotihuacan pyramids from hot air balloons!
This was definitely one of the best experiences of my life. I had never been in a hot air balloon before! I’m not going to lie, I was a bit nervous about going in the hot air balloon. Not necessarily because of the heights, but rather because the baskets were so small. However, any fear I had dissipated the second we started floating up into the sky.
Soaring through the sky was peaceful, and the morning air was fresh(er) and crisp. The view of the pyramids that we had was unmatched. See for yourself!
I remember learning in middle school about how human sacrifices were made on those pyramids, so it was crazy to be seeing them with my own eyes.
We started descending after about 30-45 minutes in the air. For a while, all of us thought that we were going to land right on top of the field of cacti that we had been approaching. We also almost hit a tree! But the guy flying the balloon had it under control — he just turned the fire on again so that we floated smoothly above all hazards. We landed in the middle of a field. It turns out, there is no way to control the direction of the balloon! So, they never actually know where they are going to land.
Morning hang-out in Teotihuacan
After the hot air balloon ride, we all had breakfast at a nearby restaurant. Once again, I sat with Vlad, Eric, Josh, and Marina… so I ended up laughing a lot. The man who owned the restaurant & balloon company was wearing a lucha libre mask, and there was also a man who resembled Santa Claus running around the building. Interesting 😂.
After breakfast, we went outside to sit by the pool. The atmosphere was not what we had expected — it was like walking straight into someone’s backyard. There was a sweat lodge where I saw two men come out, sweating profusely, and immediately take a dip in the pool. We were all like… yeahhh we’re not going in the pool. Well, everyone except for David.
He jumped right in!
In the meantime, everyone else was taking tequila shots on a kids’ playground. Like I said, there was a lot going on!
Quezolcotl Park & Sainte Vie
Our next stop was Quezolcotl Park, a beautiful architectural landscape that is closed to the public. Upon arrival, we all received a hat and umbrella to protect ourselves from the beating sun. Thank goodness for this, or else I would have gotten fried!
We took a short tour of the park before attending a sit-down lunch. The setup was absolutely stunning — nothing like anything I have ever seen before. The tables were set in a snake-like shape, and I sat next to Sabin and Jacquelin (from El Paso, TX), whom I had not yet talked much with. It was kind of a lot of pressure since nobody else was nearby, but before long we were chatting away. They are so nice! Jacquelin was telling me about her adventures in East Asia, specifically how much she loves Bali.
After lunch, we explored more of the park. Particularly the shaded areas since it was SO HOT! We found a cave which we cooled off in for about 5 minutes. Then, curiosity got the best of us, and we moved on. The most amazing area in the park was this incredible stained glass room filled with plants and running water. It was such a peaceful atmosphere, and I had never seen anything like it before.
At the top of the colorful room was a tunnel to the outside area where the DJ, Sainte Vie, was playing. There was also a slide that was fun to go down, as well as a few fun places to hang out.
I spent some time talking with Jacquelin about El Paso, Ann Arbor, siblings, etc. We also ate jicama, which is a vegetable that I had never tried before. It was delicious!
Before too long, we were invited over to the dancing area. I danced with CJ and Neha a bit, and then ended up talking with Sabin some more. He (like many others) asked how I ended up on this trip. When I told him, he said:
“you are the luckiest girl in the world to be starting your EDM journey here at the best possible experience in the world!”
I could tell that he was genuinely very happy for me. In fact, it seemed like everyone was! I think this shows how kind and welcoming everyone in the group is.
My favorite memory from being at this park was dancing with Ross the Boss. At one point, she gently pushed me into the speakers so that I would feel the beat of the music. Any time I would move even an inch away from the speaker, she would push me back into it! Then, we danced our hearts out when the beat dropped. I had so much fun with her! After that, she demanded that I take my shoes off. She’s Ross the Boss, so of course I listened and took my shoes off. Everyone was dancing with no shoes!
At the end of the set, David got up and made a speech. He acknowledged how special our time together as a group was and how thankful we all are to have met each other. Everyone was crying and hugging each other. I will never forget that moment. It reminded me of all the other bittersweet times that I have had while traveling, making memories with strangers for 24 hours and then never seeing them again. Thankfully, we have social media so it will be easy to stay in touch with them!
The most chaotic bus ride
Our way home from Quezolcotl Park was anything but boring. We listened to EDM music (as always) and took a bunch of silly photos. It was hot, but for the most part, everything was good…
Until we ended up stuck in some random neighborhood, facing traffic head-on with nowhere to go. I’m not sure whether the driver was using Google Maps or Waze (everyone was arguing about this later), but the GPS was quite obviously giving our driver the wrong directions. There were several times that we all held our breath as the driver tried to make the most narrow turns you can imagine. We also briefly got stuck on a hill, the smell of burning rubber filling the air. Apparently the driver had been trying to drive with the parking break on?! I truly thought that our breaks were going to give out, and we were going to go flying down the hill crashing into everything along our path. Somehow, we made it out of that mess alive.
By the time we got back to the hotel, it was 7:30 pm. Everyone was in kind of a bad mood from the bus ride and exhaustion from the day. I needed to shower so badly, and I was very hungry. The group was set to leave at 8pm for the concert, but almost everyone opted out of the experience. Nobody, including myself, wanted to get back in the van. Those who were not going to the concert made plans to go to dinner and the clubs in Mexico City. I had been planning to join them, but it ended up sounding like too much work to me. I would have to Uber there myself since the group wasn’t all going together. It was late, I was hungry, and I hardly had the brain power to pick out what I wanted for dinner. Instead, I decided to stay in and eat at the hotel. In hindsight, maybe I should have just had another energy drink and a Kind Bar but oh well. I am just proud of myself for making it that far into the trip without crashing! I usually go to bed at 10 pm…
Bittersweet goodbyes
The next morning, I ate breakfast at the hotel and packed my bags to go home. I was sad that I didn’t get to say goodbye to everyone, but then I remembered how much Alyssa loves an Irish goodbye, and I instantly felt better.
I was packing my bags when I received a text from Lily saying “some of us are in the lobby if you want to come hang out!”
I immediately went downstairs to join the crew. When she saw how stuffed full my bags were, Lily said “I can’t believe you managed to travel with just a carry on!”
I then explained how surprised I also was, considering I packed seven pairs of shoes.
“SEVEN PAIRS OF SHOES?!?!”, she exclaimed, “WHAT are you doing with SEVEN PAIRS OF SHOES?!”
I laughed and explained why I needed two pairs of flats, two pairs of heels, two pairs of sneakers, and my running shoes (just in case). She and the others laughed and told me that next time, I will have to bring a maximum of three pairs of shoes.
I looked at David and said, “Oh, c’mon. I know Alina has more shoes than I do!”
This was, in fact, a true statement. Later in the day, he sent a photo of Alina’s TWENTY pairs of shoes lined up by the door. Apparently, customs had asked if her shoes were samples for a business or resale! 😂
When it was time for me to leave, everyone got up and gave me huge hugs. I was really sad to leave them, but I couldn’t help but think of how lucky I am to have made such wonderful friends.
The journey never ends
I made it back to Detroit at 11:30 pm. As I was walking to baggage claim, I heard a man behind me say “did they mention which carousel we should pick our bags up at?”
I replied and then commented on how happy I was that we had arrived 30 minutes early. The man —I later found out his name is James— asked me where I had been, and I told him briefly about my Mexico City experience. He told me that he had been in Houston for a coffee conference. He is the owner of a coffee shop about 30 minutes from Ann Arbor! While waiting for our bags, we talked about travel and goal setting. We both agreed that life goes too fast to not do what you want!
Until next time,
Clara