Xochimilco

We had planned on an early start today and so got up for breakfast at about 9 but we hadn't reckoned on how long the girls we were going with would take to get ready and so after lots of faffing about we didnt actually leave until about 11.30! There were 5 of us in total, us two, Rachael from New Zealand who had just flown out to start her travels and was incredibly excited about EVERYTHING which was great as her enthusiasm was so infectious, Juliette from Sweden and Joanna from Holland. We found ourselves waiting for the two J's to catch up regularly as they seemed to have adopted the South American speed of walking....frustratingly slow! By the time we had gone on the tube then caught the metro bus to the suburb of Xochimilco it was about 1pm and very hot! The little town was quite pretty and lively with lots of little shops and random market stalls dotted about as well as a church that had about 30 or so people dressed up in elaborate costumes outside of it, clearly preparing for some festivity or other. We took a few pictures as we walked along until we reached the waterfront where the reason for our trip was evident. A narrow concrete path ran between a high wall and the river, beside which were moored a hundred or more brightly painted barges/boats which you could hire to be punted along the river by one of the various boatmen who started harassing you the moment you showed up at the dock. After taking our time looking around we eventually decided on a guide and boat and bought some drinks and food to take on with us for our hours ride. Thankfully the boats have a kind of roof which provides pleasant shade otherwise we'd have roasted as the boatman took several minutes to manoeuvre out past several returning boats and the rest moored up, frequently banging into them and leaving us wondering if he knew what he was doing or not! When we finally got out of the tangle of boats we were on our way floating pleasantly down the river admiring the flowers in the gardens and enjoying the peacefulness until we rounded a bend and saw an incredible sight. The whole width of the river was covered in similar brightly coloured boats to ours, and yet in amongst them were smaller boats with people selling food, flowers, trinkets, sombreros, ice creams, beer...you name it, it was there for sale as well as several larger boats tied up alongside others with Mariachi bands playing raucous music to the delight of the passengers who were out for an afternoons entertainment. We saw several larger boats with 20 or so people on enjoying various birthday parties or other celebrations, food, music and alcohol in plentiful supply and all of this whilst passing garden centre after garden centre selling wonderful blooms of sweet smelling flowers and plants. The whole occasion was a feast for the senses with so much colour, sound and smells all around, it was like one huge carnival on the river and we all gaped around us at the spectacle until our hour was almost up and we slowly returned to the docks, once again crashing and banging into other boats going the other way. Once back on dry land we had a look round the few stalls close by thinking that finally we were going home soon and could start to look for souvenirs as we wouldnt have to carry them round for too long. Purchases made we headed back to the bus stop and got back to the hostel without any trouble after making a quick stop at the supermarket to buy some bits for dinner. We spent the remainder of the evening chatting with Rachael and the others, had a beer, made dinner and eventually got to bed about 2 which seems to be the earliest we manage most nights.