TRAVEL. MEXICO CITY.
Mexico City — Expectations vs Reality
Is this city really as terrifying as everyone makes out?
The announcement that you are heading to Mexico is often met with curiosity and excitement, but almost always with a tinge of fear and trepidation. Trembling lips quiver the sentiment to “be careful” and “stay safe”. I tried to bat these away with the news that we are traveling to some of the safest places in Mexico — Oaxaca, the Chiapas, and the Yucatan, the tourist hotspots. A sigh of relief follows the words, “Oh good! So, you’re not going to Mexico City then?” “Oh… erm… erm... well… about that…”
We flew into Mexico City and stayed for a few days. We thought we’d rather see it for ourselves than be cowardly and get in and get straight out. I was quite excited after reading up on what to do there.
However, I wasn’t as excited about it as I could be, seeing as a lot of what I’d heard was negative. It usually involved one of the following things, mugging at gunpoint, pick-pocketing, drug cartels, violence, corrupt police, murder, kidnapping, and its younger cousin express kidnapping (where a taxi will at gunpoint drive you to a cash point and make you take out all of your money, then leave you at the side of the road) just to name a few.
