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TRAVEL MEMOIRS
Visiting One of Mexico City’s Poorest But Most Colorful Barrios
Don’t let its reputation stop you
We arrived at the meeting place a half hour before the tour. I was just clicking off a few photos while waiting for the group to arrive when my friend pointed out a man focussing his long lens on some of the surrounding sites. “That looks like Rob. But it couldn’t be.”
As we walked closer, both my friend and the man with the camera recognized each other. “It is my neighbor Rob!”
I don’t know Rob but I thought the odds of the two of them meeting here were a longshot. Both were in Mexico City on the same day, at the same time, and neither knew the other was going. But what was even more of a coincidence? They were signed up for the same tour.
It wasn’t just any tour but was billed as a chance to explore an area seldom seen by visitors. Iztapalapa is the most populous and one of the poorest neighborhoods in Mexico City. It was once the most dangerous area of the capital but the community has managed to turn things around.