If there was one thing I regretted missing last time I was in Mexico City, it was taking a trip out to Xochimilco to ride on a river boat and gaze at the floating gardens.
Although it has become an overly-touristy thing to do, there are some things that I don’t mind doing, no matter how crowded or messy they have become, mainly because they usually end up being a lot of fun.
After eating the best carnitas tacos of my life at the local Xochimilco market, we wandered around the streets of the town looking for where to embark There are several embarkation points for the boats, all handled by different people, so you will often find touts on bicycles riding through town trying to lure visitors to their own boats.
We managed to escape the clutches of two said touts, but could just not shake one guy off. As we neared the river, we saw him waving us over and through gritted teeth we asked him the price. It was what we had expected it to be based on what our hostel owner had told us (around 200 pesos each for a round-trip halfway down the river) but we knew that it was a fairly quiet day and there weren’t many tourists. We also didn’t want to spend that much money as we knew other people had gotten the journey for cheaper.
We started to walk away and the over-zealous tout called us back. He was willing to lower the price, as long as we only took the hour ride and paid upfront. We both did a little internal happy dance and handed over the cash.
When I saw the old man who was steering our boat, I felt a twinge of guilt. He was ancient (like, Gandalf kind of old) and looked as though he barely had enough strength to steer an empty boat, let alone with us two in tow. We set off at a slow, relaxing pace and as he seemed to be in no danger of toppling over the side, my guilt started to ebb away with the rocking of the boat.
As I had hoped, it was really enjoyable. Many locals will hire boats for private parties and as you float downstream you will pass them, drinking and eating around the centre table, with a Mariachi band boat tied alongside them as a serenade.
Vendors selling everything from food and drinks to jewellery will float past offering their services and we even saw the odd “prop” boat containing sombreros and donkeys which (for a fee) could be used as a hilarious backdrop for a family photo.
But even amidst all the noise, it was wonderfully calm and relaxing. Floating past the large flower nurseries and run-down secret gardens, it was hard to imagine what life must be like for those who live in the houses along the river, who have to rely on boats and the weather to get them into town.
The hour seemed to be over all too quickly. Before we knew it, we were back at the landing dock and making our way back into the craziness of the town.
Would I ride the riverboats again? Definitely. But next time, I’d take along a group of friends, a cooler and some pesos for a Mariachi band.
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