Xochimilco

At one point, the entire Valley of Mexico (where the city is) was covered in a system of lakes (one large Lake Texcoco during the rainy season). When the Mexica/Aztecs founded their city here, they created farmland by building chinampas -- rectangular plots built up in the midst of the shallow lakes, leaving canals between them. It was a sort of ancient Venice. The conquistadors drained all of the lakes except for Lake Xochimilco, and in the 1600's, this last lake was drained to curtail the horrible flooding that Mexico City was experiencing. The only thing they left were a few canals and a small number of chinapas.


Today, tourists come from all over to experience this little slice of old Mexico by renting a colorful boat and being pushed down the canals by a single boatman with only a rough pole. Everything you might want to purchase floats past on smaller boats, from toys and souvenirs to plants to food to Mariachis. We went with the rest of the whole city on Saturday with my in-laws and had a tremendously good time.

Flowers

Things that Float By

Toy Boat Toy Boat

People

Birds

Voodoo Babies

After all was done and paid for, we felt that it was totally worth it -- even though we found out that we were ripped off in a major way. So, live and learn, but for those of you reading this who might be going in the future, I shall provide this information so that your visit can be just as nice yet cheaper. This is the price list for this year. I recommend that you print out the official list of prices and carry it with you. Then have a good time.