Day 1: London to Mexico City

One way to escape Brexit in Britain is to do the decent thing and make my Mexit. Mexico has something in common with the subject of my previous trip, Morocco, both countries beginning and ending with the same letter. That's about where the similarity ends. Mexico is almost 2 million sq. km. (750,000 square miles) in size and like many other big countries, is actually about 20 rolled into one. The north is mainly desert but as one travels south, the climate gradually becomes more moist until reaching the south-east, which retains some rain forest. There's also the height factor: some of the mountains are snow-capped but the coast can be steamy and sultry at 35C plus. Although the official language is Spanish, there are dozens of indigenous languages, some spoken by over a million people. Mexico is carpeted with the remains of ancient cities built by the Aztecs, Mayas and others but the Spanish legacy has left hundreds of beautiful churches up and down the country.

I have travelled to Mexico several times and this time have decided to confine myself to a relatively small area, starting in the capital and moving overland to the states of Veracruz and Oaxaca to the south-east. It's a direct overnight flight from Heathrow to Mexico City. The flight is scheduled to land there at 5 a.m. but as fate would have it, the head wind is light and I arrive an hour early. Much too early to brave the city so I kill some hours in the departure zone. It's not all sit and wait however and there is some culture to enjoy: an excellent black-and-white photographic exhibition entitled "Afroreggae" by one Daniel Taveira based on young musicians in a favela (slum) of Rio de Janeiro---which as it happens, I visited less than 6 months ago.

When dawn breaks, it's still too early to check into my accommodation so I use the time getting a taxi to the northern bus terminal to buy an onward ticket. From there I take to the Metro. The system, built in the 1970s, is a bit rough and ready and there is a 10-minute walk at one interchange station but for 5 pesos (20p), who can grumble? And so by 10 a.m. I am safely indoors and half an hour later, breakfasted at Any's, a hospitable guest house in the Roma district.Read more