"Mexico City, colonial charme or modern... " a Mexico City Travel Page by CyrilHH

The old beetle (bug, "vocho", or more soberly known as the "Sedan") still is the traditional cab in Mexico City. You can see it everywhere, and when there is a cluster of them, their bright green or orange paint once more gives testimony of the vivid sense of colors that you can find all around Mexico.

The passenger seat is removed giving the rear passengers leg and luggage space in the front. Dont take travel guides warnings of abductions and hold-ups in vocho cabs too serious; as always, single bad occurrences shouldn't be generalized.

Anyway, a ride in a vocho is fun and may all too soon be an experience of the past: the Mexico City cab of the future must have four doors - an ingenious admin decision which is tolling the death bell for the old beetle which used to be produced in Puebla, Mexico, and whose production was stopped recently. The winner is the Brasil produced lackluster VW Pointer which comes with four doors but none of the quaint charme of bygone times.

So, take a ride while u can! And wheep a little for the vochito.

The picture is taken in Coyoacan, a very charming and partly extremely posh quarter in the South of Mexico City. At the time of the conquest it was located far outside of the Aztec city Tenochtitlan, in fact on the shore of Lake Texcoco (now mostly dried up) in which the city sat. It became the residence of Hernan Cortez whose mansion now houses the municipal administration. Coyoacan is full of charming colonial houses, churches, cobbled streets and is one of the bohemian areas of modern Mexico City with tons of cafes, restaurants and street life. It is a bit of a ride to get there from the historical center or other tourist areas, but together with neighbouring San Angel (reached by Metro Quevedo or peseros up Avenida Insurgentes) it is definitely worth a visit and a welcome respite from the hectic center.

To get to Coyoacan, take the metro to Viveros, walk down Calle Francisco Soza all the way down (20 minutes at leisurely pace) between beautiful colonial (style) houses to the lively central Square and from there explore the side streets, neighboring squares, street and grocery markets and local museums (museo Frieda Kahlo is a must anyway).

For yet more quaintness, but even further South and fewer particular highlights, go to Tlalpan.