Visitor Finds Prices In Mexico Reasonable

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31840, 19 November 1968, Page 6

Visitor Finds Prices In Mexico Reasonable

(From R. M. CAIRNS, of “The Press’’ reporting staff

The Olympic (James in Mexico City were viewed by the

inhabitants, and government especially, as an opportunity for . the country to develop various resources to a degree that would I not have been possible, so quickly, in the normal course of events.

I The games also became to is these intensely parochial il people an opportunity to 1 show off their capital city, 11 Mexico D.F., and every second a or third car driver, it seemed. IS had the same question: “Andie what do you think of Mexico, eh?” To the visitor, however, It this was an opportunity to dis-1 1 cover that many rumours and: i fallacies about the country !c land about Mexico City, or c I Mexico as it is simply called js in the Federal District, are J false. If As an example, almost j every person to farewell me I |in New Zealand, said some- c Ithing to the effect that I t would have to watch out for;: the rioters. Yet I did not see I even the trace of a riot inli Mexico, except one night s when I passed some burnt-1 out buses. Perhaps it had I, something to do with the;t secret police telling the stu-j; dents when, and for how long, I they were allowed to riot. 1 I was also warned about is the petty thieves, and the < need to keep a very close ] watch on wallets and travel ; bags. Yet all I saw stolen was I a water bottle from the New i Zealand cycling team truck.it when a small boy grabbed it < and made off. Again, perhaps this was because the police had rounded up all the | known criminals and gaoled them for the duration of the games.

Food and Drink You will be very ill. also. 1 was told. You must not drink water and eat only at; the very best restaurants: do l not touch Mexican foods under any circumstances, and the fruit is all filled with that bad water. So, for a while, 1 ate only cooked foods and drank soft drinks or beer—but not at the ultra-expensive restaurants. The smaller places, such i as would be seen in any ] street in New Zealand, or on ] the highways, were quite : satisfactory and the prices i were comparable with those i in New Zealand too. A meal I of a quarter-chicken and two eggs (with trimmings) would t cost about 80c in New Zea- ( land currency. Steak, eggs j and chips would cost about ( 90c, and as one does not need to eat as much in the higher ] altitude where digestion is c slower, living could be quite , cheap. There was nothing r wrong with the fruit, either. c Reports came back to New ( Zealand, before I left. that a taxi prices had sky-rocketed. ; t Yet they were still comparable with those in New!, Zealand, and with a starting s price of one peso. 50 centavos r (12c) a more attractive pro- c position. a From my hotel in down- t town Mexico, about 12 kilo- 0 metres or nearly eight miles c from Villa Olimpica, I could c travel by taxi, through many a traffic lights and jams, for f 10 pesos (80c)—after haggling. Some taxi drivers j would not turn their meters a on, unless they were 8 reminded, and if you did not 0 agree with the price they I j asked (some taxis did not , have meters) you simply) t paid what you thought the), trip was worth, and walked " away. It rarely failed. j! The N.Z.P.A. correspon-) 1 dent in Mexico reported c before the games that drink) I price's had risen sharply, but) this was not so—unless he 1 was speaking of the Press |n Centre. Bottles of beer, hold-.n ing about 12oz, sold for 9c in il supermarkets, and slightly) larger bottles on sale at theje sports sites, cost about 22c.jp A bottle of gin, which would it

sell in New Zealand for al least 53.80, cost me slightly less than $2 at a supermar ,ket: tequilla (a vile drink) about 81; and bacardi aboui 181.40. Whisky, however, was dearer. Hotels Reasonable Hotel prices were most reasonable, too, and there apepared to be ample accomImodation available. A Mexican hotel, of the standard equivalent to about a threestar New Zealand hotel, cost between 82 and $3 a night for a bed, and each room had its own bath-shower room Few hotels, however, had dining rooms, though res taurants were usuallj I attached, and rarely sold beer. Again, the adjoining restaurants handled these I sales. [ The weather is verj I pleasant, though the ode thunderstorm interrupted the I games, and the days at the beginning of winter were fl to compare with a norma summer’s day in Christ church. The altitude was ne problem and adjustment wai generally quite quick. There were two distinci impressions to be made oi th 1 Mexican people, however One is that they are intenst

it bargain and souvenir hunters y and no New Zealand visitor r- should go with less than 100 :) plastic tikis to exchange it “Change” became a more freis quent, and despised word than even manana. The final, and most lasting it jimpression, is that the Mexie cans are terribly proud of j.[their own people. They would j. I sit relatively quiet for hours jl ■ even, but when a Mexican “jcompetitor’s name went on ;'the board, or he entered the '[ arena, a tremendous cheer I would be heard and this peculiar chant, which had as j its basis, “Mexico, Mexico. ° rah, rah, rah,” would run ° v like wildfire through the spectators. ig A good ’ example of this ;e was at the cycling velodrome when the local hero was •y racing against the Australian, Id J. Bylsma, during the indivile dual pursuits. The crowd had ie maintained a respectful it silence until this pointj when al it went mad and the incensed it- cyclists in the middle—men 10 of all nations—promptly set is up their own counter. It was a matter of some satisfaction ct to all the visitors that Blysma jf should win, as indeed it was r. whenever a Mexican, moral >e support and all, was beaten