Anyone bothered by the altitude in Mexico City. It is 7000 ft.I would only be there for two or three days, but being of the senior group and taking other meds for high blood pressure I am concerned. thanks

I wondered too before going, but have to say I don't think I noticed it once I was there. I was too excited maybe!!

I walked miles on my first day and felt no ill effects - but then I don't take any medication, though I am not a spring chicken either.

I guess the usual advise about taking it easy to start with is good (I just forgot) - but if you don't plan on pavement tramping and will be taking a tour or taxis hither and thither, I guess you should be OK if you are sensible, and shouldn't worry to much.

Only time I notice it is physical exersion like going up a long flight of stairs with luggage or something. Then I can really feel the altitude. Other than that I don't notice it much. Some people take more to aclimatize then others. Check with your doc, but if you take it easy you shuold be o.k.

Stay hydrated and avoid alcohol.
In addition to the altitude, you may encounter world class air pollution.
Buen viaje.
M

We have noticed effects depending on the weather. If pollution is bad, walking can be harder. Sometimes get headaches if too active too fast. Do watch alcohol consumption.

My husband keeled over after coming down from one of the pyramids at Teoticuahan. We had been there for three nights by then. He was 50 and otherwise in good health but not fit.

We found that on our first day there, we had a lot of trouble breathing, but that was probably also due to arriving on Friday at rush hour: the pollution was unbelievable! After that (on the week end) there was no problem with long walks. The heat at Teotihuacan was more of a problem than the altitude. There is virtually no shade there. Make sure to take lots of water, as there are no real vendors selling it, except at the pavilion, which is a couple of miles in the sun from the pyramids!

Now that is seriously good advice from Carol. Teotihuacán is the place that most people head for (especially those with neither the time nor the inclination to visit the country more widely). It is a very exposed site and I can't understand why the Mexican government doesn't realise that impressions made there are carried away by foreign visitors. And the major impression is - stupendous ruins but totally crap infrastructure.

I'd be the last person to suggest mini malls or bringing in Starbucks - but it is an enormous area and I don't think it would hurt to have a few places hidden off the main avenida with shade and a few tables.

And if you do make it out to the Museum near the Pyramid del Sol - what do you find? Great museum but in the kiosk the soft drinks machine had a "no functiona" notice on it. The coffee machine didn't. So, silly me - and I prefer coffee any day over Coke - put in my 6 pesos and received a cup of hot water. There was a man there tending to the machines - he didn't seem to understand that for a coffee machine to work it had to dispense coffee. All he could say was that the coffee had run out but that if water was still flowing it was working. I have to admit I got so angry that having no paper of my own I removed the "no functiona" notice from the Coke machine and stuck it on the coffee machine.

Look -for one of Mexico's big draws this is not good enough. Guatemala does a better job.