Walking Tour Ciudad Universitaria / UNAM and Cruising Camino Verde
A non touristy Walk Around UNAM and cruising along Camino Verde
If you want to go somewhere where the tourists don’t know about but is filled with energy and authentic Mexican experiences UNAM may be the perfect place. Here I will profile a few of the main attractions that you can include on a self guided walk around the largest college campus in Latin America. We will start with Camino Verde.
Camino Verde
Camino verde is the large green area along the yellow highway.
This is the most legendary cruising spot in all of Mexico City. To get here you’ll take an UBER to MUAC (Museo Arte Contemporaneao) or take Metrobus Linea 1 to UNAM – CCU. If you take the metros, and I recommend you do, you’ll exit the station using a pedestrian bridge.
The bridge will take you directly over camino verde.
Follow this link for an overview of the gay cruising scene in Mexico City
After you cross the pedestrian bridge you’ll see a contemporary statue on the left. Take a seat at one of the four benches. You’ll see men walking by at all times of the day. Follow them to the nearby path entrance.
Camino Verde has a crowd at all times of the day. The closer it is to Dusk/Sunset, the more people there will be. But it stays crowded into the night as well. I recommend you do a loop as soon as you get off the bus to get your bearings. Then continue on to the rest of the walking tour. You always can go back for more whenever you want.
MUAC (Museo Arte Contemporaneo)
This museum is a beautiful facility. It is mostly an exhibition space with a small permanent collection.
Some of the exhibitions have really blown me away. Its a nice change of pace from the museums downtown which showcase very Mexican art.
Here you will find international contemporary artists on display. But their exhibitions are many times tailored to the Mexican Experience. For example, Ai Weiwei, Chinese contemporary Artist and Activist did a custom exhibition with Mexican Artists entitled Resetting Memories, which focused on personal and social consequences of the disappearance of the 43 students from the Escuela Normal Rural de Ayotzinapa on the night of September 26-27, 2014.
This was a tragic event that tells a very scary story of the complicated relationship between Mexican people and their government. While Mexico City is a Modern and worldly place, the government is a much different institution that that of the United States.
Another extremely exciting modern art exhibition was titled The Seropositive Files and it focused on HIV/AIDS in Mexico. A story whose American counterpart is told mostly in past tense, but one that is still still being told and covered up in Mexico.
Another exhibition that I can’t leave out of this post is that of Carlos Amorales. This was the first one I ever saw at MUAC. He is a multidisciplinary Mexican artist and the exhibition is summarized very nicely online. MUAC actually does an amazing job of documenting all of their exhibitions online in English.
Centro Cultural – Classical Music, Theater, and Contemporary Dance
After you finish cruising, or maybe in between, you may want to check out Centro Cultural. Centro Cultural includes the MUAC museum which I just described, but it also includes The Centro Universatario de Teatro (Teatro UNAM), The UNAM Symphony Orchestra (MUSICA UNAM and OFUNAM), and the Sala Miguel Covarrubias, (DANZA UNAM), where I have seen many contemporary dance pieces performed.
Centro Cultural offers a seemingly infinite amount of non touristy cultural amenities. Most of the events take place at 6:00 PM. You will see people begin to line up for tickets around 5:00.
The tickets cost between $50MX-$200MX
Many of them in UNAM facilities and many of them on the street and in public spaces. I can tell you that all this exists but if you want to become a part of it you’ll have to get on social media and follow the organizations and discover your own UNAM. The cultural offerings of Mexico City are like a pandoras box and discovering it for yourself is just as fun as watching the events.
Non Touristy Dining Options
Azul & Oro
There is a amazing restaurant called Azul y Oro which is located on top of the Sala Covarrubias. They serve central Mexican cuisine and I think it is a great introduction to many of the local specialties. No combo fajita platter or burritos here.
Here the ancient combines with the modern in a very non selfconcions way. The prices aren’t dirt cheap but not expensive either. I think this is a good place to discover Mexico City food, which is very different from what we know to be Mexican Food up north.
While you’ll have a great time here alone journaling about your experiences and observations or reading a book, it’ll be so much better if you invite one of the students who can show you his favorite dishes and see your reaction when you try his cuisine for the first time.
For this Grindr will be your best bet. It’s almost a garuntee. You can keep it on while you’re at the Muac or while you’re walking around the campus people watching.
Nube 7
Nube 7 is located on the ground floor of MUAC. It is a beautiful setting for a restaurant. The food is basic food at reasonable prices.
CU is just a wonderful non touristy place to put yourself in and let the current of the place absorb you. There is an ocean of curious boys there waiting for a distraction, or a transformative experience.
