Lonely Planet Six Degrees Series 2: Mexico

"The best way to explore a new city is to connect with the people who live in it. Join jetsetting presenters Toby Amies and Asha Gill on a radical urban adventure as they plug into city after city with the help of its most colourful and clued-in residents.

Presenter Toby Amies hooks up with alternative arts guru Pancho Lopez, who exercises his democratic right to eat wherever he damn well pleases by staging elavorate dinners in public places - such as a traffic island, smack in the middle of a busy Mexico City thoroughfare.

Pancho's friend Kimberly Sumano guides Toby through the historic canals of Xochimilco gathering flowers for the forthcoming Day of the Dead celebrations. Kimberley introduces Toby to peroxide-topped La Lucha Libre hard man Shocker who kits him out in wrestling gear and initiates him into the mysteries of the world's most theatrical fighting organisation.

Kimberly and Toby celebrate ""Dia de muertes"" with traditional Aztec dancing in Xochimilco and the following night in Mixquic, with a feast and candlelit vigil in honour of the dear departed.

Pancho takes Toby to the counterculture El Chopo market where he meets social activist Daniel Sanchez conducting an orchestra playing instruments recycled from the city's trash.

Toby helps filmmaker Andrea Álvarez gather Super 8 footage behind the scenes at a bullfight at the city's Plaz de Toros before taking to the ring with Shocker in a La Luncha Libre wrestling spectacular. Toby regains his equilibrium by helping Daniel's friend Tareke Ortiz play a unique composition written for the bells of the city's magnificent Metropolitan Cathedral."