My Mexican trip will not be complete without the Mariachi experience. After having the Xochimilco tour in the morning, I decided to book the Garibaldi tour at night.

In the 16th century, Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortes led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec empire. He brought professional musicians whose instruments included the harp and a smaller version of the guitar called vihuela. Along with the vihuela, a complete ensemble of Mariachi band today is consists of two to eight violins, two trumpets, a regular guitar, a deep-voiced guitar known as guitarrón and a Mexican folk harp. The Mariachi music was said to be born in Cocula, Jalisco.

I was picked up by the tour van from my hotel at 6pm together with other tourists. They are mostly from South America, so they can speak Spanish. We arrived at the Plaza Garibaldi where there are large numbers of Mariachi bands. Plaza Garibaldi is a famous square located at the historic centre of Mexico City named after the Italian revolutionary Guiseppe ‘Jose’ Garibaldi II who played an important role in the Mexican revolution during the early 20th century. Before 1910, it was originally called Plaza Santa Cecilia.

The plaza is now known as the home of Mariachi music. Mariachi musicians roam the plaza serenading customers and soliciting gigs. It all started with the Salón Tenampa, a bar located at the north side of the Plaza Garibaldi. It was founded by Juan Indalecio Hernández Ibarra of Cocula, Jalisco in the 1920s and became a major nightspot where Mariachi bands can be seen playing. This began the long tradition of Mariachi musicians playing in the whole plaza.

As part of the tour, we had a dinner inside a bar called the Guadalajara de Noche. They have musical performances from a Mariachi band with three singers taking turns. There were also traditional Mexican dancers, cockfight performance and an old guy performing with a rope.

Although I was with strangers who joined the tour to Plaza Garibaldi, it was one of the nights I spent in Mexico that I had fun.