Rough Guides - The Rough Guide to Mexico (Travel Guide eBook)

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COWBOY IN GUADALAJARA

Contents

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Introduction to

Mexico

The home of tacos, Aztecs, sombreros and tequila, not to mention Pancho Villa, Salma Hayek and Frida Kahlo: almost everyone on the planet knows something about Mexico. Yet theres far more to this country than the stereotypes. One of the worlds great civilizations, Mexico offers a tantalizing blend of Mesoamerican cultures, Spanish traditions and contemporary arts. Its landscapes range from the shimmering blue coastline of Baja California and the iconic cactus-strewn deserts of the north, to the Maya villages and gorgeous palm-smothered beaches of the south. You can climb volcanoes, watch whales, sunbathe on golden beaches and tour agave farms. And sprinkled throughout youll find richly adorned colonial churches, giant pyramids and some of the tastiest food in the world.

The 130 million people of Mexico reflect this variety, too. Indigenous communities represent around ten percent of the population, with the Nahua, Maya, Zapotec, Mixtec, Otom and Totonac the largest groups. There are also a few Mexicans of predominantly Spanish or European descent, invariably forming the ranks of the mega-rich, even if billionaire Carlos Slim actually has Lebanese ancestry. The great majority of the population (over eighty percent), though, is mestizo , with a mix of European, African, Middle Eastern, Asian and indigenous heritage. Add in a multitude of distinct regional identities, from the cowboy culture of the northern deserts to the Mesoamerican traditions of the south, and you have a thrilling, constantly surprising place to travel.

Despite the inevitable influence of the US, looming to the north, and close links with the rest of the Spanish-speaking world (an avid audience for Mexican pop and soap operas), the country remains resolutely individual. The music that fills the plazas in the evenings, the buildings that circle around them, even the smells emanating from a row of taco carts: they all leave you without any doubt about where you are.

Mexico has a fairly robust economy, the worlds fifteenth largest, a remarkably thorough and efficient internal transport system and a vibrant contemporary arts and music scene. Indeed, in thepast twenty-five years or so Mexico has largely become a middle-class society , perhaps the countrys greatest achievement since Independence. Mexico has the highest GDP in Latin America after Brazil, but huge inequalities of wealth remain and it is far from all suburbs and SUVs.

Adventure in Mexico can be found through happening upon a village fiesta , complete with rowdy singing and dancing, or hopping on a rural bus, packed with farmers all carrying machetes half their height and curious about how youve wound up going their way. Its also true that Mexico is not always an easy place to travel around. The power may go off, the water may not be drinkable and occasionally it can seem that theres incessant, inescapable noise and dirt. Although the maana mentality is largely an outsiders myth, rural Mexico is still a land where timetables are not always to be entirely trusted, where anything that can break down will break down (often when its most needed) and where any attempt to do things in a hurry is liable to be frustrated.

More deeply disturbing are the extremes of wealth and poverty that still exist, most poignantly in the big cities, where unemployment is high and living conditions beyond crowded, as well as the ongoing drug wars that provide a seemingly non-stop stream of sensational, often gruesome, headlines. While the violence is very real in some parts of the country and it pays to be vigilant, the danger for tourists is generally minimal for the most part, youll find this is a friendly, varied and enormously enjoyable place in which to travel. Mexico is a country that draws you back again and again.

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QUETZAL DANCERS IN AZTEC COSTUMES, PUEBLA

Fact file

• The worlds richest person in the 20102013 period was Mexican: Carlos Slim Hel is thought to be worth around US$67 billion thanks to his holdings in companies such as Telmex and Amrica Mvil.
• Because it is built on an ancient lake bed, Mexico City is sinking at a rate of 1520cm per year.
• Mexico is the home of chocolate (from the Nhuatl xocolatl), chiles and maize (corn), though it exports more tomatoes than any other crop (also derived from the Nhuatl word tomatl).
• The Chihuahua is officially the worlds smallest breed of dog and really is named after the Mexican state of Chihuahua.
• Bugs have been culinary delicacies in Mexico since Aztec times, with some of the most popular cocopaches (a type of cockroach), chicatanas (flying ants) and escamoles (ant larvae and pupae).
• Some 66 million years ago the Chicxulub asteroid crashed into the Yucatn Peninsula, dramatically disrupting the climate around the world and triggering the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Where to go

Mexico City , though a nightmare of urban sprawl, is totally fascinating, and in every way artistic, political, cultural the capital of the nation. Around the city lie the chief relics of the pre-Hispanic cultures of central Mexico: the massive pyramids of Teotihuacn and the main Toltec site at Tula . Guadalajara , to the west, is a city on a more human scale, capital of the state of Jalisco and in easy reach of Michoacn : between them, these states share some of the most gently scenic country in Mexico, where the thickly forested hills are studded with lakes and ancient villages.

South of the capital, the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, home to some of the largest populations of pure indigenous groups, are mountainous and beautiful, too, but in a far wilder way. The city of Oaxaca is especially enticing, with an extraordinary mix of colonial and indigenous life, superb markets and fascinating archeological sites. Likewise, the strength of indigenous traditions in and around the market city of San Cristbal de las Casas in Chiapas continues to make it a big travellers centre. Its typically the stop before the picturesque Maya ruins of Palenque . East into the Yucatn there is also traditional indigenous life, side by side with a tourist industry based around truly magnificent Maya cities Chichn Itz and Uxmal above all and the burgeoning Caribbean resorts that stretch down the coast, most notably Cancn and Playa del Carmen .

On the Pacific coast, where the surf is wilder and the scenery more rugged than in the Caribbean, Acapulco is the best known of the beach destinations. Along the ocean to the north, hundreds of kilometres of relatively empty sand are broken up only by resort cities like Mazatln and Puerto Vallarta . Relatively few tourists venture over to the Gulf coast, despite the attractions of Veracruz and its mysterious ruins. A pity, as for music and general bonhomie, the citys central plaza is one of the countrys finest destinations.