General: Mexico > Reviews > Mexico a go go

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Value for Money
Shopping
Nightlife
Ease of getting around
Family Friendly

Advantages:	Fantastic Scenery, Friendly People, Great Food, Cheap Drink
Disadvantages:	Big and Hot

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

As you may be aware I've spent the last couple of weeks on holiday in Mexico, or that's what I thought. This opinion is not about my stay in Mexico but rather some points to note if you are thinking of Mexico as your destination for your holiday. The holiday itself has given me a lot of material that will probably be spread over several opinions as I've seen headings for the various bits under the Ciao travel umbrella.

So here goes, in no particular order , a list of things that hit me about the place. I'll probably add things as they come to me later , but hopefully this will be of some help to you out there:

~~Distance

From Britain, Mexico is a ten hour flight , so if possible get the seats with the most room possible. After half an hour you will really appreciate the extra room. My holiday cost around 1500 GBP and 150 GBP was a supplement for the premium class option. I travelled with Air 2000. We also had a five hour coach journey after we got there so be prepared for that as well. It will also help if you can avoid an immediate long journey at your home end by booking a room near the airport. The total door to door time for our return journey was 23 hours.

~~ Size

Mexico is big. You may think a trip down the shops is a long way , but that's nothing compared to Mexico. It is really big. When you look at the map you think , it's just that bit at the bottom of the USA , but if you check the Lonely Planet guide it tells you that flights between Cancun and Mexico City take two and a half hours and a bus journey of thirty hours (Mexico City to Tijuana) is not uncommon. The roads are straight and long and centres of civilisation are very far between. We spent our first week cut off from the outside world , dependent on the odd local newspaper and a bad CNN connection for news. Don't expect the luxury of information you get at home.

~~ Film

If we go on holiday we like to take pictures. I got four 35 mm films for six quid in Britain. The equivalent price for a single film in Mexico was around eight US Dollars. So get your films before you go out.

~~ Money

US Dollars and Mexican Pesetas, though I keep calling them Pesos, were accepted everywhere we went. I don't think it matters too much which you go for. They also have a Cirrus ATM network, which meant I could use my Nationwide card to draw cash.

~~Phone Calls

These are very expensive from Mexico to Britain. Try to avoid them. I tried using a public phone and it just kept asking for more pesetas, and ended up going through the hotel operator which cost thirty US Dollars for about ten minutes of Mexico to Britain phone calls. The cheapest way of communicating is via email. I used an internet terminal at the hotel I stayed in which cost me five US Dollars for fifteen minutes, which was expensive but worked out much cheaper than making phone calls.

~~Food and Drink

Always drink bottled water. Food is generally excellent and usually good value for money as is most alcohol. There is a good variation in diet although vegetarians may be slightly limited. I don't think I had the same meal twice and they were all excellent, featuring chicken, pork, rice , seafood and beef in abundance.

~~ Insects

I was only bitten twice in two week, which I though was fairly good, but I did apply Mosi-Guard to all my bare flesh every day, so this may have had something to do with it. Others in our party were not so lucky.

~~Language

A grasp of Spanish is very helpful as that is the main language spoken here although most of the Mexican's speak English. I felt out of my depth and am going to learn Spanish in the next six months. At least take an English / Spanish phrase book. Mayan is also spoken as well.

~~ Shopping

Didn't have chance to check this out although you can get some great bargains in jewellery (especially silver) and hand crafted artefacts.

~~And...

That is all I can think of for the time being. Hope there something in here that will be of use to you if you want to go to Mexico. As I stated at the beginning, this is not about by holiday, which I will detail in more relevant ops, but I would recommend Mexico to anyone, but be prepared.