Mexico Experience

Ancient Maya-On-The-Sea

Advantages: A gorgeous setting for exploring the ruins
Disadvantages: Gets super hot super quickly during summer

Located on the Mexican Mayan Riviera, south of Playa del Carmen and Cancun, Tulum has a small town, a hotel zone and a pre-Columbian Maya site. It's the last of these which I'm going to tell you about. The Tulum ruins are apparently the third most-visited archaeological site in Mexico, after Chichen Itza (been there, done that) and Teotihuacan (on the to-do list).These ruins in Tulum are unique though because they are directly on the coast, located ...
...Tulum is gorgeous and quieter than some of the others nearby, and the setting of the old ruins contrasting against the clear blue sea and golden sands makes a fabulous if somewhat clichéd photo. The site is really quite compact (compared with many other Maya sites locally), and it is also one of the best-preserved, making it a worthy half-day trip from the beach resorts. I go to Tulum while based in Playa del Carmen. Tulum is about an hour's drive ...

zoe_page 01.10.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Tulum, Mexico

Tally Ho, Taxco

Advantages: They have a CABLE CAR! Yay. They also have a ton of silver shops. And it's pretty.
Disadvantages: The streets are near-vertical in places, wind a lot, and are cobbled.

...of the town with Monte Taxco, a hotel, golf course and villas complex up atop a neighbouring hill. Lots of people using it are therefore hotel guests and staff, but anyone can take a trip to enjoy spectacular views of this pretty place. It's a short hike to get to the base station (again, a 3.50 bus / 15 peso taxi would have taken me easily) but I decided to keep going on foot. You walk down, out of town onto the main road, pass the supermarket and ...
...are about 20 km from Taxco, and busses leave regularly. I got on a regular bus since that was the next one leaving, and the 45 minute trip cost 26 pesos. I asked the driver to tell me when to get off and he did, but he didn't then tell me which way to go. Luckily others had got off here too, so I followed them down the hill, but since they were Mexicans (i.e. People Who Don't Walk Anywhere) after 30 seconds we were in taxis heading the rest of the ...

zoe_page 26.02.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Taxco, Mexico

The Land of Eternal Summer (so not Spring)

Advantages: Really pretty, with proper Mexican flavour
Disadvantages: Not soooo much to see

...thought. It was roasting in Cuernavaca, and Mexico City is not a patch on this place. It reminded me why I came to Mexico in the first place, and I would seriously consider moving there if I had the chance, for the climate alone. Currently 20 pesos = $2 = £1 mas o menos. ...

zoe_page 31.08.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Cuernavaca, Mexico

Wonder of the Water Magicians

Advantages: Stunning, well-preserved ruins, hiding a wealth of secrets.
Disadvantages: Parts increasingly being closed to the public.

...Better known as Chichen Itza it may be, but the translation has a certain ring to it. As the name suggests, the ancient Mayan site is built around a revered body of water; the Sacred Cenote. This area of south-eastern Mexico, the Yucatan peninsula, has an unusual relationship with the wet stuff; there is no fresh surface water anywhere across the land mass. Instead, it runs underground; a vast subterranean network linking up a series of pools hidden ...
...around which Chichen Itza was constructed. The classic image of Chichen Itza (voted one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World" in 2007), however, is El Castillo, a great pyramid close to the entrance of the site. A striking structure aesthetically, it almost hides a number of secrets not immediately apparent - tally the steps (ninety-one on each of the four faces, plus the one on top) to get the number of days in the year; visit the pyramid at sunrise ...

Puggers 13.05.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Chichen Itza

A Nice Place To Visit...

Advantages: Great weather
Disadvantages: 5th Avenue is oh so touristy

Playa del Carmen, about 45 minutes from Cancun, is a beach resort on the Mexican Riviera Maya. It is supposed to be what Cancun was like 20 years ago - quaint, friendly, less-touristy. I never made it into the hotel zone at Cancun but if what they say is true, I dread to think what Cancun is like because Playa is essentially Blackpool-meets-Benidorm. It's fab. I came to Playa to do a month long teacher training course with the intention of staying ...
...with only a month in Playa under my belt, I still stayed twice as long as most British visitors in a single trip. *** Getting Here *** Playa is one of the main destinations for tourists arriving by plane in Cancun so there are various options for getting from plane to hotel. Package holidays usually have organised transfers, but you can also take a taxi or a shuttle service. Grayline do shared minibuses that you book when you arrive at the airport, ...

zoe_page 28.07.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico