I'm going to Mexico for a while, what's there to do?

I believe you, fbaezer. I've lived off and on about two years in D.F. without any problems, and in Chiapas I've never felt safer--well before the Zapatista rebellion. Now it's fine.
But you must know from the Mexican press and T.V. that kidnapping has become (or been--I don't know how it is now) something of a small industry in Mexico City and Guadalajara, at least there is much publicity regarding the snatching of celebrities and their offspring. I have young relatives who have been taken to ATM machines for money by the police. But given the size of Mexico City I'm sure one can expect not to be involved.
The same applies to health. I generally get sick when I RETURN to the U.S. from Mexico. I once got hepatitis A in Chiapas (but on the whole I have lived there off and on for almost 3 years in great health), but when I returned home I found that my brother who lives in Indiana had a case of the much more serious hepatitis B.

I hope the "new rules" in D.F. will be an improvement. Please keep us informed.

One thing Craven learned about Mexico City is: Don't rent a car!
He got lost several times, he told me.

We had a nice dinner at a Portuguese restaurant (he paid ) and I drove him around a bit. It was great to see him again.

I see he's back at A2K and would like to know more about his impressions.

Mexicans dance on their hats.

Oh Americans dance on a dance floor.
And the Spaniards, they dance on a table.
And the Russians, they dance on a saber.
But the Mexicans dance on their hats.
Oh they dance on hot coals in Calcutta.
In Wisconsin they dance on fresh butta,
Which they squeeze from one cow or anutta.
Yes, the Mexicans dance on their hats.
(Ole!)
There are Mexicans dancing on derbies.
There are Mexicans dancing on caps.
They just throw their fedoras
Wherever the floor is,
And start doing horas and taps.
They won't quit! They go on!
It's a Mexicn custom,
To take hats and bust 'em,
By doing a dance thereupon.
Oh the reason they shot Pancho Villa
Was he danced on his mother's mantilla.
And the message did not reach Garcia.
He was out somewhere dancing on hats.
(Ole!)
There's a fellow in West Acapulco,
The most elegant man you could meet.
He does sambas on hombergs
To tunes of Sig Romberg's,
And sometimes the Nutcracker Suite.
So take care! So beware!
Or they'll put castanets on
And ruin your Stetson,
'Cause they all think they're Fred Astaire!
If you're ever in Mexico proper,
And you're wearing a straw hat or topper,
When the band starts to play, call a copper,
'Cause by now you should know
That they'll grab your chapeau,
And they'll stomp till it's flat,
And that's that!
That's what Mexicans do on your hat.

I was going to post on this thread and then I forgot, but one of my favorite places to go in Mexico is an island off the coast of Puerto Vallarta called Y'lapa. You reach it by water taxi- it's about a 45 minute speedboat ride into the Pacific.
There are no roads, so no cars- people walk or travel on horseback. The only "hotel" is a group of about ten or twelve cottages on the beach connected by a ramp, built into the hillside. The showers are the rock of the hillside, the showerheads are conch shells.
Each little separate cottage is a big room with a double bed with mosquito netting and a simple wooden table with two chairs. There are shutters, but no glass in the windows. There is only electricity between 8-11 pm- that's when you can have hot water- but you don't really need it, because of the heat.
No tvs, no radios- just the beach and the most beautiful mountainous island scenery you can imagine.
There's a "restaurant" at the top of a waterfall which consists of two tables on a rock. You "book" it and it's yours for the night and they bring you this incredible food.
There's a pie lady that carries a tray of slices of pie on her head around the beach-banana and coconut cream-you've never tasted anything like it.

The hotel rooms were 35.00 American a night. A bottle of beer was a quarter.
There were a great group of Canadian ex-pats (mostly from the western provinces) when we were there. They'd kind of taken over these abandoned houses and lived there either for the winter or full time so there were nightly parties on the beach.
It stands as one of the most amazing vacation destinations I've ever been to.

Next time you're in Mexico- check it out.

Some random thoughts:


DF was much cleaner and orderly than I expected, much more wealthy than I expected and as interesting as I expected.

The driving was pretty orderly for such a big city, motorists are nimble (they'll slip in front of you pretty quick in traffic) but not too aggressive (not a lot of speeding and lane changing). Costa Rica doesn't have addresses so I understand the difficulty in making online maps available but I had expected online maps to be available for Mexico City but the only one I found was clumsy (can't believe Google is so slow in rolling it out).

In the States, with online maps and gps and the like you don't need a sense of direction (I have none, I pay no attention to direction) and Costa Rica is so small that it's hard to get lost. But I stepped back into the 90's in regard to navigating a city there. I hadn't wanted to rent a car but it was helpful for my friends so I did (and then felt compelled to use it instead of paying for taxis and public transportation) and had all the problems one should expect when driving around a large new city with no maps and no knowledge of the city.

The dining is something I couldn't even scratch the surface of, as can be expected in a city this size. I was surprised at how little street food there was, but still managed to seek it out a few times. I liked "Parados" for after-party tacos and generally tried to eat Mexican cuisine as much as possible since I haven't eaten Mexican food in Costa Rica.

The nightlife is solid, I liked Condesa(?)'s bar-scene and would love to have explored more. I drank more Tequila in Mexico than I have in my entire life and may like it now (jury's still out). My Mexican and Costa Rican friends say that there are a lot more pretty girls in Costa Rica but while I can't easily refute that it wasn't something I noticed.

The zoo was boring, and they made me throw out my cigarettes (that's fine, I'd feel weird smoking in a zoo) and Red Bull (bastards! I hadn't slept in 2 days!) which I understood until I walked into the zoo and saw a McDonald's.

I didn't go to museums or tourist sites because I was mostly with a group of girls who wanted to go shopping and because I don't tend to see most mornings but I got the impression that it would have been very worthwhile to do (I don't regret it because I'm sure I'll be back).

The center of the city is striking, I didn't expect it to be that... "ornate"? It was beautiful.

The tip culture is strong, and it's a bit annoying. Some things are absent from Costa Rica (like the bathroom dude) but present in the US and other things are just a bit too much (like bartenders reminding you to leave a tip when you are just arriving).

The people I met were extremely nice people, and I'm not in a habit of calling people nice to be nice, they were genuinely good people.

But I take all my impressions with a grain of salt, DF is like a collection of small towns with their own culture and I didn't see enough outside of the areas I frequented.

Thanks, Craven, for your insights.

(it took a while for me to answer because I was outside Mexico)

Italy?

Yup!

what part or state of Mexico do you visit exactly?

I went to Mexico City in the trip referenced in this thread. Since then the only other place in Mexico I've been is Tijuana.

In the meantime, that post below was about some fraction of then..

I'll be VERY happy to meet our tj a2ker's, given the chance.









re: TJ


Which I'd like to hear about, craven, though none of my business.


My friends and I went to see El Cordobes, and did, not a good day for him.

One friend had TJ family, and the males escorted us, the smart ass group, probably not knowing our self acclaimed name. We were admittedly horny, but funny.

Memories of being fixed up with a thirteen year old (?) and going to some night club...

the Nicte Ha? some name like that. I immediately sat on the floor, you know my eyes. I suppose I ordered a cuba libra once I found the chair.
Ah, well, mems of TJ, circa 1967.

I was also there in '59, with a film crew guy of my dad's and a couple that were friends. I remember the jai alai...

and then in the early seventies, a visit with a boy friend. Tourist stuff except his brother and another med intern were with us, and I got to carry the whatchacallit knife across the border for the brother. Luckily the brother turned out fine in later life. (Slaps self, wtf, I was wimpy then, grr at self). That was piffle, but that is how stuff happens. Human nature.
Usually no big deal.

and slightly later, meeting friends south of Rosarita, me with my fiat spyder convertible, extremely used, and very new motobecane bicycle hanging on to it, through TJ from LA. People must have been stupified at my stupidity... or hey, they aren't all thieves. In fact, I've never undergone theft in Mexico in something like ten - or, oh, twenty trips as an obvious foreigner..

though not so flaming obvious all the time, I tried to learn.






Years later, I wanted to meld through italy as not obvious, on a photo trip, and that worked. Italians asked me for directions in Rome.

Well, it worked until I had to speak....

Nothing special in TJ, I'm not a big fan of the place and usually only go there when I'm with a group who doesn't want to stop drinking at 1am when the bars in San Diego close.

Oh well.


I wonder if Pantalones and el Pohl would cheerfully agree or say otherwise.


With my friend in the smartassgroup, it was family that was special, but that is true everywhere...

I agree with CDK.
Tijuanenses are formidable people (and I'm not saying this only because Pantalones and pohl), amongst the most likeable, but all Mexican border cities are horrid, IMHO.

I wasn't actually saying that there's nothing special in TJ, just that I did nothing remarkable there.

But I do agree with the assessment that the border cities of Mexico are not it's best cities. There is an unimaginable difference between TJ and Mexico City.

Oh, yes, no argument.

Not to sound more stupid than usual, but isn't this too bad, this state of border affairs? (not unaware of obstacles). I can envision border cities being otherwise (knocks head to think of one. Istanbul? I don't know it that well, even by reading). Budapest, defers to nimh.


There is a whole human business complication fixed around many borders, hard to get past.

When I was a kid, the 'old soldiers' from the VA walked to the city line to get some booze. I remember reading many were killed doing that, crossing one street, so they worked out a tunnel. They call it San Vicente Blvd that goes overhead. (Santa Monica, West Los Angeles).

Quick summary,

I understand borders and understand no borders.

My dial, if I were a fly looking at all of us, is into no borders.

Swat.

I've lived in Tijuana every since I was a baby so this is the land I call home but, to be honest, I've just started to live what this city has to offer. It's not pretty to look at with the exception of the streetlights at night from one of the surrounding hills. It has nowhere near as many things to do as Mexico City but, as you have said previously, the people are mostly open and nice.

I'm still not sure wheter this is the city where I want to live in but I sure am happy that I've gotten to enjoy it while I'm here.

What more can anyone ask for as far as a place to exist for a time goes?

I just watched "Man on Fire" last night. That was Mexico City, wasn't it? I could see the underlying charm which ran like a subtext beneath the sense of overpopulation and corruption.

Do you think that depiction (the one in Man on Fire) is in any way accurate?