The travel was 29 days and self arranged with inspiration from a travel agency. The only arrangement made before leaving was to book the international airline tickets, but not even the domestic flights in Mexico.
Some practical advices and lessons learned
We searched the Internet to find name and addresses on hotels in the cities we expected to visit. Very often we asked the local hotel about their colleagues in other cities with great success.
We sew in hidden waterproof pockets in our pants to store passports, traveler’s checks and airline tickets. We had an extra set of papers as copies in case we lost the originals.
Claus had also scanned the most important papers on his computer and saved it on a Internet page, he only knew the correct address to. We felt pretty sure, that we could re-produce our papers no matter what, even though we learned that Internet access from an airport is rarely even these days.
Security
Mexico City is the worlds largest city with over 25 million citizens and unfortunately also with high crime. The city’s green taxis are notorious known for organized mugging of tourists and both the guidebook and more foreign services strongly advise tourist not to use these taxis. Sometime these taxis simply are the only option, and the few time we jump on one, we got an excellent and friendly service.
If you travel two at a time then take the advantage. Never read the map at the same time. When one of you studies the map, the other studies the surroundings. Being awake and looking actively at people approaching keeps problems away. If you have an expensive camera, then make it less attractive. I had taped on some fixing tape so it looked broken and used. We also bought an unimpressive bag for the camera, that did not signaled “expensive camera” when carrying it around.
That said we experienced Mexico and Mexico City in particular as very peaceful with a helpful and friendly population. After a while you will probably be a bit tired of the noise and mixture of loud music. All over street traders are playing pop-music at high volumes and multiple TV’s set on different channels fights for your attention even on the same restaurant – often with pop- music playing as well. It is really a relief to experience the local Marenque folk music and listen to Mexicans singing their local traditionals.
Food & Accommodation
Not surprisingly the food in Mexico is spicy and you will always find extra chili sauce and lime on the table everywhere you go. Don’t be surprised if your fresh papaya, pineapple, coconut or cucumber served on the beaches are coated with salt and chili. It actually tastes well in the heat.
We had great expectations to the Mexican cuisine and they were partly met, however we also get disappointed from time to time. Then one can enjoy the surroundings where you eat instead; often the places are very old and beautiful tiled, cozy or just special. Food is cheap an in average we had breakfast or lunch for USD 6 and dinner for USD 20-50 in total for two persons.
We stayed at 2-3 star budget hotels, which imply no carpet, air-condition and sometimes without a window. Very often we had a fan that kept mosquitoes away. We always had private bathroom in reasonable standard, and the beds were mostly very fine.
We paid USD 20 for two persons in a double room. Actually, the full cost for three weeks accommodation in Mexico was only twice the price of our 3-day stay-over in Los Angeles in the mid-price “Club-8” motel!
Medicals
We brought and used: Imodium (against diarrhea), pills against constipation, paracetamol, Diamox (againt altitude sickness), mosquito repellant, after sun lotion, sun block factor 12 and 25, plaster and bandage.
On our trip to the rainforest area in Chiapas and the Yucatan peninsula we spent two cans of mosquito repellant and two “after-bite” roll-ons! It is a good idea to bring a long-sleeved shirt, sunglasses and a peaked cap.
Economy
We spent approx. USD 7,000 in total inclusive gifts for some USD 450. The airline tickets from Copenhagen to Los Angeles, to Mexico City, to Tuxla Guiterrez, from Villahermosa to Merida and from Cancun via Miami to Copenhagen was USD 3,400 for both of us inclusive taxes.
Our spending was spread like this (two persons):
| Expenses | Cost |
| Airline tickets | $3,400 |
| Travel insurance & vaccinations | $580 |
| Train & bus transport | $400 |
| Meals | $1,200 |
| Accommodation in USA | $1,625 |
| Accommodation in Mexico | $500 |
| Excursions & entry fees | $250 |
| Gifts | $450 |
| Total | $7,033 |
References
Here you'll find some of the Internet sources we used in our planning and underways (some are in danish).
Lonely Planet: Maybe the best guide books in the world. Unfortunately their success lead to the fact, that every tourist visits the same places.
Bootsnall.com: An English written site for backpackers with lots of advices and stories from travellers all over the world.