Mexico Travel Tools

Getting Around There

Rough Guides Getting Around in association with TravelNow

·	Buses camiones rule! (Mexican word for the long distance buses to serve virutally every town in the nation) First-class vehicles have numbered, reserved seats, videos and air conditioning
·	Trains Only recommended for from the border to Mexico City (where sleeper services represent great value), Mexico City to Oaxaca, and the amazing Copper Canyon Railway.
·	Flights Aeroméxico and Mexicana, which between them connect most places to Mexico City, usually several times a day. Aviacsa serves the Yucatán, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Guadalajara, Acapulco, Cancún, Tijuana and Monterrey. Aerolineas Internacionales and Aero California also cover most major destinations while Aeromar operates mainly in the north
·	Ferries Baja California with a trio of ports on the Pacific mainland: Santa Rosalía to Guaymas, and La Paz to Mazatlán and Topolobampo (for Los Mochis). For detailed information on fares and schedules see http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/mexicoferryw.html
·	Driving Recommends not taking your own car but renting for short periods. Mostly due to the targeting of tourists for shakedowns by underpaid traffic police. Drivers from the US, Canada, Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand will find that their licences are valid. Other reasons to avoid the hassle: Speed bumps can be huge, gas by government monopoly Pemex expensive & Theft of your vehicle is a significant concern.
·	Hitching Not recommended particularly solo. If you do keep your baggage to hand in case you need to leave in a hurry (feigned carsickness is one way to get a driver to stop). Particularly avoid areas frequented by bandidos
·	Local Transportation always plentiful and inexpensive,
·	Banditry: A Warning Roads where there have been regular reports of problems, and where you should certainly try to avoid driving at night, include Hwy-15 (Los Mochis-Mazatlán) and express Hwy-1 in Sinaloa, Hwy-5 (Mexico City-Acapulco) in Guerrero, Hwy-75 (Oaxaca-Tuxtepec), Hwy-57 (San Luis Potosí-Matahuela), and near the border, in particular on Hwy-2 (Mexicali-Agua Prieta) and Hwy-40 (Matamoros-Monterrey).

Weather

Mexico is often considered tropical but is rather temperate or spring like year-round. Dry winter (November through April) and rainy (May through October) season, although the rain is usual tolerable for travelers. In short, anytime of year is going to be relatively nice for travel.

Find the Weather for any City, State or ZIP Code, or Airport Code or Country by Wunderground

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Weather and Climate of Mexico by nationalgeographic.com

Jan		Mar		May		July		Sept		Nov
Acapulco °F)	88	72	88	72	90	77	91	77	90	77	90	75
Rainfall (inch)	.5		.2		0		8		11		.6
Guadalajara (°F)	73	45	82	48	88	57	79	59	79	59	77	50
Rainfall (inch)	.5		.3		1		7		7		.5
La Paz (°F)	73	55	79	55	91	63	97	73	95	73	84	63
Rainfall (inch)	.3		0		0		1		1		.5
Mérida (°F)	82	64	90	68	93	70	91	73	90	73	84	66
Rainfall (inch)	1		.5		3		5		7		1
Mexico City (°F)	72	43	81	50	81	55	75	55	73	55	73	48
Rainfall (inch)	.5		.5		3		6		5		.5
Monterrey (°F)	68	48	79	55	88	68	93	72	93	72	73	54
Rainfall (inch)	1		1		2		3		4		1
Oaxaca (°F)	82	46	90	54	90	59	82	59	81	59	82	50
Rainfall (inch)	2		1		5		8		11		2
San Cristóbal (°F)	68	41	72	45	72	48	72	50	70	50	68	45
Rainfall (inch)	2		2		7		7		14		3
Tijuana (°F)	68	43	70	46	73	54	81	61	81	61	73	50
Rainfall (inch)	2		1		.2		0		.5		1
Veracruz (°F)	77	64	79	70	86	77	88	75	88	77	82	70
Rainfall (inch)	1		1		4		9		12		2

Trade

Business wear is formal. Mexicans attach much importance to courtesy and the use of titles. Prior appointments are necessary and if in doubt about a correct title it is advisable to use licenciado in place of señor. English is widely spoken in business circles although it is a big plus to be able to speak Spanish.

AmCham.com.mx || [email protected]
American Chamber of Commerce - Mexico Phone: (011-52)(5) 724-3830
MexicoBusiness.com/ ||[email protected]
Subscriptions are $45 in the United States and Mexico
LATCO.org || [email protected]
Latin American Trade Organization of Oregon.
"The Mexican Government continues to enact reforms, including the privatization of many economic areas, making the Mexican economy one of the most open economies world-wide."

History

The Spaniards were well received in the Veracruz coastal towns by the Toltecs who resented oppressive Aztec domination and were willing to march with Cortes against the great Aztec capital built on a lake. Moctezuma II, the Aztec god king had been expecting a momentous occasion for his priests had long predicted the phoenix like god Quetzalcóatl's to return from the east in the year of 1519. Cortés wasted little time reducing the City to ashes taking his eager host Moctezuma hostage immediately after being invited to the palace. The war of conquest would last another 28 months but the destuction and supression of the Aztec and Mayan cililizations would continue for centuries. However, the greatest decimation would soon come to pass with epidemics which reduced the population from 25 miullion to one million by 1605.
The Spanish were conquistadores who left their women at home and went off on a quest for glory, gold and God. Consequently they often took native wives. Spanish-born who expected to be treated like nobility and the natives of New Spain who built the country contolled the country amidst growing resentment between themselves. The natives also separated themselves as criollos (born of Spanish parents in New Spain), metzitos (mixed Eoropean, African and Indian blood) and Indians or Africans. In 1808 the Frenchman Napoleon Bonaparte occupied most of Spain weakening Spanish control and allowing the rivalry between New Spain groups to intensify. On 16 September 1810 Miguel Hidalgo a Criollo parish priest issued his now-famous call to rebellion, the Grito de Dolores. In 1821 Spain agreed to Mexican independence however the new governments were ineffective and unstable.
In 1845, the US congress voted to annex Texas and the Mexican-American War followed. Under the resulting Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848), Mexico ceded modern Texas, California, Utah, Colorado and most of New Mexico and Arizona to the USA. In 1864 Napoleon's nephew, the foolishly arrogarnt Napoleon III attempted to colonize Mexico, but the reign of his ruler, the Austrian archduke Maximilian of Hapsburg was shortlived ending with his hanging.
The Party of the Institutionalized Revolution (the PRI) took power in 1934 following the 10 year Mexican Revolution which claimed the lives of nearly 1 out 8 citizens. The PRI has dominated the history of Mexico for most of the 20th century but their control is eroding fast. In 1988, Carlos Salinas de Gortari was elected to the single 6 year term as president despite the widely accepted belief that the current Mayor Cardenas of Mexico City won the election. Salinas was very successful in bringing about economic reform and is the person most responsible for the signing of NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement on 1 January 1994.
The prior President, Ernesto Zedillo was 43 when he was elected following the assassination of Salinas' chosen successor. Zedillo has been a genuine reformer allowing opposition parties to win many key elections. His term has been beset be economic crisis as well as a revolution in the southern state of Chiapas by the Zapatistas who demand social justice for Mexico's oppressed Indians.

The current President Vicente Fox seeks to completely redefine the relationship of Mexico and its powerful Northern neighbors by opening the borders as wide as possible and convincing his country men to think bigger. A talented and determined historic figure, Fox will have till 2006 to remake a difficult and corrupt bureaucracy staffed by enemies of reform.

olmecs are mainly known for f the striking stone figures left behind by the mother culture of Meso America which preceded the Mayans and Aztecs. Olmec civilization was in ascendance between 1300 and 600 B.C. Their greatest architectural treasure has be found at La Venta in the state of Tabasco

History of Mexico by nationalgeographic.com

Lots of Links: Mexico

dmoz Mexico: Travel and Tourism:

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Travel and Tourism

Mexican States: Links indicated as of Jan-2004 Note only Baja, Quintana Roo and
Jalisco have more than 400.

Guanajuato (154)
Guerrero (329)
Hidalgo (2)
Jalisco (405)
Mexico State (13)
Michoacan (21)
Morelos (20)
Nayarit (110)
Nuevo Leon (79)
Oaxaca (166)
Puebla (7)

Queretaro (13)
Quintana Roo (709)
San Luis Potosi (19)
Sinaloa (76)
Sonora (83)
Tabasco (1)
Tamaulipas (64)
Tlaxcala (2)
Veracruz see out special section
Yucatan (69)
Zacatecas (7)