Blogs from Mexico, North America - page 3

The National Museum of Anthropology is the largest and most visited museum in Mexico. The museum contains significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from Mexico's pre-Columbian heritage covering civilizations located on the current territory of Mexico as well as in former Mexican territory in what is today the southwestern United States. This is the spot to visit if you have any interest in pre-Columbian Mexico history; it is magnificent and it is an all day affair. If you are a seasoned museum aficionado as I am you may think that you will not need a full day to appreciate the National Museum of Anthropology but you would be wrong. Do not consider trying to squeeze in anything else that day during opening hours; if you need one full day for any site in Mexico City this is ... read more

Mexico City is very large and thus difficult to accurately describe. It’s not only the capital of Mexico and the country’s largest and most culturally important city but also the most populous city in North America, the sixth-largest metropolitan area globally, and the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world. Originally built around 1325 as Tenochtitlan on a group of islands in Lake Texcoco by the Mexica (Aztecs), it was almost completely destroyed in 1521 and subsequently redesigned and rebuilt in accordance with Spanish urban standards; as of 1585, it was officially known as Ciudad de México (Mexico City). We stayed in the Historic Center (Centro Histórico), which has a lot of the best sightseeing but is not necessarily a favorite tourist base; I noticed rave reviews for the Roma and Condesa neighborhoods, which are more upscale ... read more

Our trip to Mexico began in Oaxaca, the most enjoyable city I've visited in that country. We had about two and a half days, including a half day trip to Monte Alban, covered in another post. There were markets, a lovely garden, wonderful food and much mescal. There’s so much art everywhere – murals, sculptures, pottery – it’s like an open air museum in places. Stay longer than three days if you can. After checking in to our hotel we wandered down the Amador Turistico, past the Zocalo, to the markets of Benito Juarez and 20 de Noviembre for lunch and shopping. There was so much to see that it was nearly overwhelming; lots of delicious stalls and lovely souvenir shops selling prints, pottery, painted animal figurines, moles, spices, chilies, fruits such as ripe red pitaya ... read more

One afternoon, we were still in rio Lagartos and not sure where to go to in the afternoon. We heard about El Cuyo village, a place where the beach was supposed to be really beautiful. We decided to go there. Distance is about 49 kms as crow flies, but sadly, the road along the sea does not go all the way until El Cuyo. We had to go south until we reached the road to dzonot carretero. This is a regular secundary road up to Dzonot. After that the road gets very narrow. At some point, it looks like a small road for golf carts!! We reached El Cuyo. It was a Sunday and the beach was nice but really crowded. But the beach is quite long so you can find quiet spots. There's a long ... read more

After a couple of days in Chichen Itza region, it was time to move up North. Road East to Valladolid is forested and little villages are seen here and there. Moving up North after Valladolid, the vegetation gets scarce and especially after Tizimin, vegetation is of type of tropical savanna and ranches are abundant. We arrived at Rio Lagartos. It's a small fishing village at the end of the road, on the side of a lagoon. It's part of the Ria Lagartos natural reserve: A mix of lagoons, shrub forests, beaches and mangroves. The day after we took a boat tour to explore mangroves. It's a renowned place to see flamingos...but season was not perfect and we saw only a handful from afar. 13 years ago, we were in Celestun on the West coast of Yucatan, ... read more