Mexico - Winter Travel

This thread was originally conceived as Summer Travel in Mexico, but, as I’m just now creating it in mid June, and as I’d really rather avoid what I (perhaps mistakenly) imagine are scorching summers, I’d like now to ask for your collective advice about a trip to Mexico for January 07.

I’ve lived in SAN for nearly twenty years now, and while I’ve had extensive contact, and very much enjoy Mexican (or Mexican American, or whatever you’d prefer) culture as it exists here, I’d really like to witness for myself that burritos are eaten by Mexicans in Mexico. If, in fact, its an enormous scam and we’ve all been had, I’d like to witness Mexicans eating whatever it is they do eat (in Mexico) and say “Senores, quizas quisieran probar un burrito?”

I’m thinking somewhere between 10 and 21 days, MEX is a definite, Oaxaca I’m definitely interested in, and definitely welcome all suggestions. I don’t think I’ll be interested in what I think of as the beach resort destinations, Acapulco, Cancun etc, but if they represent a significant element of Mexican culture I can be persuaded otherwise.

Anyway thanks in advance for any responses,

Weather depends on two things - the rains (and when they are - most of Mexico includes June - October,) and the altitude. Mexico City, Toluca, etc. can be quite mild in summer, Yucatán will be hotter than a taco full of Habanero chiles, the Pacific and Gulf coasts very hot and humid (especially if you get there during a hurricane or a "chipi-chipi" (pronoucned "cheapy-cheapy",) day after day of drizzly rain.

Another issue is season - the dead season is usually November and the first half of December, and December 15 usually sees new and higher rates for lodging. The worst times to travel in Mexico for price and crowdedness include Christmas and New Year weeks, and Semana Santa (Holy Week, the week before Easter.)

Good weather is mid-November through March, when it begins heating up (in some parts of Mexico May is the hottest month, since the rains begin to cool things off. The rains can get heavy in coastal areas, mild in desert and Yucatán Peninsula areas (except for hurricanes and tropical storms, June - October to early November,) but are often just afternoon showers and soe night rain in the highlands, punctuated by occasional thunderstorms.

Last November, we hosted some Australian friends for a three week Mexico fam. We met in Mexico City, proceeded to Oaxaca (you can fly, or you can take a bus from the airport to Puebla, switch to another bus to Oaxaca - about four hours plus transfer time. Mexican top-of-the-line "Executiva" busses are quite safe, and even luxurious - the best services include a/c, lav, semi-reclining wide seats, videos (though the quality of the videos can be questionable,) and an attendant serving cold drinks and snacks.

We spent a week in Oaxaca enjoying the city, Monte Alban, and the nearby areas - Mitla, El Tule, San Bartolo Coyotepec, Teotitlan del Valle, etc. etc. These are crafts and market villages, and I recommend some books to do a bit of reading. A week here is spectacular!

From here we proceeded to Chiapas, where we rented a car and spent some time visiting the spectacular ruins of Palenque - three days of exploring are minimum, and more if you want to join tours to some of the Guatemala-Mexico border archaeological sites in rain forest.

Off to Mérida, to spend a weekend here - domingo en Mérida and the weekend are a big weekly celebration. Streets are closed, there are many venues with music, folklore, etc. We then used a rental car to do the Puuc Route (Sayil, Xlapak, Labná, Grutas de Loltún, Uxmal,) Mayapán (the last Mayan city, and a real shocker to see how things had become "simplified",) and on to Chichén Itzá, plus a visit or two to old henequén (sisal) haciendas. Then it was back to Mérida and MEX, to spend a few days seeing Teotihuacan, the sights in Mexico City including the historic center, Xochimilco and a day at the Mueseo INAH / National Museum of of Archaeology and History to help put it all in perspective.

Three weeks, and they had a pretty good picture of southern Mexico - another week would have been spent in Michoacan, including the crafts villages and Lake Pátzcuaro, Morelia, etc. but it just wasn't enough time. If you prefer highlands destinations, colonial beauty, forests, the monarch butterfly sanctuary, mountains and lakes, as well as crafts (Santa Clara del Cobre, copper, etc. etc.) I'd recommend Michoacan instead of Yucatán (or add it if you can stretch the time.)

One way to do it the way we did is to purchase tickets on Click Mexicana (the LCC operated by Mexicana airlines.) They are what used to be Aerocaribe, using F100s and offering low fares - and concidentally, at least then, flights that included MEX-OAX-TGZ-VSA-MID and MID-MEX.

If you do it in Nov / early Dec you will see the preparations and first bits of Christmas, a long period in Mexico that also sees special crafts and art. January and February are also good, of course, with much better weather than summer for sightseeing.

You could add a trip to Taxco (just a few short hours from Mexico City) for a lovely colonial town that has been preserved through protective legislation, and the center for Mexican silversmithing, plus an archaeological site where several peoples gathered to synchronize their calendards (Xochicalco) and a spectacular huge cave system (Grutas de Cacahuamilpa) available easily from Taxco. (You'd travel through my onetime home town of Cuernavaca, not worth your time with all these other riches.)

You will be exposed to a wide variety of regional foods and specialties on trips like this (yum!), but not too many burritos, as those are actually a northern Mexican dish - though small donkeys are certainly called "burritos," you do not want to be eating too much of them. If you have specific questions or recommendations, let me know and I will post for all; the Lonely Planet book will also be helpful, and the Moon books have the best maps.

Thanks JDiver for your excellent response. So excellent that I think I've been persuaded to rethink the Summer to Winter postponment. If, for instance, I decided to go in August (maybe not the ideal time, but you mention MEX can be mild) for ten days to some combination of Mexico City and Oaxaca, would you recommend 10 days in Mexico City, 10 days in Oaxaca, or some in each?

You don't mention spending much time in Mexico City with your Australian friends, but, perhaps you'd been before?

For this (newly thought of) shorter August trip Mexico City (do they refer to it as DF?) and Oaxaca seem the most attractive, but, as always, I can be persuaded. Thanks again for your response.

Both MEX and OAX are in the highlands, and OAX is fairly dry, so in summer, no problem. One side effect is the rains keep the smog down in MEX as well (the dry season is when the thermal inversion and smuck become so mad they may ban cars for two days out of the week in the DF.)

A week in OAX is very nice, and MEX has a lot to offer - from outlying areas like Taxco and the ancient city of Teotihuacan (be sure to see more than just the highlights - there are some really interesting murals, etc. out there.)

In July, Oaxaca has one week of "Guelaguetza" - or "Dias del Cerro" - which was originally a traditional native harvest festival of thanks to the gods. Today it is punctuated by traditional dances put on by tribespeople from the mountains, and the city becoes quite crowded and difficult to find lodging in. (One major cultural discontinuity expreince I had was being in town for Guelaguetza, while the government piped in television signals to two tvs in storefronts - showing the first man landing on the moon! People would look at the tv, then look up at the sky and talk how impossible it was that people should walk on the moon or get into the little box!)

In OAX we did a B&B at the centrally located and comfortable Casa de las Bugambilias (US54 - 120 depending on room type, etc. and including a very nice breakfast.) We enjoyed our stay, but one caveat: Alvaro, the desk clerk / geek that handles billing, booking etc. has a low tolerance for directness, can be sloppy and never apologetic. Get bookings, etc. in writing, as he will not assume responsibility for hs actions and I suspect his language and tech skills keep him on regardless of his occasional screwups (my Aussie friends had to be put up in an inn next door for one night due to his lack of attention to detail, verifying a change of booking for two rooms then forgetting to change the date son both of them.)

bugambilias@bugambilias.com
www.lasbugambilias.com
Casa de Las Bugambilias ("A Bed and Breakfast")
Reforma # 402 Col. Centro
Oaxaca, Mexico. CP. 68000
Phone: +52-951-51-61165; Fax: +52-951-51-61165
Innkeepers: Mariana Arroyo and Aurora Cabrera

La Casa de Luz Maria is another well spoken of B&B with a lower price, also centrally located, $20 - $35 room with bath:

Casa de Luz Maria Bed and Breakfast
Luz Maria Gonzalez
Avenida Morelos No. 1002, Oaxaca, OAX, 68000. MEXICO
phone: from U.S. 011-52-951-623-78.

We hired a car for a reasonable amount for some local trips (one Sunday, breakfast and a good look at the huge, literally awesome ahuehuete tree that towers over the church at El Tule, on to the traditional market at Tlacolula, explore Mitla, stop at Yagul and finish at the house / workshop of master Zapotec weaver Isaac Vazquez (he and his family are most welcoming, and his wool weavings using natural dies depicting traditional and non-traditional themes gave been exhibited in the US, Europe and Asia. His shop is called "Bug in the Rug" after some articles appeared about him and his family and the traditional dyes, like the cochineal insect - the "bug in the rug" producing the vivid scarlet reds used by Vazquez and by the UK for the British "Recoat" coats. Teotitecos have been weaving for 2,500 years, albeit originally with ixtle and cotton thread.)

"Bug in the Rug"
Ave. Hidalgo #30
Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca

(You will see many similar designs, but be aware all crafts are not equal- some may be using aniline dyes, mixed fibers, even made on machines. Quality crafts from Oaxaca can often be found for a small fraction of what they would cost you n the fancy boutiques of New York or Beverly Hills.)

Another day we went to the market in Ocotlán, as well as Etla and Santo Tomas Jalieza (weaving cotton,) San Bartolo Coyotepec (we go to the original home and worskhop of Doña Rosa Real de Nieto (whom I knew and respected,) originator of the world-renown black pottery, now operated by her master potter son Valente Nieto Real,) and spent the late afternoon (until the site closed) at Monte Alban - spectacular "golden hour" photos without many tourists or visitors at all.

See a serviceable list of Oaxaca artisans here (http://www.oaxacaoaxaca.com/artisans.htm). They produce an incredible variety of pottery, metalwork (don't put that special knife in your carryon! ;) jewelry (particularly gold filigree, reproductions of Zapotec pieces, and silverwork from Yalalag,) wood carvings (the "alebrijes" depicting fantastic animals put anyone's LSD or mushroom-induced hallucinations to shame!) and much more - nobody is makes better alebrijes than the families of San Antonio Arrazola and San Martín Tilcajete.

By using a car (we had at different times a father and son we found through our B&B,) we saved lots of time and saw a lot more in one day than anyone could using the bus system or shared colectivos.

That's just one aspect of Oaxaca... the city itself is nicely situated at 4,100 MSL, and has tons to offer - and Oaxacan cuisine is a treat, though sometimes surprising (including things like sauce of jumiles and freshly fried chapulines (grasshoppers) and gusanos de maguey (maguey plant larvae), insects, a huge variety of moles (moe-lays) - meals made with traditional sauces including chocolate and chile,) and a visit to the market will show you cacao beans being ground and made into a variety of freshly-made chocolate (some for eating, but mainly for drinking; as they are roasted, you can bring some back!)

I've been visiting Oaxaca since I was a kid (a LONGGG time ago!) and still love it - not to mention I find new things and meet new people every time. I might stay there 12 days and 5 in the big city, since the city is so frenetic, but that's me.

A helpful online article is article (http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/travel/tonysarticles/tboaxaca3.html) is Tony Burton's older (1999) but serviceable one. Another good resource for basic information on Mexico crafts, sustainable tourism, etc. is www.planeta.com.

We did spend a few days with my relatives in "el De Efe" as we say down there... but indeed, I have spent lots of time there (was originally born there,) and for me it is easy to get frayed out by the frenetic pace, smog, etc. We did see some sights, and there is plenty to see; for more city-oriented folks, it can be a big trip on its own.

You don't mention spending much time in Mexico City with your Australian friends, but, perhaps you'd been before?

For this (newly thought of) shorter August trip Mexico City (do they refer to it as DF?) and Oaxaca seem the most attractive, but, as always, I can be persuaded. Thanks again for your response.

The only bad thing with MEX is the insecurity. Having most of my family living there, and can't say nobody of them has ran away from assaults, "mini"-kidnappings and stealing. And I really mean NOBODY of the 43-members family living there. From bus thieves to a big enterprise instrusion with AK-47, they've seen almost all.

Sorry, this is almost a rant. We would really like to visit some of MEX's wonderful shows, museums and parks, but can't because of insecurity.

Living there is a challenge - many friends and family of mine still live there as well, and most have some tales to tell. But visitors who are cautious manage to avoid most of the problems in the Capital, and many areas in the country are safer.

The only bad thing with MEX is the insecurity. Having most of my family living there, and can't say nobody of them has ran away from assaults, "mini"-kidnappings and stealing. And I really mean NOBODY of the 43-members family living there. From bus thieves to a big enterprise instrusion with AK-47, they've seen almost all.

Sorry, this is almost a rant. We would really like to visit some of MEX's wonderful shows, museums and parks, but can't because of insecurity.

The only bad thing with MEX is the insecurity. Having most of my family living there, and can't say nobody of them has ran away from assaults, "mini"-kidnappings and stealing. And I really mean NOBODY of the 43-members family living there. From bus thieves to a big enterprise instrusion with AK-47, they've seen almost all.

Sorry, this is almost a rant. We would really like to visit some of MEX's wonderful shows, museums and parks, but can't because of insecurity.

As I mention to people that I may be heading there, this is the response I seem to get, not that they're experts, but, it is a little disconcerting.