Marvellous Mexico from Coast to Coast in June
In 2014, I made a pilgrimage to explore one football mad country (Brazil) as they were hosting the World Cup, so 12 years later, I thought it was time to explore another country equally as passionate about ‘the beautiful game’ as they took their turn to co-host the tournament again – Mexico!
Travelling with my wife and friends, we embarked on a three week journey of discovery that was book-ended with two popular beach resort towns; starting in Cancun on the Caribbean and finishing at Cabo San Lucas at the tip of Baja on the Pacific. In between, we arranged private guided tours to link each of our stops, with some domestic flights with the excellent domestic airline Aeromexico to cover the larger distances. Our guides were excellent, informative and engaging and happy to discuss all aspects of Mexican life.
From Cancun, we travelled across the Yucatan Peninsula, visiting its famous Mayan ruins Chichen Itza, Uxmal & Kabah, numerous cenotes (limestone sinkholes perfect for idyllic swims) and the charming coastal town of Campeche. This area of Mexico usually gets plenty of tourists, but June is a low season as it’s hotter and more humid, so we had the rather surreal experience of seeing one of the new ‘Wonders of the World’ with very few other visitors!
We then ventured south into remote Chiapas state to visit the incredible jungle Mayan site of Palenque and the nearby impressive Agua Azul & Misol-Ha waterfalls and then escaped the heat by taking the winding road less travelled up to the lovely colonial mountain town of San Cristobal de Casas with its amazing churches and fascinating indigenous communities of Chamula and Zinacantán. On the last day, we enjoyed a boat trip spotting crocodiles and monkeys into the truly spectacular Sumidero Canyon.
From nearby Tuxtla Gutierrez we flew to the megacity of Mexico City, where from our lovely boutique hotel in the historic city centre we experienced the colour and drama of the World Cup festival in the nearby Zocalo fanzone and surrounding streets! We enjoyed a wonderful cycling tour of the trendy tree-lined Roma Norte and Condesa neighbourhoods in search of the greatest tacos in “CDMX” (and found them!) and a memorable night out at Arena Mexico – experiencing the joy and madness of that ‘cathedral of Lucha Libre’ – Mexican wrestling.
The highlight was our penultimate stop before we finished with some beach-time in upscale Cabo; the stunning city of Oaxaca! During our walking tour we learned about its status as the gastronomic heart of Mexico (“land of the several moles”), the home of mezcal and how it became the origin of the ‘Day of the Dead’ celebrations every October. Street processions and parties here are absolutely joyful, grassroots community parades featuring live brass bands, giant papier-mâché puppets, large rolling globe lanterns, and dancing locals celebrating patron saint days, weddings, or graduations. We were able to witness several of these parades from the balcony of our historic hotel during the 3 days we spent in this most beguiling of cities.
Mexico was a revelation. We felt very safe everywhere and we found Mexican hospitality as welcoming and friendly as we’d been led to expect. The food was of course wonderful, and it is great value for money. We had several real ‘wow’ moments and (reluctantly) left realising that we’d barely scratched the surface of what this amazing country has to offer, resolving to return to explore more.
Oh, and travelling from NZ to Mexico via the USA was a breeze. We were through immigration and customs in Houston in under 10 mins, no-one was in the slightest bit interested in our phones or social media history and it was the same returning via Los Angeles.
Gracias, México, volveremos!
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