By my standards I started the trip to Mexico well prepared. I not only booked a return flight for once but also purchased a South American Handbook and learned a few words of Spanish; "Yo no sé nada, soy de Barcelona" to be precise. Literally translated that means "I know nothing I'm from Barcelona". In this particular case it makes even less sense than usual but I in the past found it quite useful to know this phrase. By saying it in their local tongue you show the natives that you made an effort and now it's there turn to speak English. It also proves I'm not a fucking tourist they can rip off.

How is that? Proper tourists would learn things like hello, goodbye, please and thank you; useless things really. Every little child knows these words in English. Why bother? You need to learn the things the natives may not be able to understand when you speak English. For girls for example: No sir, I don't like your tongue in my ear and I for sure don't want to have sex with you. If I was a girl that'd be the first thing I learn.

Being a guy I don't need to know how to say no, I need to be cool so girls don't remember their phrase. Therefore I say something so incredibly stupid that they think I'm really clever. You have to agree, only a very self confident person willingly makes a fool out of himself and only a wise would admit that he knows nothing. I learned that trick in university by the way. My dad always thought studying ancient history and archaeology would be no good for anything but I proved him wrong on this one.

As far as I'm aware girls think guys are idiots anyways. By admitting I know nothing I agree with them which they must like. It also proves I have a fine sense of humour, a taste for adventure, higher education, understand the animals and might even know what women want. To people my age it probably only proves that I watched Fawlty Towers but who cares? I don't want to talk to women my age anyways.

OK, Mexico. I didn't do to much planning on this trip but then I never do. The best way to discover a country is to just go there and see what happens. Talk to people, ask what they liked and based on that plan your next step. You may not see all the cool things in the guide book but then who cares? Travelling is not about sight seeing but the people you meet. And as a friend of mine put it, it is impossible to "miss" something. You are in a certain place at a certain time for a reason. I always considered that a very wise thing to say.

It's no mistake to know at least something about your destination. There has to be a reason why you chose a certain destination and if you have a few highlights to look forward to it does make planning a lot easier.

As I mentioned I am an archaeologist so I knew why I wanted to go to Yucatan and therefore decided this requires no further planning. If you travel this way expect to pay a price for your stupidity. It normally takes a while until you figure out how things work and that costs extra. Worst case scenario is that you get yourself into real trouble so reading this site and get a few opinions may not be such a bad idea after all.  


For example; based on the fact that it was February and the flight from Miami to Cancun was pretty much empty I assumed that it was low season. I was wrong. February may not be the worst month to travel but it still is anything but off season. I don't like crowded places and had expected to be one of only few tourists at that particular time. I haven't heard the words "we are booked out" in a long time. In Mexico things were going to be different. So much I could tell after only a couple of days and that normally is bad news for your budget. I should have read the guide book before I booked the flight!

Since there was nothing I could do about it I chose to just accept it and here we go. Oh and in case you wondering, I am German living in Ireland for many years now.

Things to know about Mexico

The local currency is Pesos. 10 Pesos are 1 US Dollar (February 2008). Most people in Mexico speak Spanish, in some areas however they don't. In remote villages in Chiapas for example you'd need some sort of Mayan. Well, I don't even speak Spanish so it made no difference.

Mexico is huge. This part only deals with more or less the Yucatan peninsula. The best (or worst) time to travel is November to April. Rainy season starts in May and then it get's incredibly hot and wet.

I'd consider Mexico reasonably safe but don't rely on it. Some areas are dodgy. Check with the local tourist information or travel agencies especially in poor areas like Chiapas. You will see a lot of military on the streets. Checkpoints are very common there.

Don't take any pictures of military installations. Military and police walk around heavily armed and the don't look like as if they'd win a price for "sense of humour" any time soon. As a tourist you have nothing to worry though. They might check your luggage though. It's not a good idea to get caught with drugs!


Money

For Latin America in general get a Visa rather than a Master Card. Visa is widely accepted but nothing else. There are ATM's pretty much everywhere. Maestro, Plus and Cirrus seem to be the most common. Always have a backup of at least 100 USD in cash. You might get stuck and need it. You will have no trouble exchanging Euro but at borders for example they accept the local currency or Dollar. Get small notes not bigger than 20. As for Mexico: Credit Cards are pretty useless here at least when it comes to paying for meals or even a room. Cash rules.


Health:

When it comes to vaccinations I'd say better safe than sorry. I personally don't believe in Malaria prophylaxis but I'd recommend to have stand by tablets just in case. At the end of the day a mosquito net and repellent are the best protection.

I'd definitely recommend Hepatitis A and B (they are useful anyways and last for a lifetime), Rabies, Polio and Tetanus.



If you are a girl; I cannot recommend travelling alone although it has been done.