The United States is extraordinarily varied and diverse country. From the golden California coast up to the lush and rainy Pacific Northwest, and from the Rocky Mountains sweeping down across the expansive Midwestern plains, and from the picturesque seasonal changes of the Northeast down to the humid, mysterious south and the tropical keys off the tip of Florida tip, Americans are lucky to have so much to choose from within their own borders. However, what makes us perhaps even luckier is having yet another large, varied and diverse country directly across the southern border.
Mexico is our welcoming, hospitable, colorful, exotic, culturally rich, intelligent next-door neighbor that has captivated our imaginations and invited us to fantasize for generations. As James Taylor wrote nearly 40 years ago, “Whoa, Mexico. It sounds so sweet with the sun sinking low. Moon’s so bright, like to light up the night, make everything all right.”
Living so close, many Americans are familiar with parts of Mexican culture (few have never tried a tortilla, for example) and history (Zorro and Pancho Villa are household names the country over), and Mexico is the States’ favorite foreign vacation spot. Yet it is probably safe to say that Mexico has an extraordinary number of nooks and crannies that only the most intrepid travelers have ventured to, and that its fascinating culture still holds many secrets waiting to be shared.
The top beach destinations, Cabo San Lucas,
Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Cozumel and Cancun, to name but a few, have done an excellent job at building up their tourism infrastructure over the years, converting small sleepy pueblos into thriving resorts that provide jobs for thousands.
“There used to be nothing in Los Cabos – maybe a couple of hotels, few people traveling there, maybe 5,000 people living in the area,” says Eduardo Sanchez, CEO of Grupo Questro, a leading property developer with offices in Mexico City and San Jose del Cabo.
Ruben Reachi, Secretary of Tourism in Baja California Sur, says that Los Cabos is a very new destination, and now that Cabo has become a consolidated brand, especially in the U.S., he is marketing other destinations in the peninsula, such as La Paz. “People travel to faraway places to watch whales, when really you can fly from the U.S. to La Paz, and in just one hour you can be watching hundreds of whales in this, the world’s whale-watching capital.”
On the extreme opposite end, Cancun is the crown jewel on the Riviera Maya, whose world-famous beaches, Mayan ruins, and famed nightlife are the just tip of the iceberg when it comes to what the area has to offer.
“We have Holbox, a paradisiacal and rustic island where time stands still. There you can see sailfish and whale sharks. We also have Isla Mujeres, an island with a pirate past and a totally different cuisine and ambiance. There is Puerto Morelos, with its amazing cenotes, or sinkholes. And there is the Cancun Underwater Museum, Aquaworld, with over 500 sculptures. In addition, there are always concerts, sports events, and music festivals going on,” says Jesus Almaguer, CEO of Cancun Travel.
| Mexico has an extraordinary number of nooks and crannies that only the most intrepid travelers have ventured to, and its fascinating culture still holds many secrets waiting to be shared. |
Mexico’s location between two important and very different bodies of water has huge advantages for visitors. Surfers have long known about great little surf spots along its Pacific coast, while scuba divers delight in the turquoise blue waters of the Gulf.
Inland Mexico is not without its delights, from the expansive deserts of the north to the tropical jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula, as well as the Sierra Madre mountain ranges running nearly the entire length of the country. The adventurous and the environmentally conscious are only faced with one problem in Mexico: what to do first? Hiking, rappelling, kayaking, rafting, horse riding, and a host of extreme sports add to the traditional offer of world-class golfing, village visits, fishing, and beachcombing.
Natural beauty aside, Mexico is teeming with historic monuments, ranging from Mayan and Aztec ruins through Spanish colonial architectural gems. Indeed, Mexico has the sixth largest number of UNESCO Heritage Sites in the world (including natural, cultural and mixed). It ranks fourth in terms of cities recognized as World Heritage Sites (WHS), and one-quarter of the WHS cities located in the Americas are to be found in Mexico.
“This implies a great responsibility to humanity and great pride for the Mexican people,” says Jorge Ortega, CEO of the Mexican National Association of World Heritage Cities.
To date, nine Mexican cities have been declared WHS by UNESCO: Oaxaca, Mexico City, Guanajuato, Morelia, Zacatecas, Queretaro, Tlacotalpan, Campeche and most recently, San Miguel de Allende.
As a tourist destination, Mexico is practically perfect. It has something for everyone on any kind of budget – for couples and honeymooners, young families, retired travelers, and backpackers alike.
Breathtaking landscapes, exquisite flora and fauna, mouthwatering cuisine, exciting cities and tranquil towns, a rich cultural heritage, and myriad activities await visitors, most of who invariable return again and again.
Tequila – well worth a shot
Just over 35 miles from the city of Guadalajara, traveling northwest through the stunning bluish-green hills dotted with the world-famous blue agave cactus, you find the colorful little town of Santiago de Tequila. Nestled in a valley, this pueblo magico is the birthplace of the famous tipple and walking down its streets you might even catch a vague aroma of the golden spirit. There are several distilleries in the town center which offer guided tours with tequila tasting included. Santiago de Tequila invites you to just relax at the local bar, take your sombrero off, put your feet up, order a banderita and feel the magic.
Dwarfing the Grand Canyon
If Arizona’s Grand Canyon is grand, then Chihuahua’s Copper Canyons are superlatively magnificent. Spanning 37,000 miles in the Sierra Tarahumara, these greenish copper-colored canyons are a paradise for hikers, bikers and horse riders, and are what the Tarahumaras– an indigenous tribe renowned for extraordinary endurance running – call home. A special way to see the Copper Canyons is from the Chihuahua-Pacifico train, simply known as the Chepe. It winds its way through Creel, Divisadero, Posada Barrancas, and Bauichivo/Cerocahui in Chihuahua State, before stopping in Temoris, El Fuerte and finally Los Mochis in Sinaloa.
Make friends with Campeche
People from Capeche, a state in the Yucatan peninsula, are known as Campechanos. However, the term ‘campechano’ is used throughout the Spanish-speaking world to describe a friendly, good-natured and unpretentious person. This is no coincidence, as the folks from this state earned a reputation for affability long ago. Meanwhile, the city of San Francisco de Campeche, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is like a living museum, with beautiful contrasts of architectural styles past and present, and with many Mayan traditions still alive and well among the locals.
Palenque vs. the jungle
So thick and lush is the jungle of southern Mexico that it has practically devoured 1,300 years of manmade history into oblivion. The Mayan city of Palenque reached its peak in the 7th century A.D. Today, this archeological gem is visited by thousands of people every year, though it is estimated to cover just 10% of the area of the original city – meaning as many as 1,000 structures have been swallowed up by the voracious jungle. Although smaller than other Mayan sites, Palenque is highly valued as it contains some of the finest examples of architecture, sculptures, roof combs and bas-relief carvings in Mesoamerica.
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