Itinerary for Mexico

Places i want to visit

Tourist Places:
Patzcuaro (buy pirekua records)
Patzcuaro see (Janitzio island)
Guadalajara (Hospicio Cabañas)
Morelia
Mexico City (Ciudad Universitaria) (San Andrés Mixquic)
Oaxaca
Specialised utopian towns in michoacan: Paracho for guitars, Tzintzuntzán for pottery,
Santa Clara for copper products and Nurío for woven woolen goods (also quiroga)
ixtapa (party and disco)

historic cities:
Zacatecas (historic center)
Campeche (pirate city, built by the spanish atop a preexisting maya city)
guanajuato
Querétaro

nature/scenic places:
Puebla (surrounded by snow capped mountains and volcanoes)
paricutin (lava felder, city buried by lava, only church steeple visible)
los mochis - „Chepe“ train to Chihuahua
Popocatépetl volcano - active
Pico de Orizaba (highest peak in mexico: 5,636 meters) - dormant
(other volcanoes in mexico: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Map_mexico_volcanoes.gif)
Gulf of California (sealife - blue whales and killer whales), Isla Tortuga, mazatlan
Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve, Michoacan (monarch butterflys)
El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve (thousands of endemic plants and animals found nowhere else)


getaway/beach resorts:
Cabanas Copal in Tulum (february best weather; snorkelling, sunbathing, ruins)
cancun (Playa del Carmen)
acapulco (cliff divers)


Archeological sites:
read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-Columbian

Teotihuacan ruins (avenue of the dead)
Xochicalco ("sho-chee-cal-co")
Calakmul (close to guatemala)
Tenochtitlan (capital of the aztec empire)
chichen itza and Uxmal, Yucatán (also Mérida city)
El Tajín, Tlacotalpan (veracruz)
Palenque (maya site)


day of the dead recommendations:
San Andrés Mixquic
Patzcuaro see (Janitzio island)


hostels list:

http://studenttravel.about.com/od/mexicostudenttravel/p/mexico_lodg_ala.htm



hurricane season infos (best time to travel - cheaper fares)

http://gomexico.about.com/od/healthandsafety/a/hurricane_seasn.htm


telephone calls in mexico

http://gomexico.about.com/od/planningandinformation/qt/phone_calls.htm




tips:

- Arriving in mexico city: cabs/tram etc
http://gomexico.about.com/od/healthandsafety/qt/authorized_taxi.htm
http://www.mexperience.com/guide/essentials/getting_around.htm#6
http://www1.epinions.com/review/trvl-Dest-North_America-Mexico-Mexico_City/trvl-review-18FA-549407B-3938794B-prod5

-Carry a key chain whistle and, if you’re bothered by someone, give your whistle a mighty blast.
Mexican cops use whistles to signal each other and to scare off troublemakers.

-rocks or branches on the street are sometimes used as warning triangles, so drive slowly

-bring own toilet paper (or buy at tiendita) as most bathrooms dont have any

- traveller checks are useless, dollars are hard to spend

- SMALL BILLS - people hate breaking big ones and small places mostly cannot offer change

-when withdrawing large sums of money from ATMs type in something like $1992 instead of $2000.
That way you dont get two useless $1000 bills which you cant exchange anywhere but in a bank

-exchange rate approx. 10 to 1 (pesos to us dollars)

- take the collectivo bus

- for long distances/remote places a rental car may be appropriate (approx. us$80 a week)

- petrol stations are scarce, fill up tank when half empty. Same price in every station, as they are government regulated

- drink and drugs are baaad! (apart from the occasional cerveza)

- never carry more than youre willing to lose - and dont resist the muggers (keep around 10pesos ready to hand over)


to buy:

Guia Roji (road atlas)



important links:
list of world heritage sites (just in case we run out)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_the_Americas

mexperience travel site:
http://www.mexperience.com/