MEXICO TRAVEL GUIDE

Today I will share the places I've been in Mexico. These tips are from a low budget backpacker who considers herself as a traveller, not a tourist (if you didn't notice Iam talking about myself lol). Also very important: don't follow only my advices, go with the flow!! The people we meet along the way can become friends for a life time and travelling is not about the miles you make...

Mexico currency is Peso ($) and helps a lot if you know basic spanish.

I guess you don't pay anything to get in the country but you need a 6 months valid passport to enter. They also ask for a return flight, we didn't have one and said we were backpacking in Central and don't know when going back to Portugal. They accepted the answer. You pay $295 to get out the country but many times is included in the flight ticket, check it out.

We arrived in Cancun airport and stayed there one day. To be honest, you can skip Cancun and Playa del Carmen, go directly from the airport to Tulum. I had a great time in Playa del Carmen because we were hanging around with awesome people but it's veryyyy touristy.

Mexico is HUGE! I'd say that you need at least one year to visit the whole country in a rush. So when planning your trip watch out the time you have. If you have a flight back soon you better stay in only one state, instead of going to North and South.

The food can be crazy spicy so you better ask with only a bit of spicy in the beggining so your stomach doesn't get upset. Get ready for the Tortillas Party and the Pollo (Chicken). Dear Vegetarians I guess you guys will cook a lot in Mexico since they eat meat even for breakfast ;)

* Tulum is more chilled. You can stay in a hostel in the Centre or in front of the beach. You can also camp in some places. You have the beach in one side and the cenotes in the other. If you ever decided to go cannoying in the cenote please be careful, we saw a crocodile there :D

It's very easy to hitch hike back and forward the centre and the beach but don't forget your belongs if you get a ride lol (check out the previous post to understand what I mean).

You can visit: the Ruins and Dos ojos cenotes. We rent a bike in "Iguana bikes" they also give you a snorkling mask which is super fun!

What I love about Tulum is chilling on the caribean sea in an hammock drinking a papaya fresh juice (or licuado in "mexican language)

* Coba: Beautiful Lake - magical by the sunset; Ruins (entrance: $57); Cenotes (entrance for the 3: $100 but the last one, the far one is not so amazing in my opinion) A lot of people go to Coba for a daytrip.

Coba Maya Ruins

* Valladolid: You can stay here if you wanna go to Chichen Itza (very interesting ruins and one of the seven wonders of the World). Rent a bike and visit the cenotes around. Nothing really special about the town but the church at night is beautiful.

* Campeche: Beautiful City with History especially the pirates. You have pacific ocean but no beaches. We only stayed 2 days but there's a lot of sites to visit around town.

[ Campeche Cathedral ]

* Ciudad del Carmen: Big, dirty, noisy city. The way to get here was beautiful: one side of ocean and the other the lake.We were Couchsurfing there and the host showed us the Crocodile Farm where they grow crocodiles just to kill them, selling the skin and the meat. The fish market is fresh and cheap. We bought squid and shrimps for 4 people and spent only 8€!!

* Palenque: Maya Ruins with a interesting Museum, jungle and waterfalls ($57 plus the National Park entrance). I'm pretty sure there're a bunch of things to do here but we were mostly in the Rainbow Gathering so we didn't explore the place but it's worth a visit for sure. In the way to San Cristobal you can stop by Agua Azul.

* San Cristobal: Cosy town, very touristy (for mexicans as well)! It's your chance to eat pizza, brownies with ice cream and all the USA influence delicious food. Visit San Juan Chamula on Sunday they have a different ritual there and also a cheap craft market; Cranyon Sumidero. We stayed at El Casa de Gladys hostel and I recommend it (approx prices per person: camping $60, dorm $100 and room $150)

* Lagunas de Montebello: a collection of 20 beautiful lagoons; stunning Nature; ask a local to bring you to the Caves; the locals are very annoying because they want to earn money as guides; they have cabanas to stay overnight or you can do wild camping for free.

Lagunas de Montebello

Have you been in Mexico? Where? Share your tips, leave a comment.