Statistics
Days: 33. Left the USA on Saturday, September 10. Left Mexico on October 13.
Cities: 7. Tlaquepaque, Guadalajara, Mexico City, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapa de Corzo, Palenque, Chetumal.
Apartment Rentals: 2. One in Tlaquepaque that we rented through our language school for 7 days and one in Mexico City that we rented through AirBNB for 7 days.
Hotels: 4. 1 night at Casa Armonia in Tlaquepaque the night we arrived in Mexico. 2 nights at City Express in Mexico City when we extended our stay to do more sightseeing. 5 nights at Posada Belen in San Cristobal de las Casas. 9 nights at the Hotel Chablis in Palenque.
Our room for our first night in Mexico, at the Casa Armonia in Tlaquepaque.
Overnight Busses: 2. One on the way from Mexico City to San Cristobal de las Casas. One on the way from Palenque to Chetumal.
Modes of Transportation: 7. Plane, taxi, Uber, bus, boat, subway, walking.
This was a common view throughout Mexico – people riding in the backs of trucks, even on the highway! (no, we didn’t do it!)
Q&A
What was your favorite site or place that you visited?
J: Lucha Libre – it was fun to see the wrestling, which I grew up doing with my brothers. It was fun to see the costumes of all the wrestlers and the crowd that really got into it! It was more of an event than just the actual wrestling!
L: I loved our first week in Tlaquepaque. It was a great introduction to Mexico; a small community that was easy to get around and where we felt comfortable. We had the assistance of our language school, who were able to help us purchase bus tickets, give us restaurant recommendations, and advise us on what to do around time. We found a few favorite restaurants and had a comfortable apartment where we could escape and relax. I’d go back and spend more time in Tlaquepaque in a heartbeat!
Wrestlers at the Lucha Libre in Guadalajara at the beginning of our trip.
What was the biggest surprise you had during this time?
J: PDA! Everywhere we went, the subway, on the street, in restaurants, next to trash cans, etc… there were people making out!
L: I didn’t love the food in Mexico as much as I had expected. In the USA, I would eat Mexican food frequently, although I do realize it’s more Tex-Mex than authentic Mexican. However, in Mexico, it was hard to find many fruits and vegetables; most meals were comprised of meat and a starch and didn’t provide much variety. As soon as we got to Belize, I ordered salads for the first two meals I had on the island; I would have liked more fruit and vegetable options in Mexico!
What was the lowest point for this part of the trip?
J: It wasn’t fun getting sick. We got sick twice, once with Montezuma’s Revenge and once with some sort of infection. It took its toll on both of us and there wasn’t much we could do other than take some medicine and rest.
L: Definitely getting sick, twice. We weren’t very surprised the first time, so didn’t get very upset over since we had almost been expecting it due to being in a new place. However, the second time hit me really hard and I basically stayed in bed for five days trying to recover and get better.
In Mexico City, we were both struck with Montezuma’s Revenge, so we had to stay hydrated with a lot of water!
What was your favorite food or meal that you had?
J: It was at the restaurant in Tlaquepaque where we had tacos de jicama. Other than that, I didn’t like the food as much as I thought I would in Mexico.
L: I’m going to cheat and give two answers here (surprise surprise!). The first was the tacos de jicama that we had for appetizers both times we ate at Zaguan in Tlaquepaque. The second was anytime I had chilaquiles for breakfast; that became my usual order any time we would eat out before noon!
The tacos de jicama was a favorite for both of us – we still talk about how good it was!
What would you change if you were to do it again?
J: Stay healthy.
L: We didn’t like our apartment in Mexico City, but had booked it and prepaid for a week through AirBNB. In hindsight, since we ended up getting sick and spending so much time in the apartment, I would have tried to cancel and find somewhere more comfortable to stay during that time.
What advice would you give someone doing a similar trip and route?
J: Make sure you don’t drink ANY water. Even while brushing your teeth, or ordering a pop at a restaurant, don’t put any water in your mouth in any form. Also be prepared for the heat; some of the cities were really hot, almost unbearable for us coming from Michigan.
L: Pace yourself! Sickness aside, we typically planned to do one thing per day, whether that was just going out to run errands that needed to be done or touring a museum. Since we are traveling long-term, we have learned that we don’t need to rush around to see everything. As long as we see the few things that we really want to do, we can leave satisfied even if there are other things that we didn’t get to see.
In Mexico City, we limited ourselves to one thing a day- like when we toured Casa Azul in Coyoacan.
What is the best memory that you’ll carry with you?
J: It’s a toss-up between Lucha Libre and touring Palenque. It was really cool to see an authentic wrestling match in Mexico. It was also a lot of fun touring the ruins in Palenque.
L: Exploring Palenque with Jon. This was one of his “must do” items for our trip and was a highlight for both of us. He was in his element, exploring in the jungle and climbing on ruins. It was so much fun to be able to see something that he had dreamed of for so long!
We took a minute to sit on the steps of a temple at Palenque and savor the moment.
What to read more?
Read about our time in Mexico…
- Our first week in Mexico!
- Attending a Lucha Libre match in Guadalajara
- The city of Tlaquepaque, our first home away from home
- A few things to see in Mexico City
- Learning about the Lacandons in Chiapas
- Taking a day tour to visit the Canon del Sumidero
- Our morning with Salvador touring Palenque
- Traveling overland (and over water!) from Mexico to Belize