"And Mexico, or something in it, certainly makes foreigners worse then they are at home." -D.H. Lawrence, The Plumed Serpent.
Sixty years ago, Quintana Roo was a savage, dangerous and lonely place full of impenetrable jungle, hidden Mayan ruins, dangerous chicleros and friendly Indians. Today it's one of the world's busiest tourist spots, full of "all in one" resorts, expensive hotels, American restaurants selling $20 hamburgers and $15 burritos and "Eco" parks that will set you back $130 per person. The hotel that Amy had her conference at, the Fairmont Mayakoba, posts a room price of 1000 US dollars per day just for their cheapest room. And there is nothing Mexican about this place; it could be plopped down anywhere in the world and you wouldnt know the difference. Let me say right here that anyone who spends over $80/night for a hotel in Mexico (okay, double that on the Mayan Riviera) is either crazy, naive or doesn't know how to travel here. And if you are in a small town, you can get a nice, clean place for $40. The joy of traveling in Mexico is not to be trapped in a place where you don't experience the country you are in. The joy of traveling here is to experience Mexico as it really is, in the small towns where local families hang out at the beach, where couples dance to the town musicians at the bandstand, where lovers embrace in a dark corner of the town square, or where you go to the town mercado and sit next to a local person and ask him what he's eating..and then actually order it.
And it's so easy to do. Really. Amy and I often use Tripadvisor, especially for hotels. This works almost anywhere and we've found it a great resource. Fellow travelers are a much more reliable source of information than travel books, which are usually written years before and rarely updated. You'd be surprised at some of the out of the way places that are on Tripadvisor.
Traveling by public transport in Mexico is easy. The first class bus system is, next to Peru's, the best we've been on. The buses are clean, comfortable, cheap and safe. For local transportation you can take combis; cars or vans that take local folks to surrounding villages. Even a 3rd class "chicken" bus isn't that bad, if you're not going too far. Also, not speaking Spanish shouldn't stop you from exploring this wonderful country. You can always get around with a few words and some sign language.
Worried about eating in small, local places? Don't be. The Mexico of yesteryear, where every tourist who came here got Montezuma's revenge, doesn't exist. I've been to Mexico over 20 times, eaten in local markets, from street vendors and in some places where most tourists would run screaming from and I've never gotten sick. Not once. As long as you're careful, don't drink the water and don't eat salad (except in nicer restaurants), you should be fine. I've had some of my best meals in the mercados. Oaxaca's mercado is especially good and you can eat a great meal for a couple of bucks. That saves you some $$ so you can go out to the finer restaurant for dinner, where you might, if you splurge on tequila and wine, spend $30.
And of course there's the safety thing. It's really true...don't believe everything you see on the news. As long as you're smart and don't go to places you shouldn't, there is no problem. While there is petty theft and you need to be careful about your valuables (we use the hotel's safe or use luggage locks), serious crimes against tourists are very rare here.
Michel Peissel's Lost World is long gone. But I think we've found that, if you search hard and get out there, you can still find a world in the madness that is the Mayan Riviera where the people treat you as guests, not tourists, where the fish you eat is caught by the fisherman who lives down the street, where there are still streets made of dirt or sand that have huge potholes where you can't hurry to the next place. There is still a place where you can walk in ancient ruins and be the only visitor that day, or where you can buy a hammock from the family that made it.
You just have to look for it.
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