On February 17th, 2018, I took a flight from San Francisco to Cancun. 29 days later I arrived at Montebello Lakes, a National Park in Southern Mexico that borders Guatemala. Then, on April 10th, I stepped onto a flight in Cancun and flew back to the United States.
So where did this trip take me and what is Southern Mexico really like?
Let’s find out.
The first thing that should be noted is that I only moved from one location to another by means of a bus or shuttle.
More often than not, I used an ADO bus to get around. ADO is truly the best method of transportation that I’ve experienced while traveling. You’d think that it would be confusing and dodgy to move from one city to another in Southern Mexico but it’s not.
Here’s how it works: you look up bus times on the company’s website/app, or simply walk into the station at the last second, and buy a cheap bus ticket from anywhere in Southern Mexico to anywhere in Southern Mexico.
Sure there are sometimes layovers (do they call them layovers if they’re in a bus?) but they’re brief and allow you the much needed opportunity to stretch your legs.
Every traveler I met used ADO. If I met a local and they needed to go somewhere further than an hour away, you best believe that they used an ADO bus to get there.Now let’s start tracking my path while looking at some cool pictures
Tulum, Quintana Roo
After exiting the airport in Cancun I immediately left for Tulum, which is about two hours south. I would not see the tourist metropolis again for 52 days.
Tulum is like a smaller, quieter and less crowded version of Cancun. It still feels lavish but there are no mega resorts in Tulum, only boutique hotels.
The town can be visualized in two parts; the downtown, which is essentially anything near the main road (highway 37), and the hotel zone.
As I’m sure you guessed, the hotel zone is where most of the action is. This single street holds a dense cluster of small hotels and restaurants that cater to the anti-Cancun crowd.
Did I mention that it’s right on the beach?
Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo
My next destination was Playa del Carmen, which is situated directly between Cancun and Tulum.
Playa (as it’s commonly known) has a well earned reputation as a party town. As such, beer and liquor flow through the main street day and night. Similar to Tulum’s hotel zone, there are countless restaurants, bars, and shops lining this never ending street.
As you walk around the town, you’ll no doubt be heckled by people trying to sell you everything under the sun. However, you can simply ignore them and continue walking.
If you do want to purchase something just remember that the seller will often open with a steep price and that you should negotiate. For example, I was able to purchase a souvenir for 250 pesos ($13) whereas the seller originally asked for 1,000 pesos ($52).
Such is the way of life in a tourist town.
Playa del Carmen is also the transfer point for people going to the Caribbean island of Cozumel, which is about a half hour boat ride from the mainland. This makes it very easy to take a day trip from Playa del Carmen to Cozumel, as I once did.
The island is famous for it’s snorkeling and scuba diving. It has one one city, called San Miguel de Cozumel, which is where all of the tourism operates out of.
Valladolid, Yucatan
I have to admit that Valladolid was one of my favorite destinations throughout all of Southern Mexico. Maybe it was the relief of leaving the tourist hot spots behind and exploring an authentic Mexican city.
This was my first inland destination and one can only imagine how wildly different this town is compared to Playa del Carmen. Any tourists found in Valladolid (they are few) are more interested in learning about the culture and history of the town than they are in partying and/or shopping.
Valladolid is one of many Pueblo Magicos (Magic Towns) in Mexico. This lable was created by Mexico’s board of tourism in 2001 to promote towns with abundant natural beauty, rich cultural identities, and historical significance.
In fact, most destinations within this article are Pueblos Magicos. The full list can be found here.
Valladolid was founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Montejo on May 27th, 1543. At the time, it was located about 30 miles north of its current position. After numerous Spaniards complained of mosquitos and humidity, the city was moved further inland to its current location on March 24th, 1545.
You can actually learn about Valladolid’s history as it is projected onto a cathedral at night, which is a common method of entertainment within the state of Yucatan.
Merida, Yucatan
Merida, Yucatan’s capital, is like a much larger version of Valladolid. It holds the unique record of having the largest percentage of indigenous residents within any large city in Mexico (at 60%).
The first thing that a visitor will likely notice about Merida are the rich cultural celebrations that take place near the town center almost every single night. Such celebrations include Jarana dancers, Pok-ta-Pok (an ancient Mayan ballgame), light and sound shows, and much more.
While it is somewhat of a concrete jungle within Merida, there are fascinating small cities and ruins nearby that can be easily accessed by bus. I went to the Dzibilchaltun and Uxmal ruins, the latter being my favorite of the seven archaeological sites that I visited during my trip.
There are numerous museums within Merida that can be visited for a small fee. The most extensive (and arguably the best) is the Mayan World Museum/Grand Museo del Mundo Maya. There is so much to see within this interactive museum that you could truly spend an entire day there soaking up all of the information.
For recommendations on other museums, Yucatan Today created a master list of all of the museums in Merida.
Palenque, Chiapas
Palenque is both the name of the town and the Mayan ruins that are situated within a dense jungle in the state of Chiapas. While it is somewhat smaller than the famous ruins of Chichen Itza, Palenque contains some of the most stunning architecture and bas-relief carvings of all of the Mayan ruins in Southern Mexico.
The city flourished between the 3rd and 8th centuries before falling into decline and eventually being abandoned, likely due to draught and continuous war with the neighboring city of Tonina.
The city flourished between the 3rd and 8th centuries before falling into decline and eventually being abandoned, likely due to draught and continuous war with the neighboring city of Unlike the Aztec and Inca empires, the Maya were a civilization of many individual kings who would often raid nearby cities for resources; slaves were actually the most important resource. Warriors captured during battle were typically enslaved and forced into hard labor in order to build the structures that we now refer to as the Mayan ruins.
San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas
San Cristobal de las Casas is a stunning colonial city in the state of Chiapas. Although it’s a popular transfer point for people going to/coming back from Guatemala, many travelers end up staying longer than they originally planned.
Large churches, cobblestone streets, stucco buildings, and local markets are all common sites within San Cristobal’s vibrant neighborhoods. In fact, one of my top recommendations for this city is to just walk around aimlessly.
I consider San Cristobal to be a fantastic budget destination within Southern Mexico since everything is very cheap. For $8 a night I had a bunk bed (with curtains) in a clean dorm room, a decently warm shower, and a delicious breakfast served every morning.They even gave me coffee and orange juice!!!
Similarly, I was able to find local restaurants and purchase a huge serving of meat, rice, beans, and salad for 50 pesos ($2.60). The waiters would greet me as “senior” and I always felt like a fancy businessman as I sat down for my meal.
While most inland destinations are relatively cheap in Southern Mexico, nothing compares to San Cristobal de las Casas.
Montebello Lakes/Lagunas de Montebello
We’re finally at the Guatemala border, how exciting!
We’ve now navigated over 1,000 miles in Southern Mexico and we’re doing just fine. We’ve avoided cartels and petty thieves, malaria and dengue, food poisoning and water-borne illnesses, and we only wasted our money on tourist traps a couple of times. Not too bad.
Upon reaching the southernmost location of my journey, I couldn’t help but feel like this was not Mexico at all. In fact, it appeared as if it was in my home state of California.
A large pine forest surround the 59 lakes within this park and it served as a stark contrast to the scenery that I had seen in Mexico up to that point.
Turning Around
After visiting the Montebello Lakes, I eventually made the same journey back to Cancun (minus the stop in Tulum).
While there are many smaller cities and Mayan ruins that I visited, this is a basic outline of my travels through Southern Mexico.
In the future I plan to write more in-depth articles about each of these locations in order to truly do them all justice.
The World Is Not As Dangerous As You Think
Various people looked at me like I was crazy, or as if they would never see me again, when I told them about my plans to explore Mexico alone.
It’s easy to think that an entire country is unsafe and that there is danger lurking at every corner. While Mexico definitely has a problem with violent crime in some areas, I was able to travel over 2,000 miles without once feeling unsafe.
The key is to thoroughly research the locations that you’ll be visiting and use common sense every day. While a certain level of suspicion is healthy, downright paranoia about traveling will leave you too scared to ever attempt it.
For better or for worse, that’s how I navigated 2,000 miles in Southern Mexico.
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Leave A Comment
Let’s talk Mexico! Drop a comment below to start a conversation.
I really enjoy your writing style! Were you trained as a journalist? I feel so comfortable reading your posts that although I have never had the urge to explore Mexico, Latin America, or South America, that may be changing. I will say I have aways been drawn to the music!
Thanks for the comment Kevin! I wasn’t trained as a journalist but I read a lot of books and am always keeping my writing skills sharp. And that’s fantastic! It’s an incredible region and I’d imagine that you could find some interesting cultural music in most of these regions.
What a colorful post! Love the pictures and it was quite interesting to read about your solo trip of 2000 miles, that’s condemnable 😃 I loved the last paragraph where you talked about people’s reaction in general & gave a befitting response “downright paranoia about traveling will leave you too scared to ever attempt it.”
Thank you for the thoughtful comment! I’m very happy that you enjoyed the article and that you liked my response about not being too scared to travel.
Just returned from a trip to Riviera Maya (somewhere between Playa and Tulum) and had a great time.
However, most of my time was spent in a resort and on organised trips, and that left me wondering what exploring southern Mexico would be like. My curiosity brought me to your blog post. Your itinerary sounds very interesting!
Mexico has such a vibrant culture and it’s such a shame that many visitors are put off by what we hear in the news about violent crime.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment!
I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip and hopefully you can make it back sometime to see more of southern Mexico. There’s definitely a huge difference between the coastal and the inland destinations.
Yes a lot of people think that Mexico as a whole is dangerous but it really just depends on the city/state in question. Southern Mexico actually has some of the safest cities in the entire country. I probably wouldn’t do 2,000 miles in northern Mexico though!
Vivo en Yucatán y este artículo me hizo ver de manera diferente los lugares a los que estoy tan acostumbrada, siempre es buena una dosis de opinión de alguien externo para aprender a valorar lo que tenemos, excelente artículo. ¡Felicidades Michael!
Estoy muy feliz de que te haya gustado, ¡muchas gracias por tu comentario amable!
Very nice. I will be researching more travel destinations with my wife for our holiday vacation. Thanks Michael!
I hope you find the perfect destination!