4 comments about Rand Mcnally 2008 Road Atlas and Travel Guide: United States/Canada/mexico (Rand Mcnally Road Atlas and Travel Guide: United States, Canada, Mexico).

1. This Atlas is a great resource tool when planning long distance or short distance travel. Plus, it's great fun to just open up at random and follow the highway. Armchair traveling? You bet -- don't knock it till you try it!!



2. This atlas is very large and spiral bound for easy flip-through. I especially love the travel highlights by state at the back. I agree with the other reviewer that it is an ideal travel guide for the arm-chair traveler.



3. Typically clear and easy to read maps you'd expect from Rand McNally. I like the spiral format as it saves wear and tear on the binding. This edition contains additional pages that spotlight each of the 50 states. Not necessary for navigational purposes, but as a home schooler I appreciated this feature.



4. Very handy on a road trip as it has both road condition and tourism phone numbers. It has a driving miles chart and also an estimated travel time map. The city maps are good and will do for most situations when passing through and making a brief stop. If you are going to be in a city for a long time and taking in all the sites then you will probably want to purchase a city map.
   
   Spiral binding is great and we keep it on the page of the state we are driving through.

No comments about Mapsco The Roads of New Mexico.

5 comments about Hidden Cancun and the Yucatan (Hidden Travel).

1. I picked up this book in San Francisco on a stop over on my way to Cancun though I had read other books on the area and indeed had them with me, this book became my travel bible. Chocked full of off the beaten path destinations, and unsurpassed detail of the Mayan Ruins lead me on a great adventure. The advice enclosed is priceless the descriptions of Uxmal go into great detail of not only the site itself but also includes a history of the city



2. This book really made my recent Holiday in Mexico a complete success! I agree with the last reviewer, you don't need this guide book or any other if you don't plan on leaving Cancun, but if you want to see the real Yucatan this book is a great help. Good info on lodging, meals, the locals, the ruin sites. There is so much to do that you will want plane a second trip! I am going back next year!



3. I just returned from a 2 week trip to the Yucatan peninsula. Starting off in Cancun and driving the cultural triangle route to the east to visit the Mayan ruins (Chichen Itza, Coba, Uxmal etc... and Spanish colonial cities (Merida, Valladolid etc...). For professional reasons I took along 4 travel guides (The Rough Guide to Cancun & Cozumel, DK's Eyewitness Top 10 Cancun & The Yucatan, Hidden Cancun & the Yucatan, and the Cadogan Yucatan & Mayan Mexico. In the past I've also used the frustrating Moon guide and weak Lonely Planet).
   
   Of the 4 guides, each quite different in focus and style, I found "Hidden Cancun and the Yucatan" undoubtedly the most annoying and rate it 2 stars. Perhaps it's a bit stingy with the stars - other people have given it 5 stars, but with several other guides to compare it to, it's weaknesses became more and more apparent. Neither a good detailed history of the region nor particularly interesting or detailed in describing towns, cities and Mayan sites. The "Cadogan Yucatan & Mayan Mexico" though slightly larger and heavier was in a different league and perhaps the best book on the region for these purposes but also immensely enjoyable and readable with many excellent recommendations for food and accommodation.
   
   The format "Hidden Cancun and the Yucatan" (a largish thick paperback seems) to suggest the same purpose but I think did a mediocre haphazard job. Even as a reference guide it fails to deliver with a pathetic lack of photographs and maps - those provided were as good as useless for reference (instead The rough Guide and Top 10 were infinitely superior and genuinely useful). By contrast, the reference information in "Hidden" is so poorly layed out and not conveniently accessible - excuse the pun, but without much better visuals, layout and concise text, "Hidden" does a good job of hiding it's information - not good when one is on the fly. For example different towns and villages were blended in a linear text dictated by routes (for example drivngh from Cancun to Playa del Carmen), so information for a given place you might want to visit might start at the bottom of a left page and run over the next without the name place ever making it to the top of the page. Places to dine, stay or shop would haphazardly fall wherever the text put them, never in sections starting a page top or in any consistent structural order. Perhaps the idea was to list everything in a rambling travelogue, place drifting into place running north to south, east to west, broken down by region. I just thought it made the book frustratingly inflexible and to idiosyncratic.
   
   By the way, why on earth produce a guide book for use in the tropics on cheap uncoated paper? Perhaps because they publishers decided to give the traveler only 4 pages of photographs. This book really absorbed moisture and seemed to get heavier and heavier! I know that sounds silly but simple details like trying to turn a page when they seem to cling together in the humidity added to my wondering about the wisdom behind this book.
   
   The 'hidden" part, the supposed trump card of this guide is of dubious merit. The "hidden" discoveries were few and far between, disappointing on the odd occasion I checked them out (I stopped after realizing that they weren't so special) and just not strong enough to hang the (title) concept of a travel book (series). Indeed I often found the 2004 version very dated and in the course of traveling, made far more interesting discoveries of my own. By contrast, "The Rough Guide" and "Top 10", both thin compact picture filled books with plenty of good maps and guides also contained far more recommendations of places to eat, stay and visit in a concise, coherent well layed out and easier to navigate manner that "Hidden Cancun & Yucatan" lacks. My girlfrined and I felt that they both immensely increased our interest in visiting various restaurants, Mayan sites, colonial towns, beaches, churches etc... In conjunction with the "Cadogan Yucatan" we were very well informed culturally, historically, visually and geographically. The 2 small pocket guides were excellent for walking about with when we left "Cadogan" and "Hidden" in the car - though we'd often bring "Cadogan" with us anyway because we couldn't stop reading it.
   
   Another thing that I found grating and contrary to the "hidden" concept was the authors occasional statements of his personal preferences in side bars. Normally it's great to get another traveler's insights, but personally I found the actual comments annoying. For example, I strongly question how a writer appealing to people seeking out hidden and undiscovered corners of the Yucatan can suggest that Palya del Carmen's beach is his favorite on the Mayan Riviera. Maybe it was different when he was last there a couple of years ago. Another dated reference (or just downright crass) was his reference to the actual pueblo of Tulum as "a drab eye-blink off the highway, with a few stores, a taco shop and a palapa-roofed church". Instead we are treated to the authors name dropping of personalities he's rubbed shoulders with at Maya Tulum, a chic place on the beach. In fact the pueblo of Tulum is a fast growing little town with an impressively paved main street with many interesting shops including a large "Misik Artesanias" (another smaller one is on the beach) and the adjoining palapa-roofed "Charlie's". There are a couple of big bank branches (HSBC and Banamex) with ATM machines, a couple of laundromats, an excellent large supermarket at the entrance to town (opposite the road down to the beach). Get my point? This is a fast growing town that is trying to make itself interesting and attractive without making itself into another souless eurotrash hole like Palaye del Carmen. How long ago did Richard Harris write his review? Is he aware that a 4 lane road is being constructed between Tulum and Coba (and onto Valladolid) and an international airport in pre-construction there? This may be a particularly dramatic place for change but my point is that the book was often out of date and unfocused.



4. I guess the "hidden" in the title suggested the author was familiar with the territory. So this was the only guide I took along on my recent trip to the Yucatan. Big mistake! A pre-trip reading made it this guide look worthwhile, but in actuality, it misinformed.
   Take credit cards. Harris says, "Credit cards are just about as widely accepted in Mexico and Central America as they are in the United States." Has the author ever tried to use one in Tulum? Or even in the resort town of Akumal? The big hotels in Cancun and other places take them and a VERY few upmarket shops and restaurants do, but that's it. We couldn't even use ours at a gas station in Cancun.
   And thinking you'll be able to navigate with the maps in the book is another mistake. The maps are inaccurate. The one of Cancun bears little resemblance to reality.
   After a few days, I imagined the author having taken a hasty taxi ride through the Yucatan and jotting down "hidden" findings whenever the taxi left the main road.
   A lot of research went into this book. But not all of it was on site and not all yielded accurate information. Harris writes: "Palenque was made famous by American adventurer and travel writer John Lloyd Stephens during his first expedition to Central America in 1837." Actually, Stephens and Frederick Catherwood first traveled and explored Coba.
   Senior travelers are informed of Elderhostel trips, but told they must be 60 ( not 50) years old. This is being picky-picky, but when it's yet another of many inaccuracies (and you stupidly took along only this guide), it rankles.
   A better, more accurate guidebook would have made our trip more pleasurable.



5. This book is lacking in the detail that many other guidebooks to the area offer. I used it for a trip to Cozumel, and apart from comparing restaurant reviews with those found in other sources, I found it lacking. For a better guide, I would pick the Moon guide to Cancun and Cozumel.

1 comments about National Geographic Traveler: Mexico, 2nd Edition.

1. Using this guide book my boyfriend and I planned an amazing Mexican getaway and traveled all over central and eastern Mexico by bus. This guide gave us great local information and all of the spots they suggested turned out to be wonderful. I will keep this forever with our notes and lend it to friends that want to have a great time! Great buy!

No comments about Hidden Picture-Perfect Escapes Santa Fe and Taos: Plus the Enchanted Circle.

No comments about Backpacking in Mexico and Central America.

2 comments about Backpacking in Mexico.

1. Although the book had valuable information on remote areas of Mexico the "narrative" approach to giving directions was a little dated in the age of widely available GPS. Distances are often expressed in terms of time and landmarks are at times vague.

   Even so I have used the book on several trips and found it better than my usual "inquire locally" approach. At least I don't feel that I'm going in totally ignorant of a location. The book is particularly valuable in picking a destination to your liking.

   If you are at all a naturalist you will appreciate the detailed lists of flora and fauna. The general travel information was also quite detailed.




2. I think this book tries to be too many things. It aims at giving backpackers all they need. All they need won't fit into 240 or so pages. Most of it covers the same ground as do other, better, guidebooks: bus connections, hotels, restaurants, background and history, sightseeing descriptions, etc. Also, note that the book was printed in 1997 so the details are hopelessly outdated anyway.
   
   Where it's different from the usual guidebooks (Lonely Planet, Moon, etc.) is in giving some information on hikes. Unfortunately, narrative directions like these are notoriously hard to follow. Trail maps are too much to hope for, but GPS coordinates would be a huge help, as another reviewer has already noted. In any case, there aren't enough trails included to justify calling it a hiking book.
   
   There are some good things in it. The authors clearly know their flora and fauna and it shows up in the text. They're not afraid of expressing opinions as so many guidebook writers are. The essays give a personal feel to subjects travelers will want to know about.
   
   My recommendation is that backpack travelers to Mexico should invest the low price and read the book through. That would enable them to plan a much better trip and the savings in money and time would easily repay the investment. I wouldn't carry it along on the trip because I'd want to reserve that space in the backpack for better guidebooks, but I'd tear out the few pages that didn't duplicate the same material and carry them along.

1 comments about Mexico North Map by ITMB (Travel Reference Map).

1. This is a map that could be certainly judged by its cover. Of all the incredibly beautiful images that could characterize northern Mexico, International Travel Maps bafflingly chooses an out of focus, poorly composed and conceived photo that could have been taken in East LA. This a photo that prominently features a propane tank, a bag of fruit and a baseball cap. Unfortunately, the information that this map provides is also lacking most of the detail most travelers will want on a basic trip to the region. For Baja California, which I know very well, many of the place names are out of date and many of the most important geographic features are inaccurately portrayed or even non-existent. There are many excellent maps for Baja California, such as The Baja Almanac and even the AAA Baja map and guide. For mainland northern Mexico, the complete traveler should seek something much better than the Mexico North Map by ITMB.

2 comments about An Odd Odyssey: California to Colombia by bus and boat, through Mexico and Central America.

1. Some years past, a colleague suggested a year of travel instead of my intended return to school. It took thirty years to fulfill that suggestion. David Short didn't require any more prompting than a dull, dirty and dangerous job. His destination, prompted by a world-traveling grandfather, became Central America, specifically, the Panama Canal. The journey lasted just short of six months and resulted in this account of his adventures. A spirited read, An Odd Odyssey should inspire anyone of nearly any age to pull up stakes at least once in a lifetime and venture somewhere distant. Short's account shows how richly rewarding travel can be to those willing to make the effort.

   There are two kinds of travel books - the "guidebook" with sights, prices, accommodation ideally suited for those seeking comfort instead of adventure. Glossy photos, usually portraying conditions found on movie sets, detailed maps, prices listed. The other type is the personal journal, which, properly done, imparts a far better sense of "being there" than does the guidebook. Short's chronicle is the second type, a vivid sharing of his thoughts, experiences, disasters, even love. The means of travel was by bus. Just finding one was fraught with hazards - timing, crowding or even just running. Once boarded, there was the issue of finding the proper seat: "Sit in the rear. Bandits will shoot through the front window." On a limited budget the "guidebook" hotels were out of the question for Short. Many havens he found for a night's rest became adventures in their own right. Weather, ever a primary topic for travellers, added its own quirks - a major Caribbean hurricane being the most spectacular.

   These minor discomforts aside, Short's recital of his travels points up the many benefits of journeying solo. One of these is that you don't remain alone for long. Not every acquaintance is a welcome companion, but none are dull. They bring their lives into his view, and to ours. Short meets former convicts, travellers from Europe, Canada and Australia. Not limiting himself to fellow "gringos" he deals well with the local residents. Although a few are not as friendly as he - he's robbed twice and has the usual tangles with bureaucrats, cheating taxi drivers and sullen hoteliers. Still, he maintains his equanimity, exhibiting strength in adverse circumstances. In this modern age he can turn to internet cafes, at one point spending more on email and 'net surfing than on accommodation and food.

   Short is a learner, eager to know the current and historical conditions of the lands he visits. Teotihuacan, Tikal and the world's largest stone sphere. His account leads you along with him in fine descriptive prose. He shares his learning without becoming pedantic or opinionated. His judgments result of thoughtful assessment and it's easy to agree with them. The book becomes not only the tale of his journey, but a guidebook without gloss or sham. By the end of it, we envy his adventures and his ability to relate them. It's hard not to embark on a similar jaunt with the aim of duplicating his effort for your chosen locale.




2. This book is several books in one. In addition to his varied personal experiences on the road, it includes some well researched history of the countries he visits, both ancient and contemporary. He talks about the big people in history, like Cortes, Clinton, Subcomandante Marcos, Leon Trotsky, Frida Kahlo and Manuel Noriega. He then gives equal attention to the little people he meets along the way, like the Mexican museum curator whose family had been guarding an ancient relic for several generations. He even travels to Paul Gauguin's house with a Playboy Bunny he met in a youth hostel. But he also engrosses the reader with his thoughts about his personal life, most interestingly, his romance with a Nicaraguan girl. Hurricane Mitch, which strikes when he is Guatemala and devastates the region, adds a sinister backdrop to his odd holiday, but in the end he achieves his goals despite numerous setbacks. It is a little bit like a collection of short stories, since it is written in diary form, so each day represents a new thought, and a new mini adventure. The stories about the crocodile and the monkey I almost wouldn't have believed except that he included photos in the book. I especially liked his description of his climbing of the volcano... and was left feeling it is much more enjoyable - and safer - to read his description of it than to attempt such a feat in real life.

1 comments about Mexico Blue-Ribbon Fly Fishing Guide (Blue-Ribbon Fly Fishing Guides).

1. Excellent book for experienced fly fisherman who are looking to explore mostly unfished waters, at least with a flyrod. I have fished some of the areas that Ken mentions. Agree with his evaluation as well as recommendations for lodging. Presents an alternative to some of the pricey lodges.