5 comments about Let's Go Mexico 21st Edition (Let's Go Mexico).

1. "Let's Go Mexico" has been running with the big dogs (Rough Guide & Lonely Planet) for years and it is the best guide out for those on a "starving student" budget.
   
   There is a great section at the beginning of the book, "Discover Mexico", which has five suggested itineraries - excellent. The "Beyond Tourism" chapter will help those looking for volunteer opportunities, environmental preservation, social action, teaching English and studying everything from language to college level courses. These two sections alone are worth the price of the book.
   
   The authors will find you the best rock bottom, dirt cheap, bargain basement, lowest price possible accommodations and restaurants to match. The accommodations listed in this guide span from under $10 to $25 plus. Where the guide has the "thumbs-up" symbol near the listing it is worth checking it out.
   
   There are restaurants in the guide for $2 (this doesn't include your beer) and these eateries have very good food! The guide was written by six "research-writers" so one geographical area can be better described than another. I found the descriptions of both the accommodations and eateries to be very brief and not as informative as the upscale guide ,"Frommer's" (a very good guide for Mexico - strongly recommended). However, you still get enough information to make a discerning choice.
   
   For those who love "Nightlife" (bars & clubs), the "Let's Go Mexico" guide is the best out today... especially for the young crowd. All of their recommendations, including the bars and clubs, are easy to find on fairly decent maps.
   
   Bottom line: This is guide is especially valuable if you are trying to explore Mexico on your lunch money. Happy Trails. Highly Recommended.



2. I didn't really gain much insight as to the types of activities I was hoping to explore in Mexico (Chiapas). Granted, there is a good deal of info regarding museums and markets in Let's Go, but not very much regarding ecotour and other outdoor pursuits, which don't get much mention at all in this guide. If you're looking for info regarding hotels and cultural attractions, Let's Go may be a good choice. If you're looking for info regarding ecotourism, outdoor activites, and other such things that may be a little off the beaten path, Rough Guide or Lonely Planet is probably the better buy.



3. I've been using Let's Go guides since college (over tens years ago), and they never disappoint. From great tested recommendations of places to eat, sleep, or sightsee, I know that Let's Go will steer me clear of tourist traps or dangerous situations abroad. My partner and I will be travelling to Cancun in mid-June, and have used Let's Go to plan all of our excursions, from scuba diving, to snorkelling, to bull-fight watching, to daytrips around the Yucatan peninsula. I highly recommend this book!



4. The content in the book is pretty good, though I'd prefer more meat and potatoes and less unnecessary discussion. It is interesting reading, but I prefer guide books to be more utilitarian. It also has a cheap feel to it--the paper is thin, sort of like newspaper. Lonely Planet feels sturdier, yet is thinner and has the same things to say. Let's Go also sells far too many advertisements in the book. I would understand seeing an ad every other page if it were free, but I paid for it and expect very few (if any) because of that.



5. it was an excellent choice. I wanted to buy it because last one I had gotten was 2001. This got new prices but not the newest ones.

3 comments about Fodor's Cancun, Cozumel, Yucatan Peninsula 2006 (Fodor's Gold Guides).

1. After spending ten days in the Yucatan I found this guide to be the most helpful of the three guides I took with me. This is due to the fact that this is a very new publication (fresh off the press!). Lots of good info on what to do and see and where to eat. Made my trip even more memorable then it would have been anyway. The Yucatan is a great vacation adventure, which I highly recommend! I also check out "A Tourist in the Yucatan" great thriller that has become an underground Hit!



2. It has a lot about the big places, but nothing about those little places that you just have to find yourself.



3. The book does a nice job with breaking out the various destinations and gives a lot of helpful hints. The book also has a lot of space on what not to eat, how to drive, how to get around and other helpful tips. There is so much information to cover, the book could stand to be a little longer.

No comments about The land of shorter shadows.

No comments about Border Life: Travels Between Mexico And The Usa.

No comments about Central Mexico Map, including Mexico City.

2 comments about The Rough Guide to The Maya World 2 (Rough Guide Travel Guides).

1. It was time for our annual trip to foreign fields, so Imogen and I visited Merida in the Yucatan Peninsula in September 2000. We took two guidebooks with us -- the Rough Guide to the Mayan World and a slightly out of date Lonely Planet Guide to Mexico. Our intention was to visit several Mayan sites on the vacation, so we chose the Rough Guide expecting the coverage of the Mayan sites to be good. As it turned out, we found the Rough Guide to be particularly disappointing in the coverage of the Mayan sites, particularly when compared with the Lonely Planet guide. The Rough Guide reads as if it has been cobbled together from the different Rough Guides for the different countries that make up the Mayan region. We did not think there had been sufficient effort to build a focus on the Mayan world.

   While out in Mexico, we went on two highly enjoyable trips to the two major Mayan sites in the state of Yucatan -- Chichen Itza and Uxmal. There are maps of both of these sites in both guidebooks, but the description and explanation in the text of the Lonely Planet guide surpasses that of the Rough Guide. However, where we felt the Rough Guide really disappointed was in the coverage of minor sites. We journeyed to Uxmal via the Ruta Puuc. This is a roundabout route that takes in four minor sites before reaching the grand finale of Uxmal. The Lonely Planet guide had at least a couple of paragraphs on each of these minor sites and occasionally a map. The Rough Guide had almost nothing for some of the sites. When we were traveling to the sites on a very smooth road, it amused us to read the description of the barely paved road we were actually using according to the Rough Guide. I suppose the Rough Guide made us feel like we were undertaking a far more difficult and romantic adventure.

   On a brighter note, the Rough Guide did a better job of describing the town of Merida. We found Merida's bus service particularly confusing since there are at least five bus terminals that are well used. The Rough Guide gave a slightly clearer account of which terminals to use. One small point is to ignore all of the prices in either of the books. This accuracy is not the fault of either of the books but just the nature of the Mexican currency. Both books make it clear that the prices will be inaccurate, however it is still worth repeating. Just by way of an example, the Rough Guide quotes the entry price for Uxmal as 4 US dollars. We actually handed over 80 pesos each, or closer to 9 US dollars. This magnitude of difference was not uncommon. I suspect the Rough Guide was written when the Mexican peso had just dropped to a low against the dollar and prices in Mexico had not adjusted.

   Viva Mexico! But take the Lonely Planet Guide!




2. I spent a month in Central America, circling from Belize through Northern Guatemala into Chiapas back into South-Central Guatemala into Honduras back up to East Guatemala and into Belize again. Normally, I always travel with Lonely Planet guidebooks. However, I got this book instead of the one by Lonely Planet covering the same basic area because I had read negative reviews of the LP version here on Amazon. I won't make that mistake again -- the Rough Guide to the Maya World is a disappointment.

   The Good:
   The strongest point was the the cultural background, though counterintuitively, it is relegated to the back of the book as kind of an afterthought. Based on my past experiences with LP, I still believe that Lonely Planet is more comprehensive, though, so this is faint praise for the Rough Guide.

   The Bad:
   Maybe this happens with all guidebooks to volatile regions, but much of the info was woefully out of date. At least one of the five or so restaurants listed in every city I visted had gone out of business. Prices, especially for expeditions from Flores, had very nearly doubled in some cases.

   On a related note, and much less forgivable, some places were in different locations than they were marked on the maps. In some cases, the text gave the right address, but the map was mismarked. In other cases, text was scattered across the maps in a way that you couldn't figure out which building it was referring to. LP crushes the Rough Guide both in the quality and quantity of maps -- several times I wandered into town with no map, something that LP will never do to you.

   Some info which would have been interesting to know and very easy to list (population, for example, or detailed info about the climate and temperature, or info about local artwork and craftwork, or even descriptions of what the particular crafts and food that made a town famous) were absent.

   Listed durations for Guatemalan buses were laughable. Take whatever the Rough Guide says a trip will last and add about 33%. Maybe even 50%. If they say that a trip will last five hours or more, expect it to take a full day. Belize and Mexico were generally more accurate.

   The physical book itself was not very durable, and after taking generally good case of it for 3 weeks, pages started to fall out even though I had not bent the book or otherwise harshly handled it. This made me really appreciate LP's durable spines.

   One very irritating trend in the book is that borders often have different and conflicting information listed for them, depending on which country chapter you are reading -- for example, the Guatemala chapter will describe the border as staffed by very corrupt officials and with 3 connecting buses every day into Mexico, while the Mexico chapter won't mention the border guards and will list 5 connecting buses into Mexico. It's as if the writers for each country never compared their notes, or went at different times, or the editors never proofread everything to have it all add up. In short, the border info is pretty sloppy.

   Worst of all, border taxes (legitimate ones for boat and air departures rather than the shakedowns the books describes and which seldom actually happen) were out of date -- you have to pay a big chunk of change to leave Guatemala by plane or boat, for example, and Belize always gouges you for leaving, though not the same price for each means of transport. Check with online bulletin boards for up to date info.

   Conclusion:
   Like I said, the Rough Guide disappointed me. While probably only about 15% was wrong, I ended up spending considerable time and money because of those shortcomings. Even though the LP guide for the same area has been trashed by Amazon users, I would still advise getting that book, if only for the benefit of having a complete set of maps at your disposal. Also, in my experience, LP books are more coherent and readable. Sight unseen, I say go with LP instead.

No comments about Alexandra's Travel Adventure: Making Friends in Mexico.

3 comments about Birder's Mexico (Louise Lindsey Merrick Natural Environment Series, 12).

1. This classic is a "must" for any birder studying for a Mexico trip. Species, tips on finding them, and areas of interest are wonderfully described. Details on plants and trees are a big plus as these are hard to come by elsewhere. After looking in vain for Wauer's book, I'm delighted it's back in print. A good companion to Howell's Finding Birds in Mexico.



2. This is a pleasant, well-written book, that transported me throughout some of Mexico's natural regions from my armchair. Those with experience searching for birds in Mexico will find that this book awakens charming memories. Others may long wistfully to explore the beautiful and unusual habitats found south of the border. I particularly liked chapter 12 - "Place of the Tufted Jay", which included a photo of the Hotel Villa Blanca, where I have also stayed while pursuing the local endemic, the Tufted Jay. The author watched Swifts from the roof of the hotel.



3. I would assume that if you are interested in this book it is because of a future or past birding or natural history tour of Mexico. This book is a great trip and will tantilize you with the biological treasures of places that you dream about or rekindle the memories of places you have visited. If you are familiar with birding trip reports such as found in Blake Maybank's site, this is similar but with a more literary touch. These are stories of great places told by a very well informed naturalist.
   
   This is not a site guide like Howell's or Wheatly & Brewer's books. There are no detailed directions or maps here and some places, even the very well birded San Blas area, are not included in the book. It is still a pleasure to read and will give you some practice on what to expect in the deserts, thorn scrub, cloud forests, and tropical lowlands of Mexico. There are good references to other natural history studies of the country and excellent sections on practical travel information. A very worthwhile read.
   
   Also for readers that enjoy this book Roland Wauer has also written an excellent guide in "A Birder's West Indies" for all the islands of the Caribbean Sea.

2 comments about In the Shadow of the Volcano: One Family's Baja Adventure.

1. I loved this book--his descriptions of the beauty of the place they lived really made me want to see it. I have not traveled in Baja but now I want to go to Bahia de Los Angeles where they lived.
   I especially liked the way he wrote about the wildlife and the different animals they owned, the burro and the chickens and their dogs. The whales and the dolphins that swam in the bay nearby, too.
   I think they were a brave couple to take their little boys to live on the beach. It sounds like it was good for them bonding as a family, though, and what a great place to spend your vacations!



2. IN THE SHADOW OF THE VOLCANO: ONE FAMILY'S BAJA ADVENTURE is adventure reading at its best: in the early 1970s the author and his family explored Baja, living in a tiny hut they constructed on a remote beach. But that didn't end their adventure: in 1985 they revisited the area with their sons ages and 8, living for a summer in another beachside hut. Their first-person adventures offer warm reflections on local culture and family experiences alike.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

No comments about New Mexico Wildlife Viewing Guide, 2nd.