Mexico Safety

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nyker
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Mexico Safety

Post by nyker »

For those who have been there recently, alone or with friends, guides, etc. can you comment on the real situation with safety in the region for us American tourists? Never having been there, and only hearing of border town drug/gang massacres makes it hard for me to make unbiased assumptions of traveling there.

As others are contemplating, I'm thinking of a trip to climb the volcanoes.

Thanks!
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kushrocks
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Re: Mexico Safety

Post by kushrocks »

PM wildlobo71, surfnturf, I man they just got back from Mexico after climbing Orizaba today. They'd have the most up to date info for you
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nyker
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Re: Mexico Safety

Post by nyker »

Great, thanks. Guys, looking forward to the TR too!
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ThuChad
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Re: Mexico Safety

Post by ThuChad »

:cartman:

I've been to Mexico six times in the last three years. I had no problems and didn't see anything crazy. I flew everywhere I was going and didn't drive more than 30 miles from the airport. I have several Mexican(from Mexico) coworkers. One or two of them had trouble when trying to drive to their home state of Aguascalientes from the US. Generally just petty theft at gun-point but scary nonetheless.

You should be fine. \:D/
I'm just pretending to be a poseur.
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SurfNTurf
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Re: Mexico Safety

Post by SurfNTurf »

I'll post more tomorrow (at DFW now), but we just got back from five days in Mexico with no safety issues. Knowledge of Spanish and a little common sense go a long way.
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I Man
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Re: Mexico Safety

Post by I Man »

Jeff is more dangerous than anything in Mexico.

I was apprehensive, but it went very well. We even took buses everywhere instead of hiring a private driver.
Gabriel
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Re: Mexico Safety

Post by Gabriel »

I've travelled to the highland area of Mexico to hike and climb every year for the past 11 years. I base myself in Puebla which is a beautiful colonial city with easy access to many peaks. I have never had any problems and consider my stays there much safer than when I'm in the U.S. I either take public transport or rent a car at the airport in Mexico City. You should be fine. Once acclimatized you can do the volcanoes as short excursions from Puebla. For Orizaba you can take an early bus to Tlach and be at the ht by late afternoon, climb the peak and return to Puebla the next day. Very easy and convenient.

Hav fun,

G
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jrs1965
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Re: Mexico Safety

Post by jrs1965 »

Previously I have traveled to Mexico City for my work and have not had any issues. However, typically I stay at the hotel adjacent to the U.S. Embassy and work with the local military folks so security and language barriers are not an issue. I think the savvy language and regionally smart traveler should not have any issues but Mexico can still can be a very dangerous place. If you have any doubts associated with the traveling in Mexico take a look at the site linked below (graphic content warning).

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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wildlobo71
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Re: Mexico Safety

Post by wildlobo71 »

I would agree with SurfNTurf and Matt - nothing we saw this last weekend would give me any cause for dismay in travelling to Mexico. We even played tourists on Monday based out of Mexico City - took local city buses to stations and small bus lines to the Aztec Ruins and had no bad experiences. From all appearances on our Orizaba trip we had no issues taking public transportation in Mexico.

Enjoy your planning!
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Dancesatmoonrise
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Re: Mexico Safety

Post by Dancesatmoonrise »

You guys are totally BA.
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mike_kadow
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Re: Mexico Safety

Post by mike_kadow »

Okay, I'll chime in.

Americans are generally fine anywhere in Mexico, but you have good reason to be weary of the border. That's where most of the cartels are and most of the time the kidnappings are "staged". However, besides the killings, nearly all of them are staged to make the public aware and to make a statement about their presence in the area they occupy.

Americans are rarely involved with these "stagings" so you should be good to go OP.

My experience is from work down there and assigning guards & personal body guards for both US and Mexican families & businesses that come and go regularly across the border. Basically anything a couple hours south of the border does not involve any "action".
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Matt Lemke
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Re: Mexico Safety

Post by Matt Lemke »

wildlobo71 wrote:I would agree with SurfNTurf and Matt - nothing we saw this last weekend would give me any cause for dismay in travelling to Mexico. We even played tourists on Monday based out of Mexico City - took local city buses to stations and small bus lines to the Aztec Ruins and had no bad experiences. From all appearances on our Orizaba trip we had no issues taking public transportation in Mexico.

Enjoy your planning!
I second everything said here. When we were there back in March we never felt unsafe
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