Lida's writing and his choice of material cast a powerful spell. read more

Author Dru Pearson has done an excellent job of researching and compiling almost everything anyone needs to know about adopting this country as a place to spend one's leisure years, either part-time or full-time. I can't think of any important topic that isn't covered here. Also, while it isn't the first book of this type to become available, I think it's the first - to my knowledge, at least, to be strictly computer accessible. read more

.Dru Pearson begins her account of her first four seasons in Ajijic starting in the summer of 2000 when she loaded or, rather, overloaded her VW van with as many belongings as it would hold, and she and her dog, Bailey, drove (slowly, she emphasizes) to Laredo. However, before she even reached the U.S./ Mexico border, the vehicle broke down and she found herself by the roadside in 110 degree temperatures, unloading twelve boxes of belongings, plus a TV, a computer complete with monitor and printer and other sundry items. However, a mechanic answered her call and the car was repaired and she made it across the border at Laredo, starting the 750 mile stretch to Ajijic on the shores of Lake Chapala. read more

Ten Narrow, serpentine streets. Old world baroque buildings. Steep hills - shoehorned with vivid-colored casas. I have dropped into a spectacular place - a cross between San Francisco and Paris. Journa... read more

Narrow, serpentine streets. Old world baroque buildings. Steep hills - shoehorned with vivid-colored casas. I have dropped into a spectacular place - a cross between San Francisco and Paris. ... read more

It is like a scene from a Fellini movie. Shrieking laughter of women. French music from a boom box. Chop chop chop of a machete. And we, hunkered down in our sleeping bags. Journal, June 13... read more

Ten Narrow, serpentine streets. Old world baroque buildings. Steep hills - shoehorned with vivid-colored casas. I have dropped into a spectacular place - a cross between San Francisco and Paris. Journa... read more

Solstice morn. Hot sun on my face. I have been awake since 4:30, Mexico rising to the surface, a wakening jolt of images and smells, not to be forgotten or unwritten. Journal, June 22 ... read more

The battle in question is the Battle of Calderon Bridge (Batalla del Puente de Calderon), fought just outside Guadalajara in January 1811 as part of Mexico’s fight for Independence. The decisive batt... read more

Click for interactive map Chihuahua, the state capital, is not a particularly tourist-oriented town but it is virtually inevitable that travelers seeking to explore the inner recesses of the state ... read more

By Jon Sievert © 2004 Jon Sievert November's U.S. Presidential election is shaping up as the most passionate and volatile in memory. Candidates from both major parties are already ... read more

Mazatlán, (pronounced “maz-it-LAWN”, with the stress on the last syllable), means “place of the deer” in the Nahuatl (Aztec) language,. It is a city of around half a million people, located on a long, flat stretch of the Pacific coast of Mexico, just to the south of the Tropic of Cancer and due east of the tip of the Baja peninsula. It is here that the cool waters of the deep Pacific meet those of the warm, shallow Gulf of California. You might think of Mazatlán as having one foot in the tropics and the other in the dryer, dessert climate to the north.

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(The rates quoted in this article are as of August 1998) When I first started traveling in Mexico in the '60s, it was truly like going back in time. If you wanted to place a call back to the States or... read more

Questions and answers about life in Mexico. read more

Questions and answers about life in Mexico. read more

Although no writer likes to feel that he or she has been read carelessly, or misread entirely, it's a dubious proposition for any of us to respond to any negative criticism that our books have received... read more

"Por favor (please) and gracias (thank you) are the most important words you'll use in Mexico." If I could own only one guide about getting to know Mexico, it would be The People's Guide t... read more

The fall of the Aztec Empire and capture of its ruler Cuauhtémoc (1521), left Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in charge of a vast and largely unfamiliar land. By 1522 his sovereign, Car... read more

One blazing Baja afternoon, I was sitting inside a palapa restaurant, directly in the airflow of a circulating air fan. The temperature was well over 100 degrees and the humidity was hovering around seventy-five percent. I was trying to work up enough courage to trudge a mile and a half to the beach, when suddenly a middle-aged couple breezed through the doorway. They were attired in crisp tennis whites, and seemingly stepped right out of an advertisement for a Rocky Mountain beer. "Nice day, isn't it?" the man tipped his hat in my direction. "Sure is" I grumbled. read more

This month, I'm interviewing a couple from Alberta, Canada who've come for a six-week vacation. This is the end of their third week. I actually met Julia and Marc over the Internet as a result of this ... read more

One of my readers asked me to describe a typical day here in the Lake Chapala area of Mexico. Others have asked, "What do you do all day?" So, I am inviting you to spend this day with me in the charmin... read more

Is driving in Mexico safe? Can I take my young children in the car? Are the toll roads expensive? There are so many questions and stories about driving in Mexico. Unless you're in Chiapas, driving is ... read more

After Lyn and I left Oaxaca, we drove northeast to Puebla, skirted around Mexico City and spent two and a half days in Querétaro. It's been less than two months since we made the trip, but at my age, ... read more

Harry and Simon are two friends Mary and I met through my Spanish class. Harry hails from South Carolina and has a very faint trace of a southern accent. Simon is originally from England, but he became... read more

Although denied officially and, personally by many Mexicans, racism in Mexico is so evident that most foreigners notice it right away. All you have to do is look at Mexican-produced television programs... read more