Three Weeks in Central and Southern Mexico

One rainy, miserable day in Merida, I decided that I needed to get out of there. Between the horrendously hot afternoons and the sudden monsoon downpours, the weather was seriously getting me down……so I booked a ticket to Mexico City for the next day with a rough plan in mind to go to Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca, San Cristobal, and Campeche overland. I had no idea how long I would be gone for and told my housemates loosely that I may be back in a week or so. Instead 2.5 weeks later, I found myself sitting on a balcony overlooking the main cathedral of Taxco.

Trip Itinerary

• Mexico City
• Puebla
• Oaxaca
• Puerto Escondido
• Acapulco
• Taxco
• Cuernavaca
• Mexico City

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My journey started with a few days in Mexico City including a trip to Teotihuacan, one of Mexico’s most important ancient ruins, a trip to Frida Kahlo’s house and hours and hours spent roaming around the uber chic neighborhoods of Condesa and Roma. Although I had been to Mexico City before, I didn’t explore much outside of the historical centro area and I am so glad that this trip gave me more opportunities to see what the city has to offer and I must admit, I love what I see! In the hostel, I met a nice Hungarian flight attendant who became my travel buddy for the next few days (never underestimate the power of making friends in hostels!).

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From Mexico City, we took a blabla car to Puebla which took around 2.5 hours. Puebla is a gorgeous little colonial city but sadly, we had two days of rain before we finally got to see it in its full glory. The main square of Puebla is full of restaurants and a beautiful garden complete with multiple fountains and a light-up Mexico sign in case you forgot where you were for a second (like I said, it is easy to think you are in a European city). The historical center of the city is very charming but the area is very small and you soon get into some dodgy areas so you don’t need more than a few days there. However, the city is home to some truly spectacular churches and is an easy starting point to visit Cholula, home of a weird Aztec pyramid that is now covered with grass, looks like a big hill and has a Spanish church perched on top of it. It is also supposed to be a university town but thanks to covid, it was more like a ghost town

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From Puebla, I took a 5 hour bus ride to Oaxaca. Many travelers absolutely adore Oaxaca and I was extremely excited to finally see it. I expected a mountain city with cobblestone streets and winding alleyways taking you into secret little plazas. Instead, I found a town that looked almost exactly like a hybrid of Queretaro and Merida but much, much smaller. The grid streets are orderly and lined with brightly colored houses. The main square was sadly closed when I was there which simply pushed all of the crowds into a much smaller adjacent square (so much for social distancing). After spending hours walking up and down the streets and even squeezing in two runs, I decided to head to my next destination – Puerto Escondido

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Puerto Escondido was not originally on my “list” of places to see but after deciding to hightail it out of Oaxaca, I needed a place to fill a few days before I was eventually supposed to meet some women in San Cristobal that are in the same extreme traveler Facebook group as me. The minivan ride to Puerto Escondido took 7 hours and was incredibly hilly. My driver drove like he was a Formula 1 racer and I quickly learned that my seat with all the extra legroom (I went to the bus station the day before to request that seat specifically) was a very bad idea because I had nothing to brace myself on. Luckily, the minivan was nearly empty so I spent the last few hours lying across the backseat trying to feel a little bit less like a ping pong ball. A friend had told me to take Dramamine before the ride and I am so glad that I did since it made a painful ride slightly less nauseating.

I finally arrived in Puerto Escondido slightly nauseous and very hot and sweaty. The mountain cold was gone and replaced by balmy beach weather. I checked into my hostel and was told that a group of people were heading to the beach and asked if I wanted to join them. I grabbed my bathing suit, changed my clothes and was soon squashed into the backseat of a taxi. That first day was a precursor of things to come and I spent the next week happily bouncing between the hostels gorgeous veranda and various beaches. Most of the other guests were staying long term so it felt like we were part of one big family. The wifi was fast and stable so I didn’t have to stress out about work and the owner was generous enough to let me use one of the single rooms to teach in. I also discovered on my second night there that the other guy in my room slept naked – yet weirdly, it didn’t bother me….even after I woke up to see. I saw way more of a 23 year old male than I have in a long time! I loved the hostel so much that it inspired me to even write a helpful blog article!

Puerto Escondido proved itself to be a special place. I am not a beach bum by any means but something about it just kept me there. While I originally planned on staying 2 days, I stayed 7 and even missed meeting the other women in San Cristobal. I don’t know if it was the warmth and friendliness of the hostel and the new friends that came along with it or the gorgeous beaches or the relaxed atmosphere but something made me very hesitant to leave. However, all good things must come to an end so I finally packed up my bags, said goodbye and headed to the bus station for the next part of my trip.

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The bus to Acapulco was supposed to take 9 hours but ended up taking more like 10.5 thanks to the bus driver’s very slow driving and frequent stops to pick up passengers. Gurrero state is supposed to be one of the most dangerous places in Mexico but all I saw along the way were small towns and cities full of normal looking people trying to make a living. My bus driver seemed to want to support nearly everyone and bought mountains of food, which he then turned around and offered me. Along the way, I was given an orange, coconut candy and a cookie.

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I finally arrived in Acapulco and took a taxi to the main square which was just a few minutes’ walk from my hotel. Worried about Acapulco’s reputation, I quickly ate a Domino’s pizza and rushed to check in to my hotel. Claiming to be the “only colonial hotel” in Acapulco, the courtyard featured a huge mango tree and a nice little swimming pool. I got a great night sleep and the next morning set off to explore the city. The main touristy areas of Acapulco are centered around Acapulco bay and I walked 20 kilometers that day exploring it from one end to the other. The “original” part is full of old hotels that haven’t aged since the 1950s including Los Flamingos Hotel and El Mirador (home of Acapulco’s famous cliff divers). Easily accessible beaches lined the bay and were full of people, even on a Thursday morning. Joggers plodded their way up and down the Malecon and the city actually felt very safe. That evening, I had dinner at El Mirador Hotel to watch the cliff divers (a bit overrated I must say!). Don’t get me wrong, it was amazing to watch them scramble their way UP a steep cliff and then dive off of it into very shallow water but the problem is, if you blinked then you missed it. I watched the show twice and still didn’t feel like I really saw much. However, I did have a lovely waiter who offered to show me around the next morning. I gladly took him up on the offer and spent the morning hanging out on the beach with him before heading off on the next leg of my trip.

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The bus from Acapulco to Taxco took around 5 hours and passed by relatively quickly with lots of legroom and some decent movies. Unfortunately, my arrival in Taxco was not so pleasant as I got lost and ended up roaming up and down the hilly streets looking for my hostel. When I finally arrived, I was hot, tired and in desperate need of a bathroom. After a quick recharge of both my and my phone’s batteries, I was off to explore the city. As one of Mexico’s pueblo magicos, Taxco promises to offer something special to guests and it certainly delivers. A popular day trip from Mexico City, Taxco is everything that Mexico City is not. The red and white houses look like something out of a movie and the cathedral stands like Gulliver over the city (no kidding – it really is THAT big!). Historically known for silver production, Taxco is lined with jewelry shops even today selling junk jewelry that looks like something a teenager would wear. Despite the plethora of tourist shops, there is something incredibly charming about the city. Mariachi bands fill the main square, narrow streets actually DO disappear into cobblestone squares and the city is full of little Volkswagen beetles zooming around as taxis. Houses are perched on the hills surrounding the city and it feels like a very noisy European city 🙂

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From Taxco, I took a short 1.5 hour bus ride to Cuernavaca (tip – make sure to get a seat on the right side of the bus – the views leaving Taxco are phenomenal!) , capital of the state of Morelos (if that means nothing to you, don’t worry. I don’t know anything about Morelos myself.) At first glance, the city looked like a small provincial city with a handful of stores and the normal assortment of Mexican “fast food” (very unhealthy and very un-vegetarian friendly). However, after strolling a block or two off of the main street, I found a laid back city full of museums, churches, quirky cafes and restaurants and a surprising array of “dive bars”. While my original plan had been to look around for a few hours and then continue on to Mexico City, I quickly pulled out my phone and booked a place to stay for the night. The hotel was a gigantic colonial house with huge rooms and a bed that could have handled Snow White and all of the seven dwarfs. All 6 feet of me were swallowed up in it and I felt like a little kid again. I spent a few hours exploring the city and eventually got distracted by a dodgy looking bar that sold cheap beer. While there, an old man with his even older mom asked me if I wanted to go for dinner and that it was her 83rd birthday. I gladly joined in and that is how I found myself eating an 83 year old Mexican woman’s birthday cake!

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The next day, I spent a leisurely day walking up and down the streets of the colonial city and enjoying the overall warmth and friendliness of people. I even ran to the ancient ruins nearby (which were sadly closed despite what Google maps had promised me). Although I had heard barely anything about Cuernavaca as a tourist destination before arriving there, I was so pleasantly surprised by Cuernavaca and the overall atmosphere of the city that I even decided to stay an extra night!

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I finally finished my trip back in CDMX where I spent a few days wandering the streets of the Zona Rosa, Condesa and Roma and basically falling in love with it! The neighborhoods mentioned are full of interesting bars and restaurants and unlike Merida, virtually everything was open and life was back to normal. It was a relaxing end to a wonderful trip!

Total Spend – 3 Week Itinerary
(transportation and accommodation – I exclude food because these are costs that I normally incur on a daily basis )
$60 – Flight Merida to Mexico City
$18 – Hostel in Mexico City – 3 nights
$7 – Blabla car Mexico City – Puebla
$18 – Hotel in Puebla – 2 nights
$25 – Bus Puebla to Oaxaca
$12 – Single room in a hostel in Oaxaca – 2 nights
$12 – Bus Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido
$64 – Hostel in Puerto Escondido – 8 nights
$26 – Bus Puerto Escondido to Acapulco
$36 – Hotel in Acapulco (no hostels) – 2 nights
$16 – Bus Acapulco to Taxco
$42 – Hotel in Taxco (no hostels)
$7 – Bus Taxco to Cuernavaca
$44 – Hotel in Cuernavaca – 2 nights
$8 – Bus Cuernavaca to CDMX
$20 – Hostel in CDMX – 2 nights
$60 – Flight from CDMX to Merida
Grand Total $475 for a three week trip