This is one thing I know about Mexico after traveling and studying there for many months. The people in general are terrific. They are family oriented and have a culture as rich as any if not more so. And it is fortunate the family is so strong.

The system of governance sucks. By design. The design occurred many scores of years ago after some revolution when the founders/fighters/generals got together to decide what kind of country was to be crafted. They were not Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln. Their model was Spain. Spain was the most subjugated of all Roman colonies during the heyday of the Roman empire. Forced labor in the mines, all that sort of thing. Really horrible. So I guess you could say the founders did not know any better.

Any way what they decided to do was to structure a system that would favor the rich, wealthy and land owners. And it worked. They do not call Mexico the perfect dictatorship for nothing. The way they did it was through laws relating to education. Basically they said let's stop educating people after they reach the sixth grade.

So you can imagine what happened. Pretty much nothing. This is not to say that there have not been improvements in the lives of the masses and especially in recent years. The middle class is growing.

From the perspective of the traveler in Mexico it simply means stay out of politics unless you want to get your head blown off.

I would not miss traveling to Mexico for anything. The people are wonderful in general, The food is one of the best cuisines in the world in my opinion and because there has not been rabid development as in the United States you get the feeling of traveling in a time gone by life style and architecture in some of the more remote areas. To me, that is a very pleasant experience.

Hey Helly, I am doing the same thing you are. I am leaving from Oregon in a week or so and i plan on crossing the border into mexico around the beginning of November. I have been given the same advice about 100 times. I just decided to look around and see if anyone would be interested in travelling together. I am planning on going through Baja as well. Saftey in numbers. My email is rpopma89@gmail.com. Please feel free to email me if you are even slightly interested even if it's just to compare travel plans and preparations. My goal is Tierra del fuego. Cheers!

Helly posted in 2011. You might think about starting a fresh thread.