No wonder I avoid vacationing in Mexico...

[Dougal Short]

I bet in other countries they don't even understand each other, they just jibber jabber to each other to make you feel like a jerk.

Just repeat yourself slowly, like you would to a dog.

Did you ever think that just maybe it's that sort of attitude which is partly the cause of the "unfriendly" reception you get? Talk to them "like you would a dog"? Nice. Perhaps you might consider learning a few phrases in Spanish. You might be surprised at how far "making an effort" goes...

I travel extensively in Central America... Honduras, Guatemala, Costa Rica. Many of the larger cities have terrible problems with crime. Poverty, and more recently, the drug trade, are at the heart of it. When one of us comes down there flaunting our cash and arrogance, it breeds tremendous resentment in many of the locals. I still feel that most areas are very safe, but, just as you would in big cities anywhere, you avoid being out late and avoid being in certain areas... like strip clubs. Duh...

The average per capita income in Honduras is about $1600... and this is heavily skewed as there is a very small "ruling class" the controls the vast, vast majority of the wealth. You shouldn't be surprised when a guy gives you "a look" when your wristwatch is worth more than he makes in a couple of years... especially when he can't feed his kids.

The changes in some of these places can happen very quickly though. Roatan, a nice little tourist island, has seen a tremendous influx of drugs in the past two years. There have been several grizzly murders there recently (one just a few weeks ago where a guy was found castrated, and with his face carved off) all of them tied to the drug trade...

 

[Dougal Short]

Maybe you should have clicked the link. Scott Thompson, Kids in the Hall, good stuff.

If your comments were made in jest, I apologize. Sadly, many North Americans feel that way. Friends of mine that live in Honduras love to mock tourists (especially drunk ones...) who visit without making any effort to communicate in the language, so they just speak English louder... and then get pissed off when they aren't understood.

 

[alexmst]

Yes, it helps to attempt to speak the local language when travelling internationally - France, Spain, Italy, etc. The locals often appreicte your effort to fit in.

I do feel that Mexico is unsafe to vacation in. I don't care if one speaks Spanish there or not - it is still unsafe. A lot of the Americans being killed along the border inside Mexico speak Spanish. Maybe Mexico was okay in the 1950's, but now it is basically a failed state to be avoided.

 

[lawyerman]

Most of Mexico is unsafe and I would never travel there anymore.

 

[The LoLRus]

Time to decriminalize drugs perhaps??? The war on drugs is a complete joke.
If something doesnt work you have to try a different approach

 

[train]

Been to Mexico twice, once to the Mayan Riviera ( south of Cancun) and once to the west coast. Had a great time, beautiful 5-star hotels, super clean, great service, good food and great value.

Medical facilities were great as attested to by one in our party who had a pre-existing heart condition that required attention when we were down there. Mexican cardiologist who was trained in Canada and US fixed him up.

The violence is mainly between the military and the drug runners, with the crooked cops in the middle, but the level of it is high enough to become worrisome.

Not sure which is more dangerous Mexico or New Orleans.

 

[Rockslinger]

Personally I like Cuba, Aruba, and St. Maarten

Aruba was where 18 year old Natalie Holloway disappeared. Wasn't a Canadian woman recently murdered in Bermuda.

 

[Rockslinger]

Cabo San Lucas, which is on the tip of Baja California is a top destination for the wealthy, as is The Mayan Riviera just South of Cancun, and Mexico City has better restaurants, 5 star hotels, museums, galleries and historic buildings than any you can find in quaint little Toronto.

The weathy will always look after themselves. I know someone whose parents own property in a "gated estate" somewhere in Mexico and they feel safe. Same in South Africa, live in a gated community and you never have to mingle with the locals.

 

[alexmst]

The weathy will always look after themselves. I know someone whose parents own property in a "gated estate" somewhere in Mexico and they feel safe. Same in South Africa, live in a gated community and you never have to mingle with the locals.

I agree with Selina that Alcapulco in the 60's and 70's was the jewel of Mexico as far as beach vacations went. Today, not so much.

If you want to hang with the wealthy, vacation in Palm Beach, Florida. The only place I know where people wear 100k worth of jewelry while walking down the street shopping, and don't get robbed. Palm Beach is the winter playground of the wealthy New Yorkers. It is not a party place, but the food, upscale shopping and weather are very nice. Ocean is too cold in the winter to swim in - but for golf it is great. Not many under 30's,but South Beach is only a two hour drive away and it is top-optional haha.

Yes, I am sure people can go to Mexico and not be raped, robbed or killed. Sure. However, the risks are higher than most vacation spots. Selina, if you think Mexico City is better than Toronto...well, I don't. Their police force is corrupt - my business associate was kidnapped in Mexico City on his way to work, dragged out of his Mercedes, beaten and held for ransom...BY THE POLICE (off duty police looking to suppliment their income). The on-duty police didn't seem to care, said it happens a lot, and suggested the company pay the ransom as it wasn't much they were asking for. The police chief in the area near Cancun where the Canadians got killed - he sounded like a joke out of some Hollywood movie about corrupt banana republic places in Latin America in the 60's. Crime is one thing, but if the police are in on it, things are out of control.

I friend from work went to the Mayan Riveria last year and had an OK time, said he felt slightly unsafe in the towns and felt like he was being watched all the time,but was happy inside the gated/guarded resort.

If one wants to spend ones vacation in a gated/guarded resort, one can vacation just about anywhere without fear...such as Jamaica, D.R., P.R., etc. It is for those who want to visit a place without restriction to stay in the hotel grounds and want to feel the police (and not just private security) will protect them that Mexico gets failing grades. Ones safety there it seems depends on a combination of luck and private security guards.

My home in Florida is in a gated community. I bought there to avoid property crimes such as theft from my residence when I was in Toronto, not for fear of my personal safety. I would feel just as safe in an ungated community as far as my safety went. The police here want to protect the citizens and prevent crime.

Mexico in many respects is a beautiful country, but I have no desire to go there and feel it is unsafe and too risky. I would rather vacation in spots with a better track record of tourist safety, or which there area many. To each their own.

Btw, every time I ask a twentysomething girl why she went/is going to the Mayan Riveria in Mexico she always seems to say "Becasue it is cheap - you can stay in 5-star resorts for way less money than the cost to go to a 3-star in other Craibbean destinations". I've never heard "because it is nice there".

 

[train]

Btw, every time I ask a twentysomething girl why she went/is going to the Mayan Riveria in Mexico she always seems to say "Becasue it is cheap - you can stay in 5-star resorts for way less money than the cost to go to a 3-star in other Craibbean destinations". I've never heard "because it is nice there".

It is beautiful if you go to places like Playa de Carmen on the Mayan or Cozumel Island. Far better first class hotels than in Miami and Fort Lauderdale and much cleaner ( labour is cheap I guess).

It would be interesting to compare crime stats against tourists in Mexico with places like Dominican Republic and Jamaica - or hell even Miami. Would be tough because undoubtedly all three places lie about their crime stats. All three can be dangerous.

Jamaica scares me more than Mexico and when I went to the Dominican the resort had gurds patrolling the paremeter armed with machine guns during the day ( the Mexican resort had security at night).

 

[tboy]

Those are scary headlines! I can never understand why people from a first world country would ever voluntarily travel to a third world country. The locals must resent a rich Westerner using his/her money to exploit their women or other resources.

Poor young naive Amanda Lindhout kidnapped in Somalia.

First of all, (other than the heads on fence posts) just travel to any "hood" in any major US city and you'll find the same crimes happening daily. You have to remember: in the US you pretty much have a murder a minute or something like that.

Secondly, Unless I read the story on a respectable website, I take them with a grain of salt. I mean really, it doesn't take much to type "from Time magazine" with no link to the story.

Watch:

"According to the Ontario Government, 500 Canadian Beach goers are killed everyday in the resort town of Wasaga Beach...."

Pretty easy eh?

Yes, the violence is eruping and it's getting bad in Mexico. I've been to a few places there, and Dom Rep, and Jamaica, and felt totally safe, and had a great time at all. Get shit faced out of your mind, go stumbling through the projects at Jane and Finch, and I bet you'll end up a victim.

 

[alexmst]

First of all, (other than the heads on fence posts) just travel to any "hood" in any major US city and you'll find the same crimes happening daily. You have to remember: in the US you pretty much have a murder a minute or something like that.

Secondly, Unless I read the story on a respectable website, I take them with a grain of salt. I mean really, it doesn't take much to type "from Time magazine" with no link to the story.

Watch:

"According to the Ontario Government, 500 Canadian Beach goers are killed everyday in the resort town of Wasaga Beach...."

Pretty easy eh?

Yes, the violence is eruping and it's getting bad in Mexico. I've been to a few places there, and Dom Rep, and Jamaica, and felt totally safe, and had a great time at all. Get shit faced out of your mind, go stumbling through the projects at Jane and Finch, and I bet you'll end up a victim.

Here's another one - a follow up attack on two police stations after the gun battle I posted about - link included.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/06/08/mexico.violence/index.html?iref=newssearch

updated 5:16 p.m. EDT, Mon June 8, 2009

(CNN) -- Gunmen killed three police officers in Acapulco, Mexico, early Monday morning in attacks on two police stations, the state news agency Notimex reported.

The attacks came two days after a ferocious street gunbattle that left 18 people dead, including two soldiers.

Mexican soldiers, in trucks and helicopters kept watch over the resort town Monday. Along with swine flu fears, the uptick in violence threatens the tourist economy of Acapulco and other popular resort areas.

Witnesses told police that just before 6 a.m., gunmen armed with AK-47s stepped out of two luxury vehicles, walked toward the police station in the Ciudad Renacimiento neighborhood and began shooting.

Acapulco officers Gilberto Reducindo Salazar and Arturo Tonala Aguilar were killed in that incident, according to Notimex.

Shortly afterward, at a second local police station, attackers fatally wounded officer Andres Guzman Casiano, Notimex said. A fourth officer was injured.

The Guerrero attorney general's office said the attacks could have been conducted by the same people, as there was a 30-minute gap between them, the state agency reported.

It was unknown whether the attacks were connected with Saturday's shootout, which started when soldiers went to a location called Avenida Rancho Grande in Acapulco on an anonymous tip. They were met by gunfire, according to a statement from Mexico's Ministry of Defense.

Five people were arrested in connection with the shootout. Sixteen gunmen and two soldiers were killed, and nine soldiers were wounded, the statement said.

After that incident, authorities seized 36 large-caliber weapons, 13 small-caliber weapons, two grenade launchers, 13 fragmentation grenades, 3,525 rounds of various caliber ammunition, 180 charges and eight vehicles, the ministry said

----------------

 

[tboy]

Alex: I was referring to the site that offerred evidence of the various tourists who were being raped and killed.

The audacity of the criminals reminds me of the reports of lawlessness in Iraq etc. I guess if people have no regard to law and order, anything can happen?

Not to turn this into a pro/anti police thread, but this is what happens when the criminals outnumber the police and the police/government lose control. Just look at the open hatred of the police here on terb, can you imagine what criminals think?

 

[SkyRider]

If you want to hang with the wealthy, vacation in Palm Beach, Florida. The only place I know where people wear 100k worth of jewelry while walking down the street shopping, and don't get robbed.

When one talks about Palm Springs one is talking ultra rich (like the heiress to the Proctor and Gamble fortune). These are people who think nothing about handing millions of dollars to an "investment advisor" (like Madoff).

 

[Meister]

When one talks about Palm Springs one is talking ultra rich (like the heiress to the Proctor and Gamble fortune). These are people who think nothing about handing millions of dollars to an "investment advisor" (like Madoff).

Palm Springs is in CA not FL.