The Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe

This place, near where Juan Diego is said to have seen the Virgin Mary, is considered by the Catholic church to be the most sacred place in the Americas.  It is a great half-day visit, full of beautiful gardens and a variety of cool churches.  The old basilica is sinking, and so the icon that nearly 20 million pilgrims come to see each year has been moved to the very groovy and modern new basilica.  To keep pilgrims from clogging things up (for they are often on their knees), there are moving sidewalks at the icon.

The best place to park is here.  When you emerge from this parking garage, you will be in a courtyard next to  the baptistery. The best way to view everything is to make a circle, and I prefer to start at the baptistery and head up the hill, finally visiting the new basilica and seeing the icon last.  Don't miss the religious market -- I prefer the one on the other side of the hill, near the Capilla del Pocito.

If bringing out-of-town guests, I think that the best way to see the Basilica is on the way back from the pyramids of Teotihuacan -- it's literally right on your way.  Or reverse it and see the Basilica and then the pyramids.  Also, the Basilica is not far from the temple, so you could hit three vastly different religious sites in one day.

Finally, don't go in December.  The Virgin of Guadalupe's saint day is December 12th, and they get more than 10 million pilgrims on that one day.  The rest of the month gets most of the other pilgrims.

19.485723N, 99.118358W

Geo-Coordinated

You might notice that at the bottom of a lot of my posts, there are two numbers skulking about.  Those are a location's geo-coordinates, and most GPS units will let you pop them in, so you can get to a place when an address might not be as easy for your GPS to decipher.  Also, you can go to Google Maps and just paste the whole thing into the search bar, and the map will go right to that point.

If you want to find the coordinates of a place, it's easier than you think.  Use Google Maps, either the map view or the satellite view, to find where you want to go.  Zoom in as much as you can, all the way down to Street View (very handy) if you can. ( Click this link to see the entrance to the Basilica of Guadalupe parking garage for our example.)  Near the top right of the map/view is a link marked "Link" -- click that and copy it (Control-C).

It will look something like this: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=212431441249480182881.000464b828fa2b4120bc7&ll=19.485639,-99.118395&spn=0,0.013089&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=19.485723,-99.118358&panoid=BWTpv_yuritJE9unotL3_g&cbp=12,144.23,,0,-4.86

It looks like a bunch of garbly-gook, but if you look carefully, you will see a set of numbers separated by a comma, which I've highlighted here.  Inside a map link, there will never be another set of numbers that looks like that -  xx.xxxxxx, -yy.yyyyyy.  Those are your coordinates.  The first number is your North coordinate, and the second (without the minus sign) is the West coordinate.  The more decimal places that your GPS will let you use, the more accurate it will take you.

Happy exploring!

Oxal and Floratil

No matter how careful you are about what you eat and drink here in Mexico, you will get some sort of parasite-based gut rot.  Often, a doctor will not diagnose and treat gut-rot until a stool sample comes back positive for an organism, which unfortunately often requires multiple samples be taken because of the life cycle of microscopic organisms.  This can take weeks of collecting your own noxious diarrhea.  Instead, a person showing symptoms can go to the pharmacy and get a full-spectrum parasiticide like Oxal.

Oxal kills amoeba (dysentery), protozoa (giardia), nematodes (roundworms), and cestodes (tapeworms) -- basically, everything but viruses and bacteria (including tissue-parasites like trichinosis).  It should not be taken by children under 2 or pregnant or breatfeeding women.  Men who take it should avoid possibly conceiving children for up to one month afterwards.

While you're at the pharmacy, pick up some Floratil -- a natural gut flora supplement.  It is used both in the treatment and prevention of diarrhea.  Because it is some of the same stuff that you already should have in your system, anyone in most any condition can take it, including children.  There is a pediatric version, but it is literally the exact same powder as is in the capsules (so sayeth the pharmacist).  Also, you can't overdose on the stuff.

Good luck!

Xochimilco

Xochimilco is all that remains of the floating gardens and canals of ancient Lake Texcoco.  It's a fun day out with friends and family, floating along, but it's easy to get taken advantage of by the locals.

The tourist board has fixed all of the prices -- boats, mariachis, food -- everything but the plants.  The price list is here, and you should print it out and take it with you for when they try to charge you per person (it's per hour per boat).  If they try to give you a hard time, take out your phone and report them -- they will probably back down before you get finished dialing. The tourist board's phone numbers are: 5676-8879 and 5676-0810.

For the southern route:
Embarcadero Caltongo
Nuevo León s/n
Barrio San Cristobal
19.261429N, 99.09705W

Embarcadero Nuevo de Nativistas

San Jerónimo

Xochimilco, Distrito Federal, México

19.251472N, 99.094187W

For the northern route:

Embarcadero Fernando Celada
Cda. 3 Guadalupe I. Ramírez
San Juan, Xochimilco, Distrito Federal, México
19.264583N, 99.108157W


Embarcadero Cuemanco
Antiguo Canal Cuemanco
Pista Olimpica Virgilio Uribe (Canal De Cuemanco), Xochimilco, Distrito Federal, México
19.286893N, 99.102443W



For your reading pleasure: An article from the Toronto Star.

Car Rental Insurance

Unlike in the US, your auto insurance does not also cover a rental car.  Also, the auto insurance that comes with a credit card in the US also doesn't work here in Mexico.  American Express has a Premium Car Rental Insurance that covers Mexico (and most other countries) for collision insurance (which is the very expensive insurance that the car rental place will try to sell you).  You have to sign up for it, but it only costs you when you use it, and the cost covers the entire rental period up to 30 days.  It's $20US or $25US depending on what plan you select while the same insurance that the rental company will sell you is about $35US/day.

Keep in mind, it is only for collision/comprehensive -- scratches, smashes, and dings to the rental -- so you will still need liability (Responsabilidad Civil) that the car company will sell you for about $15/day when you pick up the rental.

Vet - Clinica Animal

We have happily used:

Clinica Animal de Bosques

Duraznos 187-35 

Centro Comercial Plaza Bosques

Bosques de las Lomas

Tel.: 5596-1672 

Emergency: 5208-5520 / 5208-7866 (Code B-519)

Open 24 hours.

They are difficult to find: go into the parking lot and around like you're going to exit, and then go left to the underground parking (which is marked "Clinica Animal") and the vet is at the end.  It doesn't look like a shiny doctor's office like in the US, but they love the animals and take good care of them, and the vet speaks English.

We also use the vet when we need to kennel our dogs -- they go and stay at his house for the duration and then get a bath before we pick them up.  It's $200MX/night (per dog).

19.40725N, 99.239962W

US Embassy

Even if you are not here as a diplomat, it's good to know where the embassy is, and have their website bookmarked.  Occasionally, check out the travel advisories, and when you first arrive, be sure to register with the State Department that you are here at their Smart Travel Enrollment Program (STEP) website.

19.428018N, 99.166238W