Stuff you need backpacking around Mexico

Spanish is the main language. English is largely spoken in border cities with the United States as well as tourist destinations, but much of the country is monolingual. Mexico has one of the richest diversity of languages, more than 350 indigenous languages are spoken within the Mexico territory. Mexican Spanish is the variant most often taught in the United States of America, so if you learned Spanish there, you should be OK. In some regions, native languages such as Mayan or Nahuatl are still widely spoken. There are Spanish languages schools throughout Mexico. The city with the most schools is Cuernavaca, with more than 50 schools. Oaxaca, San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato also offer a number of schools to choose from. Prices vary, however, most schools are very reasonably priced. Many schools can arrange homestays with local Mexican families. See also: Spanish phrasebook

Traditional Mexican food can often be very spicy; if you are not used to peppers, always ask if your food includes it. (¿Esto tiene chile?). There are many food carts on the streets of Mexican cities and towns. Travellers are advised to eat from these carts with caution, as hygienic preparation practices are not always reliable. In doing so, you may (or may not) find some of the most unique and genuinely Mexican dishes you've ever had. From these vendors, you may find tacos, burgers, bread and almost any kind of food and service you would imagine.

• Chicharron - Deep fried pork skin. Quite crunchy and if well-prepared slightly oily.
• Enchiladas - Chicken or meat stuffed soft tortillas covered with green, red or mole sauce. Some may have melted cheese.
• Tacos - Tortillas filled with meat (asada (steak strips), pollo (shredded chicken), carnitas (fried shredded pork), lengua (tongue), cabeza (meat from cow skull), sesos (cow brains).
• Tamales - corn dough shell with meat or vegatable fillings. Tamales Dulces contain fruit and/or nuts.
• Tortas - Fancy mexican sandwich. Bread is fried lightly, meat fillings are same as tacos, lettuce, tomatoes, jalapeños, beans, onion, mayonaise and avocado.
• Quesadillas - Cheese or other ingredients grilled in between tortillas.
• Mole - Mild to medium spice sauce made with cocoa and a hint of peanut over meat, usually served with shredded chicken. ('Pollo en mole')
• Pozole - Chicken or pork broth with hominy corn, spiced when served with oregano, lettuce, lemon juice, radish, chopped onion, dried ground chile and other ingredients, usually served with a side dish of tostadas, fried potato and fresh cheese tacos.
• Gorditas - corn patty stuffed with chicharron, chicken, cheese, etc. topped with cream, cheese and hot sauce.
• Guacamole - crushed avocado sauce with green serrano chile, chopped red tomato and onion, lemon juice and fried tortilla slices "totopos".
• Tostadas - fried flat tortilla topped with fried beans, lettuce, cream, fresh cheese, sliced red tomato and onion, hot sauce, and chicken or other main ingredient.
• Huaraches - a bigger version a gordita.
• Sopes - corn patty topped with a wide variety of ingredients such as chicken, cheese, etc. and hot sauce.
• Carnitas - deep fried pork meat.
• Chile en nogada - A big Poblano chile covered with nut sauce. Served nationwide on September.
• Barbacoa - Sheep meat cooked with maguey leaves in a oven made at a hole in the ground.
• Sopa de Tortilla - tortilla chips soup
• Chilaquiles - tortilla chips with green tomatoes sauce, usually served with chicken or eggs.

You can measure the quality of food by popularity, do not eat on lonely places, even if they are restaurants or hotels. Ask for the "platillo tipico" of the town, this is a local speciality not found elsewhere, a variation, or the birthplace of a recipe, also consider that most of the recipies change from place to place, like tamales, in the south are made with the banana plant leaves, and in the Huasteca region tamales are very big, one is OK for a complete family.

Tap water is generally not recommended for drinking. Some people even claim that tap water is not good for brushing teeth. Hotels usually give guests one (large) bottle of drinking water per room per night. Bottled water is also readily available in supermarkets and at tourist attractions.

• Absinth [27] is legal in Mexico.
• Tequila, made from Agave
• Pulque, ferment made from Maguey
• Mezcal, destiled made from Maguey
• Tepache, made from pineapple
• Tuba, made from coconut plant

There are also several Mexican beers, several of which are available outside Mexico, these include:

• Corona
• Dos Equis (XX), dark or lager.
• Modelo Especial
• Negra Modelo
• Modelo Light
• Pacífico
• Tecate
• Indio
• Bohemia
• Carta Blanca
• Sol
• Superior
• Victoria
• Montejo
• León
• Estrella
• Corona "de Barril"

In some places you will find beer served as a prepared drink called "michelada". The formula varies depending on the place, but it's usually beer mixed with lime juice. Other variation called "cubana" includes Clamato cocktail, soybean sauce, salt and a little bit of hot sauce. The legal drinking age in Mexico is 18, but not strictly enforced. In many places, consumption of alcohol in public ("open container") is illegal and usually punishable by a day in jail. Be aware of waitresses and barmen, especially at night clubs. If you are not aware of your consumption and how much you already spent, they can add a few more drinks to your account. Some do this, not all. Alcoholmeters are widely used in driving roads If drinking, always have a designated driver. Driving under the influence of an alcoholic beverage will result in 1 to 3 days in jail.

The currency of Mexico is the peso (MXN). The symbol for pesos is the same as for US dollars, which can be slightly confusing. Prices in dollars (in tourist areas) are labeled "US$" or sport an S with a double stroke. As of April 2007 the exchange rate hovers around $10.94 MXN to $1.00 USD. In August 2007, it was 11.09 MXN to a dollar. US dollars are widely accepted in the far north and in tourist locales elsewhere. Euros are generally not accepted by merchants, and even banks headquartered in Europe may refuse to accept euros for exchange. Best place to convert USD to pesos is the supermarket. At Pemex gas stations, attendants seem to be private enterprise minded. They will give you 500 pesos of gas and charge you $50 (which is 10.00 mexican to 1.00 dollar) . And will readily convert 500 pesos to dollars by multiplying by .105 rather than dividing by 10.5 and thus supplement their hourly wage. Attendants carry a wad of cash and make their own change. While many Pemex stations accept credit cards, especially in locations that have heavy tourist traffic, some do not; travelers who intend to pay by credit card should ask the attendant if the card is accepted before pumping begins. ATMs are easy to come by. Bank of America customers can avoid ATM fees by using Santander Serfin ATMs. Other banks may have similar policies, check with your respective institution. Otherwise, do not be surprised to find yourself with a $5 fee for each withdrawal. ATMs in smaller towns can run out of currency; sometimes this is a regular occurrence. Check with the bank (or locals) about the best time to use the ATM and don't wait until the very last minute to get cash. Merchants can be picky about the state of your paper money, they may scrutinize it and reject anything with rips. Try to keep it in as pristine condition as possible. Reputedly, this is more the case the further South you go. Merchants are often reluctant to make change in smaller towns. Try to avoid paying with overly large denominations; the best customer has exact change.

• Indigenous Art A visit to anywhere in Mexico will give one the opportunity to buy art made in the "old world" manner that reflects the diverse ethnicity of Mexico. Included in these articles would be textiles, wood carvings, paintings and carved masks [24] that are used on sacred dances and burials.
• Timeshares. When visiting the resort cities of Mexico, it is more than common to be approached on the streets, in bars, in restaurants and anywhere with offers of gifts, free rental cars, free nights, free dinners, free anything that may appeal to you, just for visiting and listening to a presentation to buy a timeshare. Unless you are severly desperate for something to do, you may want to ignore those making the offer and stay away from those free offers. While the properties are very nice, great locations and plenty of amenities, this is not the place to learn about timeshares. Do your homework before even thinking about buying a timeshare, see what the values are in the resale market and understand the rights you are buying as well as the future costs. Collecting on the free offers may be difficult, if not impossible.