Tapachula is the border city of Mexico with Guatemala, although the city itself isn’t actually on the border. 
In terms of historical buildings, there aren’t too many… 
And the museum actually was under renovation. 
What interested me was the border. 
The cathedral. 
The main square. The migrant camp was there. 
A market. 
The airport. 
The bicentennial park 
The river in the city (not the border). 
The riverbank
Month: September 2019
Skydiving in Tequesquitengo, México
This city is very popular for skydiving as it’s close to the capital (around 2 hours) and I guess because it’s less than half the elevation (around 1km). 
It’s very hot – 37 degrees when I was there – but didn’t really feel that way, even as I stood under the Sun waiting for the landing grounds to be cleared. 
Landing photos cost $120 extra, but I think the ones in the sky are worth it. 
The whole thing did take almost an hour, after waiting an hour for the departure. The photos took around half an hour to get. 
it’s really cheap, the jump starting at $1500. But the photos and the videos are certainly overpriced. 
The round-trip transport at $400 I thought was reasonable. It’s air-conditioned too. 
it’s not the cheapest in the city, but the cheaper I found actually had 2 people died the weekend before, and the price differences were very small anyway. 
After the freefalling bit, it’s basically paragliding. 
It’s not as comfortable as pure paragliding because you wouldn’t be able to sit on a thing. 
But the instructor would let you try controlling the parachute. 
You can choose different heights. I went for the lower 13,000 feet one. 
Next to their carpark was their planes storage or something. 
Before going to the reception, you have the abandoned planes to take pictures with. 
There’s also windtunnel, “indoor skydiving”. It’s for everyone and you can experience skydiving without the inherent danger. 
You can see the transport. Weekends only. 
The Earth is round! 
The view was OK I guess. The town wasn’t anything special. 
The parachute didn’t open all the way through in one go (probably normal). 
Parachute opening. 
Just released the parachute. 
The Sun was strong, but it’s not too bad. I wore long-sleeve and it’s fine cuz the temperature is much lower in the air and obviously there’s very strong wind all the way down. 
On the plane waiting to jump… 
The plane is small, but not Nazca-line small. Packed. 
The participant doesn’t really do anything. I think they asked us to be in this position possibly also so we couldn’t look down and have second thoughts. 
The first few seconds were definitely scary, but it was amazing after. 
Not very easy to breathe. I’m just opening my mouth like I’m a whale shark. 
Then the turbulance created by opening the parachute was a little scary. 
It’s like falling from space! 
Grindr said this photo was “sexually suggestive” and blocked it. 
Jumping off the plane! 
Walking to the plane. 
Talismán/Izapa, Chiapas, México (border with Guatemala)
Talismán is a combi away from Tapachula, around an hour. 
A very small village. 
The dirt road to the border. 
The official border crossing. Pictures not allowed. 
The only pretty building in the town. 
It’s quite deep into the town. 
The fence, but you can walk around it. 
Izapa is a very large pre-Maya city. 
But only a very, very small portion is open to the public. 
The only pyramid. There are 3 sites, this site F is not next to sites A and B. 
The famed Tree of Life. Souvenirs are available. 
Going to sites A and B you’d need to pass through a lot of random houses and there are no obvious signs. 
Coatepec, Veracruz, México
Coatepec is a city near Xalapa, around 20 minutes away on a bus (MXN$10-11). 
It’s a magical town with nice buildings around. 
Very typical of the Diaz era. 
The main church (not a cathedral). 
I bought loads of stuff there. It’s totally obsessed with coffee. 
There’s also a tourist office even though I don’t think there are that many tourists. 
Typical colourful houses. 
The back of the main church. 
The tower at the top of a hill (around 20 minutes from the centre). 
Totally uneventful, but it’s on the same hill where you can see the city, so I guess it’s still worth going. (There’s also rubbish inside.)
Nanacamilpa, Tlaxcala, México
Nanacamilpa is a small town in Tlaxcala that is famous for its fireflies. 
People in the sanctuary going into the forest. 
I joined a tour which started in Tlaxcala City at 4.30pm or so and finished shortly before midnight. $680. 
We also went to a ranch that cultivates plants. 
That’s the moon. It’s not possible to take photos or videos of the fireflies on the phone. 
Frontera Hidalgo & Ciudad Hidalgo, Chiapas, México (border with Guatemala
Frontera Hidalgo is a small town around 45 minutes away from Tapachula. 
The river, but still not quite the border. It’s like a subsidiary or something. 
Hardly anyone’s here, but some people were walking their dogs. 
There’s no border crossing from Frontera Hidalgo, despite the name. 
And there’s no real way to see the river without going through lots of grass and stuff. 
Ciudad Hidalgo has the proper crossing, but also lots of people going in and out on these. 
The border fence in Frontera Hidalgo. 
Ciudad Hidalgo 
Frontera Hidalgo 
Railway track in Ciudad Hidalgo 
Something happening 
There were plenty of naval officers, but nobody was doing anything. 
Boy in Frontera Hidalgo peeling an onion 
The border in Ciudad Hidalgo is a sight to be seen. 
The proper bridge crossing. 
Ciudad Hidalgo itself is a nice little town. 
A water tank in the city square. 
Also lots of goods between the two countries. 
It’s a combi ride from Tapachula.
Diving in Playa del Carmen, México
Tijuana / Ensenada, Baja California, México
Tijuana is the most visited border city in the world, nicknamed the Corner of Latin America, in the northern edge of Mexico, south of San Diego, California, the United States of America. More than 50 million people go across the border every year. It’s also known as the capital of Mexican craft beer and medical tourism (No 4 in the world). It began as a small indigenous village, then a ranch, and finally turned into the city it is today after the US-Mexican border was redrawn here.
Guadalupe (Great White Sharks), México
Isla Guadalupe is the westernmost part of México, but it’s still a part of the State of Baja California. Civilians who are not scientists could only go in on a liveaboard from Ensenada for 18-20 hours. On the island, there are endangered endemic species and the green areas are almost wiped out. In the west, there’s a small fishing village, in the south, a military camp.
Tourists visit not the island, but the surrounding waters, in my case, as close as around 250 metres from shore, to see mostly the great white sharks roaming in the area. There are also elephant seals, fur seals, dolphins, jellyfish, and even whales in the ocean. We had the cages in the water, then the staff members started throwing tuna in as baits to attract the sharks. The first 2 days they didn’t show up until around 10-11am, but on the third day, they started showing up around 6.30am. On our trip, we saw as many as 6 sharks in one day, and once they started coming, they were always there until around 4-6pm. The sharks were curious about us, at times bumping into our cages, but no damage was done. The same could not be said of the seals, who were biten and later presumably eaten when they floated away dead. The water was mostly calm near the island, but could get rough in the open sea.
The biggest obstacle to staying in the water was the temperature, but other than that, it’s totally possible to stay there the whole time.
jagged little earth 