Though built by local artisans and compliant with international standards for rehabilitating archaeological monuments, the new wooden stairs would probably puzzle the original Maya creators of the pyramid. (@ccurieldeicaza/X)
Nohoch Mul, the tallest pre-Columbian structure in the northern Yucatán Peninsula and one of the few climbable pyramids near the Riviera Maya, is open again for ascending after six years of rehabilitation work.
The experience, however, will be considerably safer and less damaging to the structure than before. The path to the top is now via a newly installed wooden staircase, built by members of the nearby community of Noh Bec, who have extensive experience in crafting structures with regional wood.
Cobá sigue revelando su historia.
Como parte del Programa de Mejoramiento de Zonas Arqueológicas #PROMEZA y gracias al trabajo de la comunidad ejidal y al @INAHmx, se reabrió el ascenso al Nohoch Mul.
Aquí, donde mujeres mayas ejercieron el poder hace siglos, celebramos que el… pic.twitter.com/QXGB9TlZjq
At 42 meters (140 feet) tall and with 120 steps, Nohoch Mul is one of the architectural symbols of the ancient Maya city of Cobá. It is a favorite cultural tourism site, but its ascent had been suspended since 2019 due to the deterioration of the original steps, worsened by heavy tourist traffic.
Culture Minister Claudia Curiel Icaza inaugurated the new staircase in an opening ceremony on Sunday. “On behalf of President Claudia Sheinbaum, I want to reiterate that this work embodies our understanding of cultural policy,” she said. “We believe that heritage is a right for all, that caring for our territory is a public good, and that conservation is a task that can only be achieved in collaboration with the community.”
The renovation work cost 5 million pesos (US $277,000) and was conducted by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) as part of initiatives to enhance archaeological zones connected to the Maya Train project.
During the renovation works, INAH conducted a topographic survey of each step of Nohoch Mul, from its base to its summit, to produce a detailed model of the hollows and reliefs. The collected data enabled experts to identify precise locations for installing the wooden staircase. The data also guided preventive consolidation work, leveling of the steps, and micro-drilling for the insertion of the necessary anchors.
According to INAH, the modern structure is approved by INAH’s Archaeology Council (CA) and was carried out in full compliance with international standards for the restoration of archaeological monuments.
Tourists and local tour guides said that the reopening of the staircase restores a key experience of the site, allowing visitors to appreciate from above, once again, the expanse of the city of Cobá and its surrounding jungle.
When the naming rights were sold to help pay for renovations, the sports world had to get used to calling it Estadio Banorte rather than the familiar Estadio Azteca. As it turns out, neither will be its name during the World Cup when, because of a FIFA policy against using names of corporations that aren't World Cup sponsors, it will be called Estadio Ciudad de México or, if you will, Mexico City Stadium. (@MXEstadios/X)
Mexico City will get an early taste of World Cup fever in late March when Ronaldo, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, trots onto the newly renovated pitch at Estadio Banorte to lead his Portugal side in a friendly match against Mexico’s national team.
In one of the final warm-ups for both squads ahead of next year’s World Cup, Portugal, No. 6 in the FIFA World Rankings, will help the Mexican Soccer Federation celebrate the reopening of the iconic stadium.
Cristiano Ronaldo will be making his first competitive appearance in Mexico in March. Later, he will be competing in his sixth World Cup, an individual record he shares with Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Mexico’s Rafael Márquez, along with Lothar Matthäus. (@Cristiano/X)
For decades known as Estadio Azteca and nicknamed the Colossus of Santa Úrsula (the southern Mexico City neighborhood where it sits), the stadium has been closed for nearly a year for extensive improvements, such as new seating, renovated hospitality areas and upgraded media facilities, in preparation for the World Cup.
The financial group Banorte bought naming rights in March 2025 to fund the repairs, but the venue will be known as Mexico City Stadium during the June 11-July 19, 2026, soccer tournament, in accordance with a FIFA policy that prevents World Cup stadiums from having non-sponsor corporate names.
Regardless of what it’s called, the stadium will become the first venue to host matches at three World Cups, after Mexico staged the tournament in 1970 and 1986. As co-host of the 2026 tournament alongside the U.S. and Canada, Mexico will play host to 13 World Cup matches: five in Mexico City and four each in Monterrey and Guadalajara.
The March 28 friendly will be Ronaldo’s first competitive match in Mexico and the sixth meeting between the two nations. El Tri is 0-3-2 vs the Europeans, including a 2-1 overtime loss in the third-place match of the 2017 Confederations Cup in Moscow.
¡Ya es una realidad! 🤩🏟️
Incondicionales, nos enfrentaremos a Portugal, el país de Cristiano Ronaldo, para celebrar que nuestra casa volverá a abrir sus puertas. 🇲🇽🆚🇵🇹
Mexico, ranked No. 15 in the world despite being winless in its last six matches (0-4-2), has not won since defeating Team USA 2-1 in the Gold Cup final on July 6.
Since taking the reins of Mexico’s national squad for the third time on July 22, 2024, Javier “El Vasco” Aguirre has guided El Tri to a 12-5-4 record marred by a 4-0 trouncing at the hands of Colombia in October, an embarrassing loss to Argentine club side River Plate and a listless 2-1 setback against Paraguay last month.
This will be the third World Cup for Aguirre, who in previous stints led El Tri to the Round of 16 at Korea/Japan in 2002 and at South Africa 2010.
Tickets for the Portugal-Mexico clash will be available for purchase via Ticketmaster beginning Friday, Dec. 10.
President Sheinbaum's sky-high approval rating is under pressure from recent events in Michoacán. (Rogelio Morales/Cuartoscuro)
President Claudia Sheinbaum’s approval rating has declined to its lowest level since she took office, but Mexico’s first female leader is still extremely popular.
Those findings come from the latest Enkoll poll, conducted between Nov. 28 and Dec. 1 for the newspaper El País and Mexico City-based W Radio.
On Saturday, President Sheinbaum led a well-attended rally in Mexico City’s central square, the Zócalo, to celebrate seven years of her party’s political project. (Presidencia/Cuartoscuro)
The poll of 1,201 Mexican adults at their homes found 74% approval of Sheinbaum’s performance as president, a decline of four points compared to the survey conducted by Enkoll in September.
The approval rating is the lowest detected by the eight national polls Enkoll has conducted since Sheinbaum took office on Oct. 1, 2024. It represents a decline of nine points compared to the president’s 83% approval rating in May, the highest of her term so far.
Enkoll’s latest poll also detected 24% disapproval of Sheinbaum’s performance, an increase of six points compared to the previous survey, and the highest level to date.
The decline in Sheinbaum’s approval rating is indicative — at least in part — of a difficult November for the president. On the first day of last month, Uruapan mayor Carlos Manzo was assassinated, triggering protests in the state of Michoacán.
Last Saturday, Sheinbaum led a rally in Mexico City’s central square, the Zócalo, to celebrate seven years of the fourth transformation (4T) political project, which officially commenced when former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office on Dec. 1, 2018. In part, the gathering was a response to the protests against the government last month, as well as the growing criticism of the Sheinbaum administration from opposition parties and others.
Sheinbaum is much more popular among older Mexicans than younger ones
Among the respondents to Enkoll’s poll who are aged 65 and older, 86% said they approved of Sheinbaum’s performance as president. Among those aged 55-64, the figure was 80%.
Mexico’s seniors are eligible for the federal government’s pension regardless of their wealth.
Separately, the Sheinbaum administration has created a new pension program for women aged 60-64, allowing them to receive a government payment every two months before they qualify for the old-age pension.
Among poll respondents aged 18-24 — i.e., members of Gen Z — only 61% said they approved of the president’s performance. Almost four in ten members of that cohort (37%) said they disapproved of Sheinbaum’s performance.
Among three other cohorts based on age, approval for Sheinbaum was as follows:
25-34: 70%
35-44: 79%
45-54: 69%.
Sheinbaum’s approval rating among women (75%) was slightly higher than among men (72%).
Among university-educated Mexicans, 60% said they approved of the president’s performance, whereas the figures were markedly higher among people whose highest level of educational attainment is primary school (81%), middle school (78%) and high school (71%).
Is Mexico’s ‘situation’ improving under Sheinbaum’s rule?
Asked whether “the situation of the country” has been improving or deteriorating since Sheinbaum took office in October 2024, 62% of respondents said it has been improving (48%), or that it remains as good as before (14%).
While 62% represents a strong majority, it is the lowest percentage detected by Enkoll polls during the term of the current government.
Around one-third of those polled by Enkoll in late November and early December — 34% — said that Mexico’s situation has been deteriorating under Sheinbaum’s rule (26%) or remains as bad as before (8%). The combined total of 32% is the highest detected since the government took office 14 months ago.
In terms of women’s rights, 79% of respondents said that Mexico’s situation is improving, while 75% said the same when asked to consider the government’s social support for citizens.
Only 35% of those polled think that Mexico is improving in terms of its security situation, while 36% said that efforts to combat corruption are getting better. A majority of respondents said that Mexico’s security situation is worsening (51%), even though homicides have declined this year, and that efforts to fight corruption are deteriorating (54%).
One Morena party figure that has faced allegations of corruption and criminal association dating back to his 2019-2021 governorship of Tabasco is Senator Adán Augusto López Hernández, who also served as interior minister for two years during López Obrador’s presidency.
What is the Sheinbaum administration’s biggest achievement?
Asked to nominate the “main achievement” of Sheinbaum’s government, 38% of the respondents who approved of the president’s performance chose things that fall into the “social support” category.
They were:
Social support: 14%
Support for seniors: 13%
The provision of scholarships: 9%
Support for women: 2%.
Among the other top achievements cited by respondents were:
The government has good proposals and works well: 7%
The fight against insecurity: 5%
Improving the Mexican economy: 3%
Having a female president: 3%
Perpetuating the fourth transformation initiated by ex-president López Obrador: 2%
What is the government’s biggest mistake?
Asked to nominate the government’s “main mistake,” 21% of respondents who disapproved of Sheinbaum’s performance chose things that fall into the “insecurity” category.
They were:
A failure to combat insecurity and crime: 18%
The government allying itself with drug traffickers or failing to stop them: 3%
Among the other “main” mistakes cited by respondents were that the government is:
Demonstrating a lack of interest in the population: 5%
What is Mexico’s biggest problem?
Asked what Mexico’s “main problem” is, 45% of respondents cited insecurity. Within the same category, an additional 5% mentioned drug trafficking as the No. 1 problem, while 1% cited violence and organized crime. Thus, 51% of respondents believe that Mexico’s biggest problem is insecurity, drug trafficking or violence.
Grouped together, economic problems were cited as Mexico’s top concern by 20% of those polled. That percentage was comprised as follows:
Strong support for the 4T; majority has negative view of government’s response to Manzo’s assassination
Among the other findings of the latest Enkoll poll were that:
61% of respondents believe that Mexico’s situation has been better under the 4T governments of López Obrador and Sheinbaum than under previous PRI and PAN governments.
57% of respondents believe their personal situation has been better under 4T governments than under PRI and PAN governments.
42% of respondents believe that members of Generation Z were the main participants in the Nov. 15 protests (even though the majority appeared to be older people), while 36% think that members of groups opposed to the government were the largest cohort.
54% of respondents think that the recent protests will influence the government’s decisions a lot (31%) or somewhat (23%).
51% of respondents rated the federal government’s response to Manzo’s assassination as bad (29%) or very bad (21%).
51% of respondents believe that the government’s “peace and justice” plan for Michoacán will be “very effective” (22%) or “somewhat effective” (29%), while 42% believe that it will be largely ineffective (28%) or not effective at all (14%).
the vehicle that exploded was a black Dodge Dakota pickup truck that entered Michoacán via Federal Highway 200 from the neighboring state of Colima. (Cuartoscuro)
The explosion of a car bomb outside a community police station in the town of Coahuayana, Michoacán, on Saturday killed six people, including at least three police officers.
Michoacán Attorney General Carlos Torres Piña reported on Sunday that the death toll had risen to six from an earlier report of five fatalities. He reported that seven other people were injured in the powerful blast, although the Coahuayana mayor said on Saturday that as many as 30 people were hurt.
One of the people killed was a man who drove the vehicle that was laden with explosives, while an accomplice also perished, Michoacán authorities told the EFE news agency.
The Michoacán Attorney General’s Office reported on Saturday that three members of the Coahuayana community police died in a hospital while they were receiving treatment. Some media reports said that four community police officers died.
Torres said that the vehicle that exploded was a black Dodge Dakota pickup truck that entered Michoacán via Federal Highway 200 from the neighboring state of Colima. The municipality of Coahuayana borders Colima and the Pacific Ocean.
The detonation of the car bomb occurred at 11:40 a.m. Saturday in the center of Coahuayana, the largest town in a municipality of around 17,000 people. The explosion caused damage to a number of other vehicles as well as nearby buildings, including the Coahuayana Municipal Palace.
FGR investigates
The Federal Attorney General’s Office (FGR) said in a statement on Sunday that it was investigating the organized crime-related incident in coordination with the federal government’s security cabinet and authorities in Michoacán.
It said that forensic experts and federal agents from the FGR’s Criminal Investigation Agency were investigating at the scene of the explosion.
The FGR also said that its organized crime division, known as FEMDO, would lead the investigation. It didn’t attribute the explosion to any specific criminal group, but media reports suggested that the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) was to blame.
Citing information from the Navy Ministry, EFE reported that community police in Coahuayana and the neighboring municipality of Aquila are engaged in a fierce “confrontation” with the CJNG “for the control of drug trafficking routes.”
The Michoacán state government doesn’t recognize the Coahuayana community police force as an official security force, as its members don’t have certified credentials, the newspaper Milenio reported. It is led by Héctor Zepeda Navarrete, a former member of the self-defense groups (autodefensas) that were created in Michoacán more than a decade ago to take up the fight against the Knights Templar cartel (Los Caballeros Templarios).
Car bomb explosion was initially called an act of terrorism
In a statement issued on Saturday, the FGR said it was investigating the car bomb explosion as a “crime of terrorism.”
However, the word terrorism didn’t appear in the statement the FGR issued on Sunday.
Earlier this year, the United States government designated six Mexican drug cartels, including the CJNG, as foreign terrorist organizations.
Explosion occurred 5 weeks after the assassination of the mayor of Uruapan
The car bomb explosion in Coahuayana occurred exactly five weeks after the mayor of Uruapan, Carlos Manzo, was shot in the central square of that city, Michoacán’s second largest.
Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo made a name for himself for his hardline stance against organized crime. (Juan José Estrada Serafín/Cuartoscuro)
The federal government responded to the assassination and general insecurity in Michoacán — one of Mexico’s most violent states — with “Plan Michoacán for Peace and Justice,” a 57-billion-peso (US $3.1 billion) initiative that includes the deployment of additional troops, as well as various other actions.
The statistics indicated that the implementation of Plan Michoacán was having a positive impact on the security situation in the state, but Saturday’s car bomb attack was a brutal reminder that Michoacán remains a hotbed of organized crime.
As president of Mexico, Sheinbaum has used her clothing as an extension of her political and cultural agenda. (Presidencia)
The New York Times included President Claudia Sheinbaum in its list of the Most Stylish People of 2025, a cohort of 67 influential figures in fashion and style worldwide.
The recognition highlights how, as president of Mexico, Sheinbaum has used her clothing as an extension of her political and cultural agenda.
Whether meeting with foreign heads of state, consulting with leaders across different sectors, or on tours around the country, Sheinbaum shows a preference for modern silhouettes that incorporate motifs from Mexico’s rich Indigenous textile heritage.
In its mention of Sheinbaum, the NYT emphasized that she has taken action against major brands that replicate or imitate artisans’ work without acknowledging or adequately compensating them, thereby linking her aesthetic to a stance in defense of cultural property.
“In her first year in office, the president of Mexico has drawn attention to the country’s Indigenous fashion by wearing embroidered clothing and cracking down on big brands that knock off local artisans,” the NYT said.
Sheinbaum shows a preference for modern silhouettes that incorporate motifs from Mexico’s rich Indigenous textile heritage. (Presidencia)
Earlier this year, Mexican officials condemned the sportswear brand Adidas for committing cultural appropriation with the launch of the Oaxaca Slip-On, a locally inspired sandal that was made without the participation of the originating community.
“Big companies often take products, ideas and designs from Indigenous communities,” Sheinbaum said in response to the controversy. “We are looking at the legal part to be able to support them.”
Other trendsetters linked to politics included Melania Trump, who was chosen by the NYT due to her “habit of wearing striking hats that protect her face when making statements,” and Pope Leo XIV, who made the list after he wore a Chicago White Sox baseball cap with his papal garment.
MND co-owner and artist Tamanna Bembenek, whose exhibition "A Pilgrimage Across Cultures" opens this month at San Miguel Art Loft in San Miguel de Allende. (Courtesy)
A while back, a man named Rick Rubin crashed my social media feed, which is usually made up of a mix of art, history, recipes, quotes and astrophysics. I had no idea who he was, but I felt an immediate pull — I just needed to know more about him.
It turns out that he is the legendary, nine-time Grammy-winning cofounder of Def Jam Recordings. One of his teachings is that creativity is our birthright, bringing something to life that wasn’t there before — whether you are solving problems or arranging furniture. He warns us that obsessing over the outcome ultimately weakens the work. As a creator, your job is devotion to the craft: “Create for yourself, not the audience,” he says.
At long last, a reconnection with art
As someone who spent years optimizing my calendar, my career and to-do lists, at first this idea felt intimidating. It had been decades since I’d picked up charcoal and a paintbrush, but I had not forgotten the promise that I had made to my parents and to my amazing art teachers in college: “Don’t worry. At some point, I will reconnect with art.”
The truth is that life got busy with graduate school, work and day-to-day stuff; months became years and years became decades. My wardrobe turned into 50 shades of black and white — it was efficient that way.
But it turns out that I missed color in my life.
In moving to Mexico, time somehow slowed down, as did the clutter in my head. My mind had space to observe, reflect, get bored, wander and get inspired. I found color again. Little by little, I started painting. It did not begin grandly but, rather, with a reflection on what events, memories, surroundings, relationships, habits or activities made me curious, calmer or more relaxed.
Over the past five-plus years, I have been documenting this journey through my art. What has surprised me most was how much painting has changed the way I move through an ordinary day, exploring the fundamentals of the human experience — anxiety, pain, healing, solitude, growth, courage, faith, time, space and the pull of the unknown.
Increasingly, my art has become a bridge connecting the dots between two ancient cultures: Mexico and India — based on my personal observations and listening to various archeological and historical podcasts. It is a reflective journey — a gentle nudge toward the power of stillness. For where there is stillness, space is created for intention. And where there is intention, there is energy to heal, repair and renew.
In my past MND articles, I have always incorporated a piece of my art. Through a dear friend’s insistence, I recently decided to document my personal narrative that inspired my art, piece by piece, and share it with anyone interested in viewing it. If you are in San Miguel de Allende, I invite you to stop by and come say hello at the show, open to the public on Dec. 20 and in 2026 on Jan. 24 and Feb. 7.
The title is “A Pilgrimage Across Cultures.” This is not a commercial event, and nothing is for sale. It isn’t a polished arrival story but rather very much a work-in-progress journey. If you’ve ever felt “between worlds” in your own life — between careers, countries, identities, cultures or even stages of adulthood — something in this show will speak to you. To quote Rick Rubin: “The goal of art isn’t to attain perfection. The goal is to share who we are and how we see the world.” I hope to see you there!
If there is any takeaway from this chapter of my journey, it is this: You do not need a gallery, a grand plan or a perfect schedule to begin; you just need one small decision to “waste” a little time on something that makes you feel more like yourself.
Creating is a fundamental human need, not a performance review. It is a relationship with your own curiosity. And the beautiful thing about relationships is that they can be rebuilt, no matter how many years you’ve spent away.
Tamanna Bembenek was born in India, studied and worked in the U.S. and now lives in Mexico with her husband, Travis. They are the co-owners of Mexico News Daily.
Every drive through Mexico offers breathtaking landscapes. (Museo Ruta de Plata)
The first thing you should know about driving through Mexico is that it’s not for the faint of heart, but it is for the weak of GPS signal.
You’ll start your journey confidently, map illuminating your screen, playlist cued, and snacks within reach, and within ten minutes, you’ll be questioning both your sense of direction and your life choices.
Within a few minutes of starting your journey, you may be questioning your life choices. But be patient: the open road awaits. (Margarito Pérez Retana/Cuartoscuro)
But then, just as you’re about to curse every tope in existence, the road opens up, the mountains unfold like origami and you remember why you came: the scenery, the surprises and the sense that you’re in on one of travel’s best-kept secrets.
Mexico: One nation, countless climates
Mexico, for all its fame as a beach paradise, is a country that rewards those who hit the road and look inland. Behind the all-inclusive resorts and tourist buses lies a country that’s vast, unpredictable and breathtakingly diverse.
It’s not just sand and surf. It’s cloud forests, mountains, deserts that glow like copper at sunset and colonial towns painted every shade of dream. And the best way to experience it? Two to four wheels, a questionable sense of direction and a playlist that swings from mariachi to indie rock to awkward silence as you lose signal somewhere in the great unknown.
Let’s start with the highways, or carreteras, as they’re called here. They’re not just roads, they’re storylines. One minute you’re cruising along the Pacific coast, where palm trees wave like lazy bystanders; the next, you’re winding through misty pine forests that smell like Christmas and adventure.
Mexico’s geography is so dramatic, it feels almost unfair. How can one country have turquoise water and golden beaches, high-altitude deserts and jungle valleys all within a day’s drive?
Take the drive from Puerto Vallarta to Guadalajara, for example: On paper, it’s about three and a half hours. In reality, it’s a roller coaster designed by Mother Nature herself. The road twists and climbs through the Sierra Madre mountains, offering views that make you forget how car-sick you’re getting. You’ll stop not because you want to, but because you have to — either to snap a photo or to breathe deeply and remember you’re not in a “The Fast and the Furious” movie.
This highway features one of many memorable stretches between Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. (SICT)
Somewhere along the way, a roadside stand will appear, selling roasted corn with lime and chili. Suddenly, you’ll realize you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.
A beautiful, chaotic rhythm
Driving in Mexico is a bit like dancing. There are rules, of course, but most people seem to be improvising. Speed limits are suggestions. Lane markings are decorative. Stop signs are treated more as polite requests than legal mandates. Yet, it works. Somehow, everyone moves in this beautiful, chaotic rhythm that only makes sense once you’re part of it.
You’ll learn quickly that the topes (speedbumps) are large enough to qualify as geological features, and that they’re Mexico’s true traffic police. Hit one without slowing your speed and you’ll be launched into an existential crisis, and possibly a lower tax bracket if your suspension breaks.
And don’t be surprised when a semitruck flashes its left blinker. It won’t be to turn but to signal you that it’s safe to pass. It’s unnerving at first, but strangely courteous once you get the hang of it.
The unwritten rule is simple. Stay alert, stay flexible and always assume the next curve hides either a herd of goats, a mountain view or both.
Crossing worlds
Driving across Mexico means crossing worlds. In the north, you’ll find vast stretches of desert where cacti stand like patient philosophers and the sun turns the horizon into molten gold. You’ll pass through towns that look half abandoned, only to find the world’s best tacos being sold from a stand that appears out of nowhere. The landscapes here don’t whisper, they roar. There’s something about the desert here that strips you down to your essentials.
Take the roads less traveled, like this one near La Paz, BCS. (Jezael Melgoza/Unsplash)
Then, as you move south, the colors start to change. The air thickens, the greenery multiplies and, suddenly, you’re driving through what feels like a living postcard. You’ll find yourself in a maze of jungles, waterfalls and tiny villages, where time moves at its own pace. You’ll drive past women in traditional dresses carrying baskets of fruit, past kids playing soccer barefoot in the street and past views that could humble even the most seasoned traveler. Every kilometer is a reminder that Mexico isn’t one country, it’s a thousand small worlds stitched together by roads, maps and food.
Finding the beauty in the unexpected
Let’s talk about the real joy of driving: eating. In Mexico, road trips are basically a culinary pilgrimage.
Forget gas stations with sad sandwiches. Here, you’ll find roadside stalls serving gorditas stuffed with beans and cheese, sizzling quesadillas made on comales blackened by decades of use and fresh coconuts cracked open right in front of you. Every stop is an invitation to taste something new and meet someone interesting.
There’s a rhythm to it. You drive for an hour or two, pull over at a stand that smells incredible, eat something you can’t pronounce, and chat with locals who are both amused and impressed that you’re driving “so far.” By the time you get back in the car, your hands smell like lime and grilled corn, your stomach is full and you’re already scanning for the next stand.
The best part about driving through Mexico isn’t the destination, it’s the detours. It’s the unplanned stops at crumbling churches hidden in mountain towns, or the spontaneous trails through nature you find by accident. It’s the moment you realize you’ve been listening to the same five songs on repeat because you lost cell signal three hours ago and don’t even care anymore.
From charming Pueblos Mágicos to disappearing roads
You’ll stumble upon Pueblos Mágicos designated for their charm, and you soon realize the name isn’t an exaggeration. San Cristóbal de las Casas, Valle de Bravo, Real de Catorce. Each feels like stepping onto a movie set where history never quite ended. And while tourist guides tell you which ones to visit, the truth is that every little town in Mexico has a kind of magic, if you give it time.
There’s no telling where your car may take you during a road trip in Mexico. Valle de Bravo, for instance. (Tomás Martínez/Unsplash)
Of course, not every moment is postcard perfect. Sometimes the road disappears entirely (thanks, rainy season). Sometimes you’ll get stuck behind a herd of cows or you’ll hit a detour that sends you 40 kilometers the wrong way. But that’s part of the charm. Mexico teaches you to let go of control, to laugh when plans fall apart and to find beauty in the delay.
Savoring the in-between
There’s a kind of freedom in the understanding that travel isn’t about getting there fast, it’s about savoring the in-between. It’s about learning that “five hours” in Mexico time can mean seven, and that’s okay because, somewhere along the way, you’ll find a roadside waterfall or a guy selling mangoes or a view so perfect you’ll pull over just to sit and stare.
By the time you’ve driven across Mexico, your car will be dusty, your playlist overplayed, and your heart absolutely full. You’ll have seen more shades of blue than you thought existed, from the Caribbean coast to the highland skies. You’ll have eaten meals that make you reconsider everything you thought you knew about tacos. And you’ll have learned that the real Mexico isn’t just found at the beach, it’s found on the road between here and there.
The magic of driving through Mexico isn’t in the mileage. It’s in the way the country unfolds slowly, like a song that keeps surprising you. It’s in the laughter of roadside vendors, the endless mountains and the way every wrong turn somehow leads to the right place.
Some driving advice
Mexico rewards adventurous drivers, but it also favors the smart ones. The golden rule? Stick to driving during the day, as those sunlit hours are your best friend, turning winding roads and surprise topes into something you can actually see coming.
Springing for the toll roads in more unknown areas is worth every peso, too. They’re smoother, safer and far more predictable than their free-road cousins. Keep your tank full and your GPS downloaded, and let someone know your route if you’re heading somewhere remote.
No matter where the road takes you, Mexico delivers something special. (Bike Mexico)
If you can do all that, while also trusting your instincts, you’ll soon discover that driving through Mexico isn’t just safe, it’s one of the most beautiful, soul-filling ways to wander.
Charlotte Smith is a writer and journalist based in Mexico. Her work focuses on travel, politics, and community. You can follow along with her travel stories at www.salsaandserendipity.com.
In this week's news that never happened: U.S. President Donald Trump tops his World Cup Draw triumph by being awarded the prize for top scorer too.
MEXICO CITY — In a ceremony at Estadio Azteca, where Mexico will open the 2026 World Cup as co-host, FIFA announced Thursday that former U.S. President Donald Trump has been preemptively awarded the tournament’s Golden Boot, months before a single ball is kicked. Officials praised his “historic talent for kicking down international norms, which is basically the same as kicking a ball, but bigger.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino hailed Trump as “a unifying figure for North American football,” noting that if Canada, Mexico, and the United States can share a World Cup, they can “certainly share one extremely loud striker who refuses to learn the rules.” Trump reportedly agreed to accept the award in Mexico City only after staff assured him “the crowd would be mostly his fans and not the people he said were sending criminals.”
There is no word on whether Trump tried to construct a wall between Mexican fans and the pitch.
“No one’s ever scored like that, folks,” said Trump during a post‑match news conference. “I’ve been saying it for years: I have the best kicks. People come up to me, they say, ‘Sir, incredible use of the heel.’ And it’s true — everyone’s talking about it.”
Despite not appearing in any official matches beyond the brief incident, tournament organizers defended the decision, citing “unprecedented media engagement.”
Teammate Christian Pulisic reportedly described the moment as “inevitable,” adding, “He didn’t play soccer; soccer just gave up and let him win.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s campaign team has already rebranded the accomplishment into a new slogan for 2026: “Make America Kick Again.” Merchandise includes limited‑edition red cleats, each autographed with a Sharpie and guaranteed to “score, bigly.”
When asked about the next World Cup, Trump hinted at bigger plans: “We might hold it at Mar‑a‑Lago. Much nicer grass. Much classier referees. Everybody says FIFA loves me — and they do.”
A little-understood ancient people in Mexico first discovered corn's older cousin, teosinte, and began the breeding process to develop it into today's corn. (Jesse Gardner/Unsplash)
It’s not hyperbole to call the selective breeding of the grass plant species teosinte until it became maize, or corn, one of the most incredible technological achievements in human history, especially considering that these changes occurred over not hundreds, but thousands of years, as early Mesoamericans in Mexico selectively bred for desired traits like larger kernels.
The people who accomplished this feat predate recorded history, and almost nothing is known about them.
From top to bottom: Corn’s ancestor, teosinte; a teosinte-maize hybrid; and, finally, modern-day corn. (John Doebly/Wikimedia Commons)
Corn’s evolution in Mexico
How could primitive people have had the capacity to select for 800 to 1,700 protein-coding genes, the number that researchers are now convinced were manipulated during efforts to turn teosinte into corn?
It was an undertaking that must have required extraordinary vision. All you have to do is look at the two side by side — teosinte and corn — and you see the differences are startling. Indeed, when 19th-century botanists taxonomically categorized these plants, they seemed so unlike one another that they were each placed in a separate genus.
Today, corn, along with wheat and rice, provides 42% of calories consumed by the population worldwide — and corn alone about 5%. In Mexico, of course, the latter percentage is far greater. Why? Corn was apparently invented in Mexico, with the earliest evidence of it found in the Balsas River Basin of Guerrero, dating to about 9,000 years ago.
However, it’s important to point out that corn never stopped evolving, and I’m not just talking about the development of the milpa system, or masa, the nixtamalized corn dough used to make the first tortillas and tamales — although, yes, these were hugely important milestones for Mexican agriculture and cuisine, respectively.
The plants themselves never stopped being selectively bred, in a constant search for improvement. The parviglumis species of teosinte that had, through endless breeding, become corn was one of many subsistence strategies for early foragers in Mexico’s lowlands, or areas 400 to 1,800 meters above sea level.
But then, around 6,000 years ago, this early corn spread into the highlands (1,600 to 2,700 meters above sea level) and was crossed with another species of teosinte, one known as mexicana.
A 2020 DNA study of ancient cobs found in Honduras revealed that corn was brought back and forth between Mexico and other parts of Mesoamerica, resulting in more genetically diverse varieties. (Logan Kistler/Smithsonian)
Scientists are still trying to discover what was so superior about the resultant hybrid — whether it featured larger cobs or softer kernels or what — but between 4,700 and 4,000 years ago, this new version of corn hastened the transition from foraging to agriculture, a revolutionary shift that occurred not only in Mexico — forever after it would be the nation’s staple crop — but, over time, throughout the Americas.
Interestingly, this improved corn happened roughly contemporaneously with the migration of peoples from Central and South America — specifically, from the region between Colombia and Costa Rica — into Mexico. These migratory Indigenous groups speaking Chibchan languages, scientists now know, provided at least 50% of the genetic ancestry of the later Maya. They also brought their own corn technology.
The migratory groups were part of the shift from the ancient hunter-gatherers — who got perhaps 10% of their calories from corn — to a more agriculturally focused society where corn comprised as much as half the diet.
The birth of the milpa system
Once the knowledge of selective breeding was discovered, it was naturally tried on other plants too. For example, it’s known that squash was selectively bred by ancient Mexicans, beginning at around the same time — 8,990 years ago — as early corn.
Once a few more food-producing plants were added to the mix, the stage was set for the creation of one of the most sophisticated agricultural systems ever invented: the milpa system.
In the milpa system, corn, squash and beans are intercropped for a mutually beneficial ecosystem: Beans provide nitrogen for the soil, corn stalks provide a climbing structure for the beans, and low-growing squash prevents weeds from developing. (G. Mahelet Lozada Aranda/Government of Mexico)
The history of the milpa dates back close to 5,000 years. Today, it’s often considered synonymous with the Three Sisters technique, in which corn, squash and beans are planted together, creating a symbiotic relationship that helps sustain the fertility of the soil. Corn, notably, saps nitrogen from the soil, a problem fixed by the presence of beans, which help to replenish nitrogen. Together, the trio provides a remarkable 60% to 90% greater yields than if planted separately.
However, the true genius of this concept goes well beyond soil health or yields. These three plants help each other grow. Beans crawl up the corn stalks to gain access to more sunlight, while squash grows low to the ground, preventing weeds from taking root.
When harvested together, they also provide a remarkably healthy diet for their cultivators. Corn is rich in carbohydrates and some amino acids. The ones it lacks are helpfully added courtesy of beans, which also deliver dietary fiber and a range of necessary vitamins and minerals. Squash, meanwhile, is an important source of vitamins A and C.
The Three Sisters concept would ultimately be adapted throughout the Americas. But in early incarnations in Mexico, the milpa often contained other plants, including various tubers, flowers and types of legumes besides beans. Even fruit trees were sometimes integrated into this harmonious agricultural symphony.
Nixtamalization, masa and the origins of tortillas
Mexico cannot lay claim to inventing the important process of nixtamalization, which made the invention of masa tortillas possible. That innovation probably happened in Guatemala. (ProtoplasmaKid/Wikimedia Commons)
Amazingly, all of these earth-changing agricultural innovations occurred before the appearance of the first sedentary agricultural society in Mexico, that of the Mokaya (also known as the “Corn People”) in Chiapas and parts of Guatemala. The Mokaya first appeared in the archaeological record about 3,900 years ago. The next innovations that followed this shift to full-time farming would be every bit as significant, setting the template for Mexican cuisine that still exists today.
The first was the discovery of nixtamalization, the process of soaking kernels in an alkaline solution to remove the pericarp, or outer hull. This not only improves the nutritional profile of corn, but it also makes it amenable to grinding. Nixtamalization is thought to have been developed first in Guatemala roughly 3,500 years ago (1,500 B.C.E.), with the preferred soaking agent eventually becoming slaked lime from limestone, or calcium hydroxide.
Nixtamalization was the necessary step preparatory to making masa, the corn dough now used for tortillas, tamales, tostadas, sopes, gorditas — the list goes on and on. Tortillas, for example, were thought to first have been made about 2,500 years ago in Oaxaca, although they weren’t known by that name, which is of Spanish origin, a language not heard in Mexico for another two millennia.
The original name is lost to time, but it was the technology that was most important, and yet another reason why, for thousands of years, the history of corn and the history of Mexico were essentially the same thing.
Chris Sands is the former Cabo San Lucas local expert for the USA Today travel website 10 Best and writer of Fodor’s Los Cabos travel guidebook. He’s also a contributor to numerous websites and publications, including Tasting Table, Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, Forbes Travel Guide, Porthole Cruise, Cabo Living and Mexico News Daily.
