Mexico stretches southwards from its border with the US like a vast, dusty banana. From its northern deserts, through the mountainous centre, where the immense capital city, Mexico DF, sits coughing under a black cloud of smog, down to the lush jungles of Chiapas and then eastwards through the untouched tropical paradise of the Yucatan peninsular to the white sand and turquoise waters of Cancun.

History
Mexico has a chequered and seriously blood-splattered history. Nobody has ever really managed to stay in power long without the threat of civil war/assassination/peasant revolts/invasion/rabid Chihuahua take-over plots. Mexican history is like one long spaghetti western of evil, snarling, mustachioed villains and dashing, macho, horse riding heroes. Biggest baddy? That'd have to be Hernan Cortez, the Spanish conquistador who fought and pillaged his way across the country and managed to dupe the silly self-satisfied Aztec leader, Montezuma (think Hugh Laurie's Prince George), into believing he was the plumed serpent god Quetzelcoatl returning to reclaim his kingdom. Duh. Biggest good guy? Without a doubt the peasant hero Emiliano Zapata, visionary of social change and champion of the poor who won the Mexican revolution from the south rejecting bribe attempts and avoiding violent battle wherever possible and who, on taking over Mexico city, instead of raping and pillaging, humbly took his soldiers door-to-door politely asking for food and drink from the residents. All this, AND he had a sombrero big enough to provide shelter from the harmful suns rays for entire communities of indigenous people (fact).

Politics
Since the heady days of the revolution, the image of Mexican politics has been sullied by corruption and abuse of power. Recently a politician was actually filmed stuffing public tax money into his grubby pockets - and we Brits think Tony Blair's bad. Sadly, the people seem to have taken on a resigned political apathy and, apart from in the capital, there are a surprising lack of public demonstrations. This could stem from fears of a repeat of the horrific massacre of 1968 when around 300 student protesters were killed in Mexico City's Tlateloco Square. This travesty, and the fact that the Olympic Games were allowed to go ahead in the country just days afterwards, has been almost completely covered-up by the national media for the last 37 years.

Religion
Mexico is, of course, fervently Catholic (90%) but, unlike in European Catholicism, the big cheese in the Mexican church is not senor Jesus. It is in fact Mary who takes prime position in Mexican worship and, just like in every traditional family, it is really the Mama who wears the trousers. This can be seen when you enter any church in the country and make your way up to the altar - it's not Christ who takes centre stage, but more often than not you'll find a huge statue of the Madonna dressed in sumptuous fabrics, smiling benignly in her position of grandure while her under-nourished son hangs miserably off his little cross in a corner somewhere.

Festivals
The best thing about religion in Mexico are the vast number of fiestas that it provides. It's pretty easy to become a saint in Mexico - you basically just have to be religious and then die in a horrible way. And for every saint there is a festival dedicated to them which means an excuse to have a day off work (there is a national holiday practically every other day), eat cakes and drink tequila. Andale!!! The most fun (and surreal) festival, however, is not Catholic at all but originates in pre-Hispanic culture. The famous 'Day of the Dead' is held at the beginning of November and if you enjoy partying in cemeteries and dancing around gravestones, this is the one for you.

fun
Most fun in Mexico involves cacti in one form or another. All kinds of intoxicating substances can be extracted from these unsociably spiky plants. The most famous is of course tequila, and in Mexico you will find a vast range of styles to slam, from the white, lighter-fluid 'silver' tequila to the more flavoursome dark reposado (rested) variety. Cheaper and more hard-core is Mescal, a fiery spirit made from a different kind of cactus - this is the one with the worm - said to have hallucinogenic properties, but more likely to simply get you well and truly plastered and dancing on tables singing Mariachi numbers at the top of your voice. If you really want to get out of your mind, the best cactus-based product to get your hands on is Peyote. This is the psychedelic substance used by the Witcholi people and if you had been wandering around the Mexican desert in the 1960s you would have come across swathes of American hippies attempting to befriend the local indigenous people in return for access to this mind-bending drug. Apparently it's not to be used for recreational purposes as it is of great spiritual importance to the Witcholi, and besides, it's likely to turn you stark raving loony and leave you wandering the desert having deep philosophical conversations with the ants.

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The Day12 A-Z of...

Mexico

A

Acapulco - Yes, you'll be going loco, down in acapulco. If you stay too long. or so says the song. It's Not technically true because Acapulco is a horrible 5-star resort on the pacific coast where the only thing likely to send you loco is the sight of fat tourists flopping their wallets open on their sunbeds and ordering strawberry daquiris while claiming Mexico is the bomb and working on their tans.

B

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