things to do in MEXICO?

Also went to Oaxaca, which was good. A bit touristy, but still a nice place to hang out. Some very tasty tequila/mescal and some good restaurants, too.

Then we went to the Pacific Coast, and stayed at a little fishing village called Puerto Angel, south of Puerto Escondido. Nice place. Some pretty good beaches nearby, but watch out for the undertow. Reasonably cheap places to stay and to eat. Very laid back. Beaches are probably nicer in Yucatan, though, if you're a real beach fan.

Dunno what the weather's like in June, though, we were there in early November, when the Day of the Dead festivities were on.

Easy to get around on buses and subways in Mexico City and elsewhere, but you should be careful of what you carry with you which taxis you get into, especially late at night. But we had no problems, found that the people we met were really good folks. If you learn a bit of spanish, it'll go a long way in terms of how you're treated.

Stay away from resorts and serious tourist traps, you'll have fun.

what is the drug situation like in Mexico?

Coke? What about prescription speed and stuff over-the-counter... are there dodgy pharmacies and stuff?

Buy a travel guide. Get on a guided tour, even.

I'm keen to visit a kind of imagined Mexico of desert, haciendas lined with agave cactuses, cheap beer, tequila, beaches and day of the dead regalia....... where should I be going to find this? (!)

I hate to be a buzzkill, but you're a long, long drive away from your vision of Mexico when you're in Mexico City. You're also going to probably not want to drive that long, long drive either. You're thinking like, Baja California, Chihuahua, and Sonora. Mexico City is located on top of a mountain, near volcanos. Going along the Yucatan Penninsula, you're going to come across jungle, ruins, bad roads, and possibly marxist rebels. And lots of banditry. Because its really, really poor. Understand that Mexico City is a developing nation with large regions of crushing poverty and very, very nasty people. By this, I mean people that will kill you, then take your wallet, rather than merely demand and possibly kill you later.

Dodgy pharmacies are everywhere in every area heavily touristed by Americans. Elderly people like their prescriptions cheap, other people want prescriptions without actually having them for an assortment of reasons. How good the product is depends. How well its been maintained also depends and varies heavily. Drug trafficing is big business in Mexico, obviously, because people are poor, have few options, and there's a fairly open border north to where drugs are purchased and consumed. If you walk around where there's a lot of drug dealing taking place, chances are, someone will probably think you want to do drugs, particularly if you're a westerner. Oh, did I mention the undercovers, the horribly crooked cops (you may get nailed for merely being in such a location, or hell, anywhere...you better have cash ready for a bribe), and the decrepit and dangerous system of jails? Word to the wise: don't go anywhere in the developing world to do drugs. Its a really bad idea.

When it comes to Mexico City though, I've heard really good things about some of the open air markets there for music (usually pirated), particularly if you like your punk or metal. Big spectator sports are soccer, baseball, auto racing, bullfighting, boxing, and lucha libre (which is mexican pro wrestling, a very acrobatic variant on worked/scripted pro wrestling in the US). I'm sure someone else can discuss the fine arts and so forth, of which Mexico DF has lots of (as it should, being one of the largest cities on earth).

Mexico City: Pulque in la pulqueria!!

Outside of Mexico DF forget about record stores. As mentioned upthread, get a travel guide like the Lonely Planet.

My experience regarding the warnings upthread about being murdered and robbed is be careful and you will be okay. Don't travel at night, be careful where you camp etc. IMHO, driving around the States is scarier than Mexico, especially for idiotic cops, appalling road conditions and weird poverty stricken areas. The People's Guide To Mexico has tons of good advice if you are doing anything other than going to the resorts. http://www.peoplesguide.com/

The much-ballyhooed Mexican Wrestling is fun but way more mellow that the ECCW wrestling we have here in British Columbia, by the way.

San Christobal is a lovely city, so are Merida and Campeche. The Mayan ruins in the Yucatan are some of the best in meso-America. If you're not into the Mayan history thing and just see one, make it Palenque rather than Chichen Itza. The latter is coach tour madness.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/32/54629614_2b28c93dfd.jpg?v=1129919094

going to co-op for 6 months in mexico this jan. Toluca in the zone of Metepec. good idea in light of whats going there atm?

Any recommendations for hotels / vegetarian-friendly restaurants in Mexico City, Monterrey and Puebla?

Is there anything of interest in Zedec Santa Fe or it it just offices and malls? I'll be stuck there for four days in October, though will also be in Mexico City proper and Monterrey, which should be fun.