1

Don't you watch the news ? It's never safe for a Canadian anywhere In Mexico...I suppose you will have to take your husbands advice on this one...Watch out for his friends...They may want to Marry you too...carracar

2

If you hang out on this forum, you'll notice that most crime-related articles reposted here involve Canadians. Now, it may be that the particular folks that usually post these articles are Canadians. But there is also some chance that Mexicans, for some unfathomable reason, target Canadians and not Americans (estadounidense). Best to be safe. Pretend you're an American. Avoid using words like "about" (or "a-boot" if you're from certain parts of Canada) that may peg you as a Canadian. It just may make all the difference!

...I am of course joking. :)

As far as answering your question. I hesitate to offer an opinion, but my impression is those areas are niether the most dangerous, nor are they among the safer parts of Mexico. I'm sure others will weigh in with more pointed opinions. Best of luck!

3

I think your husband's friends in Cordoba would be the best ones to ask about the local conditions.

4

ADO buses travel from DF to Cordoba and to Veracruz. It is a toll road that is monitored by Federal Police and the military.

I haven't heard of any problems in Veracruz after the military took over policing the city. The dumping of bodies was done in Boca del Rio which is a suburb south of Veracruz. The closest you might get to Boca would be the Plaza of the Americas. Night fun is is the center of Veracruz and at the border of Boca and Veracruz.

5

i am from the South Bay area of southern California. i lived for several years (recently) in the Cordoba/Orizaba area and still visit there frequently.
i enjoyed my time there. i played tennis every morning at the tennis cub, belonged to 2 gymnasiums, ate at restaurants from the cheap to the expensive, made many friends.
cordoba is a safe, middle class city. there's a walmart. there's a country club.
bottom line: you're just as likely to be assaulted in Westwood California than Cordoba. actually...probably more likely.
again, this is a middle class, medium sized city. so, just as with any medium sized city in the USA, if you look for trouble you'll surely find it. but, so can you in Omaha Nebraska.
so to repeat, i LIVED there, and Cordoba is no problem at all.
i am an african american who speaks pretty good spanish, and i had nothing but good times there.
i will add one interesting factoid: while i was living there, i flew to Los Angeles and drove to Vancouver BC for some pilot training. while in BC, my Range Rover was broken into while i was at lunch in the Coal Harbour area (upscale). 2 laptops and over 1000 in cash stolen (no they were not left in view, but were in the cargo area under a hard barrier that superman could not have seen through). in cordoba i kept a different Land Rover vehicle for several years and never had ONE SINGLE PROBLEM.
so there you go.

6

Hi PennyVera,

I can tell you how it was for me on a second class bus leaving Veracruz during Carnaval this year.
Absoluitely fine! So was staying in the city for 10 days, dontown, nd walking everywhere at night, sometimes going to the beach where the hotel strip starts and jogging on small strips of sand if I hadn´t walked enough in the day time.
The wost thign about the bus was that it got stuck in a million turnarounds after Cordoba (I was on my way to Puebla)
and we got there over an hour late.
Veracruz to Cordoba is a straight shot, good highway, busy station.

I´m a 48 year old woman traveling alone, I speak good Spanish, having lived 8 years in Brazil certainnly helps and I feel a million times more secure in Mexcio than I did in Rio de Janeiro or Bahia.

Of course, anything can happen to you anywhere. I don´t feel safe driving in the US when I read the statistics on the number of people who die from car accidents there, it´s has been close to 46,000 a year. And shootings.....the US is a violent country.

Can I guarantee that nothing will happen? Of course not, but walking downtown day and night and on the beach, the main thing I had to worry about were my valuables, which I usually hid in my luggage in the room, or kept in a small money belt on me.

There are cops everywhere at night in Veracruz, some local people say it helps, the hotels were packed and I saw
lots of Europeans, one Canadian who had been there for 2 months, few Americans.

Hope this helps

7

A few months ago, there were problems in Cordoba and Amatlan, a small town maybe 4 miles away. The Marines came in and things got really quiet again. Heh, heh.

We have family there, both in Cordoba and La Patrona, just outside Amatlan, and shortly after the problems, we visited them. No problems for us.

I am one person who does not especially like Cordoba. Climate and other issues. But, that does not mean others will not like it.

A few years ago, they had Jueves Danzon en the Centro. Danzon is a very traditional and elegant form of dance. I don't know if they still have it, but if you are there on Thursday you could ask. Seeing some young couple dancing Rock and Roll to Danzon is just about the dumbest thing I have ever seen, heh, heh.

8

I just returned from Cordoba; I am an American, have family there, and barely speak spanish, but I learn more each time I go (I've been about nine times over 20 years.). I love Cordoba and am pondering moving there, if I can find an affordable apartment.

But to answer your security questions, apparently Veracruz IS dangerous. I have family there also. My family are concerned about the declining situation. The federales have taken over the police departments in Veracruz and in Cordoba. Apparently, either the police are ineffective or the government, which has been sharply criticized for not reacting to the trafficantes, is pulliing out the stops for a show of force. A body was left in the Walmart parking lot in Cordoba some months ago. Apparently, it is much nastier in Veracruz as it's a seaport and therefore involves moving drugs.

But I found Cordoba as peaceful as ever. The Zocalo, the town square, is gorgeous. There's a wonderful restaurant on el Zocalo called Los Portales where my cousins gather with their friends every day at noon. The totopos are delicious.

There's also a second floor serious restaurant above Los Portales, gorgeous like old colonial Mexico (Cordoba is a very old city like 1700-something). I took five friends there, for a serious dinner, and the tab was only $45. That's one reason I'd go. The food, wonderful food, is half our prices. I had a filet mignon at Crepas, with salad, cafe and cheesecake, for $14. Pinch me!

I wouldn't be honest if I didn't tell you that the federales roll through the center of town at el Zocalo every few hours, four pickup trucks in a convoy with 50-cal machine guns mounted on top. Everyone stops and stares and as they roll out of town, we go back to conversation, laughter and comradery.

BTW, the ADO buses are luxurious. Buy a ticket on the (I think it's called ADO Plus). The seats are very cmfortable, like first-class on a jet, and one-way Mexico DF to Cordoba was something cheap like $30.

If you stick with your husband, Veracruz might be possible, but you can walk the streets of Cordoba by yourself. Just don't be flashy and don't dress like a tourist. Also, greet every merchant at least once. Walking into a store and not greeting them is a dead giveaway that you're a tourist. And if you're visiting someone, even family, or you're invited for lunch or dinner, always bring a gift, no matter how small. Enjoy!

9

Stampguy, a year or so ago the Feds announced a goal to replace all local Mexican police forces with Federal officers, because corruption makes effective police nearly impossible. I read that at the time, but have not read any updates on their plan. So, without further information, I do not know if there was any special treatment for those two cities.

I think ADO used to call their first upgrade, ADO-GL. Maybe a change in names. I know their luxury line was called UNO, and yesterday in TAPO, I notice the sign said ADO-Platina. That line is sleeper buses. GL simply has bigger seats, and some drinks in the back.

There is or was one peculiarity of ADO in Cordoba. The last time I took a bus there, ADO was reserving so many seats for Orizaba, so it was necessary to buy seats to DF the day before if you wanted to be sure of a seat.

I am glad you like Cordoba. My personal dislike, because of filth; heat; humidity; and mosquitoes, does not lead me to doubt others will like it. I can see where they might. In my case, I Like my Third World village in the mountains of Puebla but I am aware most Americans would not like it here at all.