Mexico enjoys a cultural blend that is wholly unique: among the fastest growing industrial powers in the world, its vast cities boast modern architecture to rival any in the world, yet it can still feel, in places, like a half-forgotten Spanish colony, while the all-pervading influence of native American culture, five hundred years on from the Conquest, is extraordinary.

Each aspect can be found in isolation, but far more often, throughout the Republic, the three co-exist – indigenous markets, little changed in form since the arrival of the Spanish, thrive alongside elaborate colonial churches in the shadow of the skyscrapers of the Mexican miracle.

Despite encroaching Americanism, a tide accelerated by the NAFTA free trade agreement, and close links with the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, the country remains resolutely individual. Its music, its look, its sound, its smell rarely leave you in any doubt about where you are.

Physically, Mexico resembles a vast horn, curving away south and east from the US border with its final tip bent right back round to the north. It is an extremely mountainous country: two great ranges, the Sierra Madre Occidental in the west and the Sierra Madre Oriental in the east, run down parallel to the coasts, enclosing a high, semi-desert plateau. About halfway down they are crossed by the volcanic highland area in which stand Mexico City (or México) and the major centres of population. Beyond, the mountains run together as a single range through the southern states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. Only the eastern tip – the Yucatán peninsula – is consistently low-lying and flat.

From the ancient sites of the Pre-Colombian civilizations of the Mayas and the Aztecs to the lovely towns with their Spanish Colonial heritage, from small indigenous villages, where people still maintain their own language and traditional lifestyles to the bursting megalopolis of Mexico City our travel talk will emphasize the rich cultural and geographic diversity this country has to offer.

This presentation is sponsored by the Mexico Tourism Board, Mexicana & Trek Escapes.