lucha libre (professional wrestling match) or an event at the Tijuana Cultural Center.

Still, there has been plenty of trouble in Mexico, and it continues. On Oct. 16, authorities said they found nine mutilated bodies in Tlapehuala, a town in the state of Guerrero, and three more bodies in Acapulco, each accompanied by a threatening note signed, ``The boss of bosses.''

Since Aug. 20, the U.S. State Department has urged Americans to delay unnecessary travel to parts of the states of Michoacan (capital: Morelia) and Chihuahua (which includes the cities of Chihuahua and Ciudad Juarez on the Texas border). Mexican authorities say that in the first half of 2009, more than 1,000 killings took place in Ciudad Juarez, located across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.

Although U.S. citizens have been killed in Mexico, apparently including four whose bodies were discovered in Tijuana in May, those deaths make up a small fraction of those who have died in the drug-related violence.

If you set flu aside, said Edward Hasbrouck, author of The Practical Nomad: How to Travel Around the World, the biggest danger for a law-abiding traveler in Mexico is probably ``the same as the big danger in the U.S. -- road crashes. Almost everything else is negligible by comparison.''

But Hasbrouck said, ``You have to evaluate not only `is it safe?' but also, `Will I be so frightened that I won't enjoy my trip?' ''

For details on the geography of Mexico's troubles, check the U.S. State Department's Web site, especially the Mexico security travel alert, at http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_4491.html.

Wherever you go in Mexico, the State Department recommends you stay on the beaten path, carry a working cell phone, tell others where you're going and register to receive State Department e-mail notifications at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/ui/.

On the swine flu front, Mexico drew worldwide attention in April and May when H1N1 was blamed for dozens of deaths. In the offices of Passport Health Los Angeles, a travel medicine and immunization clinic, executive director Rayann Aziz recalls the concern that erupted then. But lately, the U.S. and Mexico are in the same position -- jointly leading the world in cases.

Aziz's advice for anybody traveling to Mexico is identical to her advice for those staying home: Get a 2009 H1N1 vaccination, especially if you're in a high-priority group (pregnant women; people who live with or care for children up to 6 months old; health care and emergency medical services workers; those 6 months to 24 years old, and anyone 25 to 64 with a chronic health disorder or compromised immune system).