The Atacama looks the way it does because nothing softens it. The light is sharp, the air is thin, and the geology has not been weathered into approachability. Lagoons appear chemical-blue against pale flats. Volcanoes rise without foothills. Roads cross terrain that, photographed, would not be believed.

Most international trips to Mexico land at a coast and stay there. The country's reputation rests overwhelmingly on its beaches — the Riviera Maya, the Pacific resorts, the bay sequence of Tulum, Cancún, and Playa del Carmen. None of these are wrong reasons to visit. But they account for a fraction of what the country is, and for travellers willing to look slightly inland, the most rewarding Mexico tends to live in its cities.