I’ve been there too and can confirm the “filth”. Only stay at 5 star hotels and even then be careful. Deeper inside, hotels get worse but you can find holiday inns. Don’t use a bathroom anywhere except hotel if you can help it. Off the beaten path it’s definitely third world. What water treatment they have is only “drinking” and it’s not potable. There is no wastewater treatment and air emissions are what I imagine from the gilded age; no controls. Air quality is horrendous. Rivers and creeks polluted with chemicals and algal slime resulting from the massive amounts of human and animal sewage.