Cancun, Part 1, Getting in

Cancun, Mexico, January 2015

Getting in

We had been in Florida for holidays for some weeks before with my family and while the rest of them travelled back home for New Year, we decided to extend our trip and explore new places, just like we always do. We cancelled our flights back and looked for a decent option to spend the New Year at. Having discarded Jamaica and the Dominican Republic for various reasons, we decided to opt for Cancun. It sounded like an easy enough town to start the whole "Mexican experience" without having to worry about drug cartels and what-have-you, often associated with the country, especially among the paranoid amongst us.

The problem was, however, we were only booking this trip less than a month in advance, so accommodation was scarce. And the little that we found was extremely expensive. So we decided to spend New Year in Miami Beach instead (I know what you're thinking: "surely Miami Beach on New Year is even more expensive!", but we managed to bunk there for free at a friend's place), and fly to Cancun only on January 2nd. Miami was a natural choice, since the flight from there is mere 1,5 hours and not overly expensive. We also managed to book a flight from Cancun back to Helsinki via Manchester for a reasonable price, so we were all set.

Welcome to Mexico

Arrival was a bit hectic to say the least, and not just because of the long and slow-moving lines before the passport control. We had contacted our hotel beforehand asking about airport pick-up. Whilst they said they don't arrange such a thing, they said that they "had a guy, who can pick us up for $25", so having emailed them our flight information, we considered the matter resolved. However, when we arrived there was nobody to meet us. I phoned the hotel and they seemed to be unaware of such an arrangement, and just told us to grab a taxi, which should be $25.

However, the taxi company informed us that the fare would be $64, well over our budget (and not to mention we didn't carry that much dollars with us anyway). Haggling did us no good either. One younger guys did approach us and told us to come with him to the "other parking lot" and he'd take us downtown for $25, but the idea of leaving the crowded area for a remote location with an unlicensed driver in Mexico just didn't feel right for me. Guess that's the paranoia creeping in, or maybe it was a smart move, don't know, and I'm fine with not knowing.

However, the eventual trip downtown proved to be rather simple, so this is what we recommend. There were busses leaving for the ADO bus station in the centre every half an hour and for some five bucks we were on our way, after wondering for a while why there were young girls in bikinis waiting for the same bus. Surely airport doesn't have a beach? They didn't even have any bags with them. Maybe they were robbed by an illegal taxi driver? My friend Marta was staring at the stars with an absent peaceful expression on her face and feeling the ocean breeze on her skin. Her tranquillity was switched to shock when she saw the district we were planning to stay at and our room.

What Marta was expecting to see...

 

...and what she saw

To be continued...