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.
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| 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.
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| What Marta was expecting to see... |
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| ...and what she saw |
To be
continued...
