Cancun downtown

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We decided to leave Isla earlier than anticipated and caught the ferry back with our Swedish friends who had a flight to Cuba. We had been moved to their dorm of 4 the previous night, so we knew they would wake us up when they left. We had booked an amazing deal through our hostel. We had been given the opportunity to reserve a double room in the hotel zone of Cancun for 350 pesos (approximately £17.50) for the night, including breakfast. We jumped at the opportunity as we just wanted the chance to relax, not having to fumble around with lockers and padlocks on bags everytime we wanted to get something out. It is little things like this that you don't really appreciate at home. Also, the hotel had a pool.

We caught the ferry across to Puerto Juarez in Cancun then hopped in a collectivo downtown to the bus stop where we could catch the R1 to the hotel zone. We paid our bus fare and a Mexican man standing at the front of the bus asked us where we were going. We showed him the address of our hotel, and throughout the journey at every bus stop he would run down the bus checking that all the tourists were getting off at the right place. As we were headed out of the hotel zone and as this 'helpful' man (that we assumed worked for the bus company) disembarked the bus, a young Mexican lady asked us where we were headed. We showed her the address and she said that we had gone past our hotel ages ago. We asked the driver, and he confirmed that we had indeed missed the stop, and his bus was now en route to the airport. We would have to get off and catch a bus on the other side. We were less than impressed but it was our own fault for relying on this man. Anyway, we tried to say to the bus driver that the Mexican had told us he would show us our stop and that we thought he worked for the bus company. He refused to give us any kind of refund, even though the fare was quite expensive. And so we found ourselves on the other side of the road trying to hail down a bus.

The hotel zone was huge; hotels were described as being located at ‘4km’ down the hotel zone. The entrances were huge, and they looked really luxurious. However, as the grand hotels lined the beach, from the road running adjacent to the coast, it was not possible to see the sea. It is very similar to Miami in that way. Everything was so big that it was not possible to walk anywhere from your hotel; you must catch the bus or a taxi. It made us wonder whether the people who stayed in the grand hotel complexes even bothered to leave.

We eventually arrived at Sotavento Hotel and Yacht club, which was located on the lagoon side of the highway, not the beach side. We were extremely happy to be staying in a hotel regardless, as it was a luxury to us. There was a lovely pool area and the surroundings were beautiful. Plenty of people had their yachts moored up outside the pool area in the lagoon so we had a little nose at them. We spent the remainder of the morning sunbathing, and had lunch in the hotel restaurant. In the afternoon it began to rain very heavily. We attempted to sit under an umbrella to wait for it to clear but it just got heavier. We later learnt this rain was caused by Hurricane Richard which hit the Belize coast the following evening.

We decided that we would spend our evening in downtown Cancun, so we caught the bus there. We walked up and down Tulum Avenue mooching in shops and restaurants. We were not allowed into the supermarket with Luke’s backpack, and as he was unwilling to leave it with the security guard we were unable to have our turtle photos developed. What a bummer. We walked down a side road which lead us to a surprising open space. There was a paved square with a pavillion as a centre piece. Market stalls adorned with fairy lights were dotted around selling everything from coconut lanterns to corn on the cobs dipped in cheese. The whole place was so colourful and beautiful; it was like a fairground at night. There was cheerleading practise taking place in front of the main pavillion with many Mexican teenagers- male and female- taking part. Mexicans seem to be really friendly people who like to socialise with their families and get together as a community. We found this as it was a Saturday night around 7pm and the Plaza was full of children whizzing round in powerwheels (kids cars with motors). There were hundreds of them, and all of their parents were there taking part sitting around and chatting, or eating from one of the many food outlets in the food court. We could have stayed here all night. We felt welcome even though we were the only non-Mexicans we saw all night.

In downtown Cancun we saw our first Halloween (Day of the Dead) decorations. In Mexico, Day of the Dead is a very important national celebration in Mexico. It is generally celebrated on 31st October through to the 2nd of November, and sees many Mexicans partying in cemeteries, celebrating the lives of their dead loved ones. We are very lucky in that we will be able to witness this celebrations first hand in Oaxaca which is a very Mexican city.

On the bus back to the hotel zone we had a scare. A Mexican man got on the bus and stood in the aisle, talking really fast in Spanish. He was wearing a black over the shoulder bag which had switches and buttons on it. It was connected to a small round black device in his hand by a thick red wire. At first when we noticed him, we didn’t know what to think. We looked around but no one else on the bus seemed alarmed. Luke quickly realised that what the man was carrying was a compact CD player, and as the speakers on his modified bag burst to life we let out a sigh of relief. This was another moment that understanding Spanish would have definitely eased our anxieties. When we got back to the hotel we watched half of Cool Runnings and then fell to sleep.

The following morning we sat around at the hotel doing boring things like banking and packing. We had decided to catch the bus to Merida today, our next destination. Merida is a large city in the Yucatan, about 50km inland. It was to be our first real Mexican city, and after our time in downtown Cancun, we were excited to see the real Mexico.

As we were waiting at the bus stop, a taxi driver stopped by to hail us over (as is usual custom in Mexico we have noticed- the driver hails the passengers). Anyway, the driver knew that the price of the bus for both of us would be 17 pesos. He called us over and offered us a ride to the bus station for 5USD. We said forget it, we were getting the bus- we had already made it to the bus stop, and the bus would drop us practically to the entrance of the bus station, why would we pay more for taxi service? Anyway, he then said, ok 15 pesos. We repeated FIFTEEN in English, as did he in clear English, and the price was agreed. We decided to take the ride as it was cheaper than the bus. When we got to the bus station however, he said in just as clear English; FIFTY. This is clearly another one of the tricks they use to pull on the tourists. We refused to pay it, but as we only had a 50 pesos note we were snookered. He said he had no change and he refused to take 13 pesos (all the change we had) from us, and he just drove off. So we had got a free taxi ride, but Katie was feeling very guilty. We decided we would not get into another taxi without paying upfront, as it seems that even agreeing the price up front isn’t enough over here.

We bought first class tickets for our journey to Merida, as for an extra £4 each it shaved off 3 hours of the journey, reducing our travelling time from 7 hours to just 4. Luke was very impressed with the standard of the bus, which had loads of leg room and we had a personal TV playing Fast and the Furious.

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Comments

[michelle]

love the name of the shop
Hey guys glad to hear your both having a wicked time. Its great to read everything you are getting up too. Will email you all about my trip north at the end of the month. xxxx

[ashley]

hi katie
Looks as though your having a good time, seeing a different part of the world. I like the pics you've posted. All the best Ash