Being that it's a slow news day with Paul McCartney's wedding and the protesters down on Wall Street stealing most of the headlines, I figured I'd use today's blog to bitch about my trip to Cancun, Mexico. Don't get me wrong! It was my first time in Cancun, after all these years, and the view from our room was breathtaking! We had an ocean view room at The Westin Lagunamar Hotel right in, what they called The Hotel Zone of Cancun. I have to state right now that Cancun was absolutely beautiful! It was the natives that left a bad taste in my mouth.
So, we arrived in Cancun late Friday evening because we'd missed our flight thanks to an error by US Airways, an airline we may never use again, but that's for a whole other blog. Anyway, we arrived late, but the front desk told us we can grab dinner at the hotel restaurant still. We were excited and I ate like I haven't eaten in days. Everyone at the hotel was fantastic, so far.
The next day, we had to meet with our concierge really quick because we were promised a $75 voucher upon our visit. So, we sat with him only to be suckered into this Westin Vacation package presentation for '90 minutes'. We agreed to it for another $100 voucher, which we applied to our trip to the Mayan Ruins, otherwise known as Chichen Itza.The concierge was, however, very friendly and helpful when it came to finding things to fill our days and dinners at night. We took his advice on almost everything. Let me tell you right now, the food that we ate in Cancun was absolutely amazing! From breakfast to lunch, right down to dinner! I ate like I was on a Carnival Cruise! (Anyone who's been on one of those will be able to relate.) When I would finish my plate, I would end up eating my girlfriend's dinner. It was that good! We had mostly enjoyed Mexican fare, but weirdly enough, on one night, we ate Thai food in these huts right above a lagoon. That was incredible and fun! On our last night, we went for fresh seafood at some place called "Fred's", maybe short for "Frederico's"?
I know this doesn't sound like a bitch-fest, but like I said, Cancun was absolutely awesome, except for one thing, and this would be my advice for anyone planning to visit beautiful Cancun, steer clear of the shopping down there! We wanted to buy some souvenirs for our families and ourselves, but to do that, you haggling skills better be top notched and second to none. With all of the goods that we bought from the famous Mexican vanillas to tequilas to some of the Mexican jewelry, we calculated that we got ripped off about a couple hundred dollars. Now, granted, we had to pay everything in pesos, which had an exchange rate of about 12.50 to the American dollar. These natives knew what they were doing when they ripped us off, and when we would try to turn it around on them, they would not have it. No sale! Unreal! So, steer clear of the flea markets in Cancun! They will suck you dry!
The rip-offs didn't even stop there! We went on our excursion to The Mayan Ruins or Chichen Itza, and on while we were on the bus, the tour guide told us that a few years ago, they allowed vendors into the Mayan city to sell their souvenirs, but then he proceeded to tell us horror stories about people who bought from these vendors. For instance, he told us of a woman who bought silver from one of these vendors and the silver turned her skin green, and there was another story about a person who bought a wooden carving only to bring the item home contracted with termites. So, the bottom line was to stay away from the vendors. As they told us these horror stories, we pulled into a place where we can buy souvenirs if we wanted to buy them. The funny thing was, all of these items were marked up to double of what we saw them for in the streets. Something was fishy! My girlfriend pointed out that the tour guides had to be getting a kick back from the items bought from their tourists. When we arrived at Chichen Itza, which was seriously breathtaking, we looked around at the goods these vendors were selling and they were no different than those from the flea markets or the souvenir shop we just stopped at. This angered us a little bit because now we realized that those horror stories were probably not even true!
On our last day, we were already pissed about being ripped off all over the Yucatan Peninsula, we decided to take a ferry to an island called Isla Mujeres, and the minute that we got off that bus, the rip-offs began happening. We had people running up to us, telling us to buy the ferry tickets from them and that we should buy nothing off of the streets. So, that sounded reasonable. We walked over to the building that they said we needed to buy our tickets from, and it was a lady sitting there at a table selling the tickets. In my mind this was no better than buying it on the streets only she was hidden, but the price was right and exactly what our concierge told us it would be. So, we bough the tickets for the ferry. Little did we know that it was going to be this fisherman's boat that rocked so much that if you suffered from motion sickness, you were finished. I think that it shook so much that even if you never had motion sickness, you got it on this ferry. Anyway, on this ferry ride, they asked us if we wanted to rent a golf cart for the day to drive around the island. We though that it sounded fun, we had no idea how big this island was, so we rented it for the day which cost us $50 USD. Right after I paid for it, my girlfriend turned to me and said, "I bet you we can find it cheaper as soon as we get to the island. I bet you we can find it for $20!" At this point, I was thinking, "Why didn't you say something sooner?", though I knew she was probably right, but I thought this guy worked for the island and was doing the honest thing. I guess I have too much faith in humanity! So, we get to this beautiful island, and guess what? Golf carts for $25 for a full day! What the hell? I was angry, though, I didn't show it. We enjoyed our trip to Isla Mujeres, driving around in what seemed to be the slowest golf cart on the island. On our ferry trip back, we talked to a few couples, who were getting sea sick by the way, and they told us that they've been to Isla Mujeres before and that this particular ferry was horrible! That there was another one that was more like a yacht and you don't even feel it rocking. That was the initial stand that we saw on the street that we were told not to buy from. Scammed again!
I was done! I have nothing against Mexican people, but the morning that we left, I must not have spoken to one of them. I was so angry that they took advantage of us, the tourists. And since their tourism rate is down, which is something a city like Cancun should be aware of, I would think that they would treat their tourists a little bit better to keep them coming back for more. Would I go back to Cancun again? You bet I would! Would I shop there again or turst the natives? Hell no!
As seasoned Mexico Tourists, you should have spoken to us first. I could have told you all of this ahead of time, and saved you a ton of money, and several headaches. Including the "90 min" tour, which sometimes turns into 4 hours!!! Been there, done that. I wish I had known you were going!! Patty Wojno
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