CANCUN!!!

Thursday 20th of July

Next day we left the hostel towards our long awaited Cancun. It is worth mentioning that this stage of the trip was the most expensive one in tolls. After passing the city of Merida, about one third of our way there, the road turns into a very well maintained highway with very little traffic. At this point we were well into the Yucatan Peninsula and heading into one of Mexico’s most beloved state, Quintana Roo. This state is famous for its gorgeous Caribbean beaches and also home of Cancun and the Riviera Maya.

We arrived at Cancun at mid afternoon, with enough time to hit the beaches before the sun went down. The strip, similar to one of the Florida Keys, also called the “zona hotelera” (hotels zone), was so different from the rest of the city that seemed almost like a different country. Every hotel chain imaginable had a splendorous building or set of buildings on the ocean front. We found out later that in average the cost for a room in one of these fancy hotels was around $200. The tourist area located along the key looked at times like a blend between Las Vegas and Daytona Beach, but nothing like Mexico. They were even more Americans walking around than Mexicans. The exuberance of the commercial zone was at times too much, and in our case it was especially disturbing. Imagine driving three thousand miles out of the US and into the heart of Mexico to end up in franchise of American commercial capitalism. Eerie. Once I hit the Outback Steakhouse and saw no trace of my fellow Hispanics the scenary started to give me goose bumps.

Regardless of the hardcore globalization, the beach still met our expectations. It was the beginning of the Mexican Caribbean shore and the mildly warm turquoise sea dominated the landscape. As the sun set we headed back into the city to find another backpacker’s hostel, which proved to be so successful the night before. Indeed we found one that a guy recommended back in Campeche. It was called the “Hostel Maya” and it cost about 100 pesos a night, 20 pesos more than the one in Campeche but as the owner of the hostel (a very nice guy) was telling us, that’s what you’d spend for a cab from the airport to the hostel. Pretty funny uh? I’ll upload a video tour of the hostel soon.