…on an iPhone: Mexico
The third in our travel diary for this summer is Mexico, a girls’ trip for our Editor’s cousins 50th birthday… something a little different, but something a little special too… The first article was about the resort they stayed in. This is about the city.
Part II: Cancun
“A few of the girls in our group wanted to site-see, I wasn’t so keen originally but I’m really glad I changed my mind as we did two amazing trips to Chichen Itzá and Tulum.
My first recommendation for tourists in Mexico is to be smart about where you buy your day trips from. There are several places, including within your hotel which I suggest you avoid as they automatically add on a little extra cash to your price. Luckily we were in a group of 14 which gave us some bargaining power. We went to Market 28 where there are lots of local items to buy as souvenirs and although this was pretty cheap it’s still more expensive than buying in a local residential area. Ideally, if you know someone who lives there, and who you can trust, you’re more likely to get the real prices for things in the areas where the locals themselves live and shop.
At Market 28 there were lots of street vendors selling day tours to Tulum and Chichen Itzá. What I liked is each tour had four locations to visit and came with a knowledgeable tour guide. Originally priced at $60 per person for each tour, I, the queen of bargaining, got it down to $42 per person (although we did find out it would have been cheaper still if we shopped in the local area). Having said that, for what was included on our tours, $42 really isn’t bad as we got collected and dropped off from our hotel, lunch, and full days with the tour guide.
Chichen Itzá was our first stop, our tour guide Victor was super knowledgeable and honestly, for me, it was a much-needed refresher on the Mayans and Aztecs! We then went to a cenote, which is a sinkhole, which was incredibly beautiful! I took a video and I looked as happy as a baby getting a shiny present! Afterward, we went to a lovely nearby town where I had the best churros ever. I mean I ordered 6!”
Chichen Itzá is a sacred site and was one of the greatest Mayan centers of the Yucatán peninsula. It’s considered to be the most important ancient city of the Mayan Culture and has the most amazing examples of architecture in Mayan society. Several of the buildings in these ruins have survived more wholly than the others – the Warriors’ Temple, El Castillo and the circular observatory known as El Caracol. Chichen Itza was one of the largest Mayan cities and it was likely to have been one of the mythical great cities.
“I was exhausted after the tour to Chichen Itzá and really wished we hadn’t booked Tulum too. It was all day! But it was fun and I did enjoy it. In comparison, I liked Chichen Itzá more, the sinkholes were more beautiful and the food we had was definitely better there. Tulum itself is gorgeous, it’s beautiful to see but there wasn’t a huge amount to do.
Something else we did that I would encourage everyone to do is just walk outside and go where the locals go. I took the bus alone and explored and that’s how I found some fun gifts to give my friends. But as in anywhere, that’s not your home, don’t just walk around like you own it. Especially at night! I live in NYC and there’s places you won’t see me on the streets at night!
With Cancun, there’s a lot of places to visit and I think pacing yourself is great. I also think it’s best seen when you go with a partner or some friends unless you make friends easily, for your safety and comfort and also to share the experiences of the beautiful cities.”
Next month our diary takes you to Cuba – stay tuned!
