Cancun: it could be anywhere in the world. (Cancun)

Member Name: mgoldman

Product:	Cancun
Date:	06/11/03 (165 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hot, Americanised, Quite Pleasant

Disadvantages: Not at all Mexican, Could be quite expensive in places

Imagine that you had been kidnapped, put on a plane and when you got off, you had to guess where you were by your surroundings. Well, if you chose to ignore all the garish signs, and the T shirts, in Cancun, there is little in the way of clues. Compared to the variety and depth of national Mexican culture elsewhere, Cancun is a betrayal. However if you want a coastal resort that has good weather, good water sport, some nice beaches, and a culture of international food and drink, then Cancun is the place.

I stayed there for one week at the end of a tour around southern Mexico. It was probably the most disappointing of the towns, although that is not to say it was not enjoyable. The hotel we stayed in was extremely comfortable, the staff helpful and polite, and the food was plentiful and some of it was very good (but some was only ok). Some (possibly many) of the hotels are all-inclusive, and whilst this eliminates some of the pleasure of 'where shall we eat today?', it means that you never have to worry about food and drink. There are pleny of international, mostly american style eateries. However, the prices exceed the American equivalents, for a product that is not quite as good. Prices are at London levels for food. A cup of coffee is somewhere between 60p-1.20p for the somewhat indifferent Mexican coffee with UHT milk.

Apart from the heat, getting around is easy. The hotels are mostly on a coastal strip, and a huge number of public buses belt up and down the dual carriageway, at a flat fare of 6 pesos (about 40p). The stops are frequent, and you rarely have to walk more than 400m. There are also loads of taxis, but they start billing at 60 pesos.

Compared to other places I have been, whilst there are lots of guys trying to get you to buy things, they take no for an answer without too much of a protest. Unfortunately, the visitors stick out like sore thumbs, so there is no escape.

The sea is so blue, and can be warm, how
ever, when we were there at the end of the rainy season, the tide was quite fierce, and red flags were out daily discouraging swimmers. However, there were plenty of sea based activities in other places with excursions to islands, or if you really wanted for 95$ US, you could have an underwater safari in a mini-submarine.

Mexico is a country that does not care for information, and if you stay in Cancun, the UK could evaporate in a puff of smoke, and you would not hear about it. There is access to some US television channels, but they are so parochial, that the rest of the world could not exist.

Would I go back? Not intentionally.

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