Some top shots from Mexico
We had panned to stay for only 6 days to explore a tiny part of Mexico, namely Cancun at its surrounding historical sites. All three of us were looking forward to eat some of our favourite food – fajita and tacos! We couldn’t wait to eat these favourites from its birthplace. And we were not disappointed. The food we ate in Mexico was delicious!
Some small facts about Mexico; There are about 130 million inhabitants in Mexico, the capital is called Mexico City, the official language is Spanish but there are around 60 other languages spoken in the country. The currency is Mexican pesos and the country got its independence from Spain in 1821. The roads were good, at least the roads where we drove. It seemed like the vehicles used were the same of that at home (in Europe) like cars, buses, trains and bicycles. Over 80% of Mexico’s inhabitants are Catholics. The nature is diverse, ranging from mountains and volcanoes to desert, jungle and nice beaches.
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Some of our experiences in Mexico we would have loved to be without but they were still experiences… When we arrived at the airport in Cancun we had our first bad experience trying to convert Euros into Mexican Pesos. They managed to take around 60 Euros out of 310 in exchange rate! The next thing we did was to a sim-card at the airport finding out that it costed around US$ 50 to get 1 GB internet access (to be able to use google maps for driving purposes)… A bit expensive for 1 GB data, no? The next bad experience we had on our first day in Mexico, was when we went to pick up our rental car. They tried to make us pay for the local car rental insurance, in addition to the full insurance we had already paid for when we booked the car at the internet! Ole got very angry and told them that we had a full insurance but the guy told us that this was not the case. He could see it on his computer, he said. The whole story ended by Ole picking up his computer to show the guy… Only after this, he stopped asking us about paying for additional insurance. Finally we were able to set of to Playa del Carmen. (Two days later we found out that we wanted another sim-card for my phone and I got a deal for 3GB at a grocery store for only US$ 20!!!) I have to say we had never felt more cheated on our whole trip around the world than our first days in Mexico, what a disappointment. Still, there was more to come. Twice when I tried to pay for gasoline at a gas station, the man receiving the dollars tried to trick me by directing my attention to the figure on the gas pump I was to pay while changing the 50 dollar bill I had given him to a 5 dollar bill… I really got so mad and told him that I knew I had given him a 50 dollar bill and I wanted my change back. Luckily he didn’t try to make a big deal out of it, so I got my money back and left the place in shock. It seemed to us as if it was some kind of a sport in Mexico to trick tourists if they were able to – and if not – “better luck next time”!!! 🙂
After arriving Playa del Carmen we ate tacos and had the best chicken and guacamole ever! What an upswing! 🙂 We just loooved the food. Tired from the day’s travelling, cheating and hot weather we went to bed as early as 9 o’clock in the night. The next days we went sunbathing, walking at the beach, Luna made some SPA experiences for me (great fun and lots of bubbles) and we went walking in the streets of Playa del Carmen.
On our third and fifth day we drove to the different Maya ruins and pyramids of Chichen Itza, Coba, Ek Balam and Tulum. What amazing and beautiful places and impressing Maya history. We loved every part of it! Even if there were many other tourists around, we could easily get around and watch all of the pyramids and ruins without any problems. The photos and videos show it all! 🙂
The pyramids and ruins of Chichen Itza, Ek Balam and Coba
The ruins of Tulum
Worldwide Family Tour 