Mexico (via Miami): February 16 - 24 PART ONE

Mexico

I really want to be positive about the trip to Mexico.  I will try.  But it will be difficult.  With a few exceptions, our trip there was a waste of time and particularly, money.

The journey

We flew via Miami, where we overnighted at an airport motel - a cheap one, which was twice the price of cheap airport motels anywhere else.  I guess winter is peak season in Miami.  We had to wait ages for the free shuttle from the airport, then in the morning the return shuttle was too full for us, even though we’d got there 15 minutes early.  But, perhaps sensing an imminent tantrum, the driver of that van organised for the maintenance man to drive us ‘in the other van’.  

The American Airlines checkin system was absolutely chaotic, even worse than the annoying Southwest Airlines system of lining up according to some number, then running for the best seats on a plane (no allocated seating, only allocated boarding).  AA had a self check-in system, where you queued up to go to a computer screen (which I knew from boarding in Miami would require an attendant to work with us, given our overseas passports - but no matter, we were still sent to do it anyway).  When I got to the point where it says “attendant assistance is required”, I waved, pointed, and finally left Angus to guard the bags and computer screen while I went to the luggage check in desk to get help. 

Following that debacle we then had to go to the luggage check in desk, which turned out not to be real luggage check in at all.  It was luggage weighing and tagging.  We then had to take our own luggage down the terminal to the real luggage check in point which was the TSA security people who hauled it off to be xrayed and put on the conveyer belt.  

Then we had to take ourselves through security.  A large official sign warned us to place liquids into a “baggie” (OMG!  A “baggie”!!!  How old is the average passenger - five?)  I couldn’t see any bags around, though - I think they’ve relaxed that rule.  I didn’t do it, anyway, and nothing happened.

AA’s process takes self-service to the extreme and is monumentally inefficient.  No-one knew what queue was for what, some people didn’t know how to use the computer screens, some struggled to tow their luggage all over the terminal - absolutely ridiculous.  We won’t be flying with them again.

Puerto Morelos, the Yucatan, Mexico

We got to Cancun in Mexico and cleared security with no issues.  It was very humid and felt like home.  It started pouring rain as soon as we got onto the shuttle bus to Puerto Morelos, which was kind of nice.  It stopped for a little while, when we got off along the side of the highway.  The driver called a cab over for us, and it took us a couple of minutes to get to Puerto Morelos’s beach town, and cost 20 pesos - a little less than $2.

Our first hotel in PM was lovely, Posada El Moro - Trip Advisor’s number one rated hotel in the village.  It was a small, family run place with a lovely feel to it, though not luxurious by any means, and costing double what a US cheap motel would cost (around $90 USD a night).  A continental breakfast was included, as it was at many of the US motels.  We meet a few really nice people there (Picture of Angus on the rooftop, above).

We explored the village, which didn’t take long - a large plaza on the street running along the beach, surrounded on all four sides by little cafes and shops and the very busy church (we arrived the week Lent started) (Picture of plaza also above, playground area).  There was no pressure to buy anything, but the food in the cafes was nothing to write home about.  I think I prefer the ‘Tex Mex’ that we’re used to.  Though I did find one little taco shop (t@cos.com) which was excellent.  They had great vegetarian tacos, with eggplant, apple, onions, capsicums, squash and cactus in them.  They were the best tacos (non-tex mex) I’ve had.   And Angus liked their scrambled egg.  Lots of kids gathered in the playground in the evening, and that was the highlight of Angus's day most days.

The Alma Libre bookshop was good too:  a mostly second hand shop, run by an American woman - the kind of thing I’d like to do one day, but not in Mexico.  

The prices everywhere were on a par with prices in the US.  This surprised me, as I understand Mexico to be a third world country and expected prices like South East Asia, relative to Australian prices.  I knew from booking in advance the hotel accom was expensive:  most of the hotels were $500 or $600 a night 'all inclusives' where you'd have to eat, drink and throw parties in your room day and night to get your money's worth, which kind of defeats the purpose of being in a different country......ours was a 2 star little village hotel which made most of its business from Canadian and American scuba divers and marine biologists visiting the "second greatest barrier reef in the world".  

Tipping

These comments apply to the US as well as Mexico, but Mexico really brought it home.  People blatantly ask for tips, even when they haven’t really provided any service.   This pushiness and expectations leads me to hate the tipping culture:  I resent paying more for things that I would expect to be part of the service I’m already paying for, and I’m really just topping up a salary that should be paid by the employer.   I’m aware most of these jobs are low paid, and that is sad, but isn’t that a problem for the industrial relations legislation the society has as a result of its economic and social policies?  Why am I asked to top up the failings of their system?    I don’t mind tipping for exceptional service, and do so at home.  But here, it’s kind of gone mad.  It’s like a socially acceptable form of begging.    I’d rather give a donation to help the workers set up a union so they are better paid and don’t need to beg and bow and scrape to get a decent wage.   But - I acknowledge I'm in a different culture, one I don't necessarily fully understand, so I go along with it because that's what one does in a different culture.