Mexican Walk About

It’s amazing how distance equalizes everything. The flight from Calgary to Cancun offered an almost constant view of the ground over every state from Montana to New Orleans where we headed out over the Gulf.
All the land simply looked like farmland, punctuated by large rivers, lakes and urban pancakes. Parts of it were green and parts of it were autumn yellow/brown. From 38,000 feet it’s all flat, softly textured vistas of natural color.
We arrived in Cancun determined to get to our hotel without paying an outrageous taxi fee. FAIL! When we got here, I sat down for 2 minutes and wrote out the value of 20, 50, 100, 200 & 500 pesos. Mind you, I’ve never taken a cab from the airport to downtown Calgary. Perhaps I would be shocked at that cost. Probably the last time I was in a cab was from the Cancun airport. LOL … and maybe next time.
After a brief settle into the hotel, Matt and I headed up the street to see sights. That we did! First of all, it was rush hour in downtown Cancun. Many people live here. Also, say what you will about the Canadian infrastructure, but come walk downtown Cancun before you grumble too much.
There was one spot where clearly someone had patched the sidewalk in front of a store, but a citizen walked right through the wet cement. There are perfect footprints in the sidewalk for that section. With the darkness that descended while we walked up the street, we had to pay attention to where our feet went.
We also learned that the best way to cross a busy street is through the traffic while it’s stopped for a red light. Pedestrians literally take their lives into their own hands and cross where and when they feel they have the best chance of survival. We skulked behind the locals a couple of times to get across Ave. Tulum.
We crossed the street to head back and, when we got to the corner, had two opinions about the direction we should go. So, we got out the map the hotel gave us. In this process, a man approached and asked us in English if we needed directions.
Together we put on glasses and then I turned the map right side up. I was trying to tell him the name of the street our hotel is on, but my pronunciation had him completely baffled. Fortunately, the map cleared that up and we parted ways after many thank yous.
About 2 blocks away, I noticed him again because he was travelling the same direction as us. We got back to the little eatery I had in mind from the walk out and I recognized a couple sitting there who are also staying at this hotel. Made me feel a bit like we were on familiar ground and I noticed that the place was busy; always a good sign in a restaurant.
We were puzzling over the menu when our Mexican friend got up from his table and came to help us. After a moment, he pulled out a little pad and wrote down our order for the waitress. Turns out he is a waiter at one of the hotels on Hotel Row. If you don’t know what Hotel Row is in Cancun, check it out on Google maps. Reminds me of Dubai.
So, our very first night in Mexico we met a Mexican angel. He was very nice and very helpful. He stopped at our table before he left the restaurant and wished us a wonderful visit to his country.

I’d have to say we’re off to a good start. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and it cost us $8.88 Can and that included a generous tip!