A Final Review on Cancun and the Mexican Adventure

We've talked about our flights to and from Cancun, now in the final part of this story I thought I would focus on the main part of my visit to Cancun including my thoughts on the city, the hotel we stayed at and just a bit of an overview of the trip as a whole. If you've been reading my trip posts from earlier, you can gander that it wasn't exactly the greatest trip, but in the end there were some important lessons that were learned and at the end of this post I will share some of what was learned on this trip.

So I've talked about the flights to and from Cancun, let us dive in the main adventure itself. Once leaving customs at Cancun, we were out in the open sun and feeling the warmth. Cancun airport is situated on the far south end of the city, far away from the main city centre and close to all the hotels and resorts; likely to keep the tourists from seeing what Mexico is truly like. Your first instinct upon arriving in Cancun is how beautiful and luscious the city is; from the airport and all throughout the hotel zone is filled with green lawns, huge palm trees and lots of different kinds of flowers. As our bus rolled out of the airport and through the hotel zone, me sipping on a Corona, I couldn't help but think that this is far from the real Mexico that I've learned about in Geography class. Towering hotels, condos and lots of development? This wasn't Mexico, it was an Americanized version of Mexico.

Our bus pulled into the hotel that we were staying at, the Oasis Cancun. This hotel was chosen not only for its price, but also its fun atmosphere. I was a little nervous staying here for a wide variety of reasons. The night before leaving, I mistakenly decided to go onto Trip Advisor and had seen all the horrible reviews that previous customers had left about the hotel and how much of a big drunken party resort that it is. Also, when I had booked this trip I thought arriving 4 or 5 days prior to the start of Canadian Spring Break would be a safe bet. How wrong I was on that on; the place was already packed with youngsters from all over Canada. I had a bad feeling that this week was going to really rough. We checked-in and got the keys to our rooms and soon we were on our way to our home for the week.

When I opened the door to my room, I was quite impressed with how modern it was. It didn't compare to most hotels I've stayed at before, but it was still pretty modern. Apart from my in-room safe not working, everything was in good condition. I just ended up burying my valuables deep in my luggage and checking to ensure they were still there every time I came to my room. I would find out on my first night there that my room was in the worst possible location, right next to the nightclub. The music from that place kept baring till 3 or 4 in the morning and boy it was super loud. I tried everything I could to either change rooms or upgrade to the nearby Grand Oasis Resort, but to no luck and with screaming parties in both rooms next to me, it wasn't going to be a fun week sleep wise.

Trying to get away from all the noise, I decided to go off the resort and explore a bit of the city. Cancun's bus system is fairly good allowing for easy travel throughout the city. I had attempted to find the huge market on the north side of the hotel zone, however I had missed it and ended up staying on the bus hoping that it would eventually turn around. 2 and a half hours later, it hasn't turned around and I ended up on the West side of Cancun in our of the poorest neighborhoods in town. There were quite a few times where I was scared and nervous that something was going to happen, but I made it home safe and sound. But taking that bus gave me a deep insight into what Mexico is truly like and how the people here are living in such deep poverty. If you never  venture off the resort, than you'll never know what Mexico is really like.

Back at the resort, things weren't getting much better. More people started showing up and the drunkenness and loud music kept increasing and the lack of sleep had finally caught up to me. After 4 days of being there, it was just too much for me to handle. Peace, quiet and sleep was all I was looking for and the only way that would come to me was to head for home. Thanks to the friendly reception desk for giving me access to the hotel's computer, I was able to book a flight home the next day. It may have cost me another $300 to leave, but it was necessary. Spring Break in Mexico was just too much to handle for someone who doesn't party or get drunk often. The next morning, I checked out of my room and began the journey home.

So there are a few things I learned from my Mexico experience. First, never book a trip when you've been drinking all afternoon. Do it sober and make sure to do your research, still unsure why I didn't for this trip. Looking at Trip Advisor before booking would have made much more sense instead of the night before departure. Numerous red flags kicked in when I read the reviews and might have helped me pick a better hotel in Cancun instead of experiencing the nightmares first hand. Secondly, going to Mexico during Spring Break was not only stupidly expensive, but highly not recommended if you are looking for some peace and quiet. When you get a bunch of University students who like to drink massive amounts of booze, you might as well say goodbye to the peace. Next time, I'll be going during the off season when it isn't busy and picking a resort that restricts all the crazy stuff I saw there.

But we all have to make mistakes like that throughout our lives right? We learn from them and move on and ensure we don't make the same mistake twice. If anything positive came from this trip it was that it gave me a insight into what Mexico is really like and the conditions that people here are living in. As for my next trip, it will be lots of research like I've done for all my other trips. I wouldn't mind going back to Mexico, I'm just not sure if it'll be Cancun and if it is it won't be for quite a while that's for sure.  

Margaritas and Rocking Chairs: The Journey Home from Cancun Part 1

Sunrise in Cancun

One of my goals with this Blog is to write about both my flight adventures and travel adventures. I will talk eventually talk about my trip to Cancun, but today I have a flight log for you today. A few week earlier I talk about my flight south to Cancun; today we talk about the return journey back to Calgary. Before I start this, word of advice to those wanting to go to Mexico for peace and quiet; don't go during Spring Break, a big reason for me heading home a few days earlier than planned. Because there were no Air Transat flights home till the next week, my cheapest option to get home was via Charlotte and Phoenix with US Airways. To most of you this doesn't sound like the greatest routing, but for someone who loves to fly, this was the perfect option. Plus the price of the ticket was really inexpensive, especially for a last second purchase at midnight from my hotel.

The next morning, I packed up and began my journey to the airport. Now I'm sure all of you have heard horror stories about Mexican taxi's, but in Cancun they are actually really good. I was a little nervous at the first, but was super impressed with the driver I had. He was fast, friendly and got me to the airport with no fuss, I left him with really nice tip for getting me to the airport with no problems. Arriving in Cancun, I saw how busy the arrivals area was and this was on different for departures. Most US flights arrive and depart out of Terminal 3 (Canadian flights use Terminal 2) and at my time of departure, most airlines were getting ready to depart back to the US. I was booked on US 884, the second Cancun-Charlotte flight of the day, was scheduled to leave at 12:30pm local time. Check in was quite slow due to lack of check in kiosks and people not knowing how to use the machines. The security process was quick and efficient and before I knew it, I was walking through the largest duty free store I've ever seen and into the hustle and bustle of Terminal 3.

My early arrival to the airport would prove to be of benefit to me. I received a phone call from US Airways advising me that my flight to Charlotte would be delayed due to an equipment problem with the B767-200 that was on the flight (first time I've seen an airline call advising of delays). Luckily from walking around the terminal looking at the different planes, I had seen another US Airways flight just loading up for its journey to Charlotte. Panicked, I ran as fast as I could to the gate realizing if I didn't make this flight, I would likely be spending a night somewhere that wouldn't be home. But thanks to the hard working efforts of the gate agent, she was able to locate my bags and got me the last seat on US 882 to Charlotte.

A US Airways A320

I took my seat on the Airbus A320 and breathed a huge sigh of relief, my journey home was about to begin a little earlier than planned. Pushback was 15 minutes late, mainly due to my last second switch, but within 5 minutes, we were rolling of off Runway 12R heading northeast for Charlotte. Before we left Cancun, one of the flight attendants on our flight saw me at the gate and happily offered me a drink from the bar, thanking me for my patience. I was more than happy to have a drink at 30,000 feet, something I've never done before. Because the flight was pretty full, I was seated in the very last row with a gentlemen heading for Cleveland and a family heading home to Charlotte. We struck up a conversation, talking about our trip's to Cancun, our hometown's and of course, me being from Canada, they asked me a lot about my country and I asked them a lot of the US. I learned a lot about Charlotte from the family I was sitting with; it is pretty similar to Calgary in terms of population and size. It would be such a lovely city to visit someday that's for sure. Touchdown on Runway 18L in Charlotte was a little rough and within 15 minutes, we were line waiting at US customs with some of the most friendly border guards I have ever seen (and I'm not be sarcastic here).

Charlotte Airport is quite possibly one of the most unique airports I've ever been to. Throughout the entire terminal are white rocking chairs for customers to relax and enjoy, quite a site to see them in an airport. Because I now had a 4 hour layover in Charlotte, I had a chance to find a good bar and just finally have a chance to relax after my trip. Coincidentally I happened to find a Mexican bar called Tequileria, where I had a couple of double shot Margaritas and a really good meal (Probably the most Mexican thing I did on the entire trip). I highly recommend this place if you are ever passing through Charlotte and have some time to kill. This was also the first time where I was old to enough to finally drink in the states. I didn't realize it until I was asked for ID and completely forgot I was 21 and old enough to drink in the US.

I don't want to make this blog too long, so I'll split this into two parts. In the next part, the flight to Phoenix and than on to my final destination, Calgary.