After traveling almost 24h we finally arrived in Cancun around 9 PM local time. The 12h flight was extremely long, but we got some in-flight entertainment after the passenger next to us got busted for secretly smoking in the lavatory! Her holiday to Cancun started off with a hefty fine…
The first thing we noticed when we landed was that it’s extremely humid this time of the year. We both thought we were used to humid weather from Malta, but this was something completely different! We’re basically sweating 24/7… Nice!
A day trip to Isla Mujeres
The first day of our trip we decided to go to Isla Mujeres, an island just off the coast of Cancun. We took a ferry from Puerto Juarez which brought us to Isla Mujeres in about 20 minutes (15 dollars per person). Once we set foot on the island, we noticed golf carts were the main means of transportation. First we decided to go to Playa Norte for a refreshing swim. This beach is so close to my definition of paradise, beautiful white sandy beaches, palm trees and clear blue water… I don’t think I’ve ever been to a more beautiful beach in my life (it’s known to be one of the most beautiful beaches in Mexico)!
Spot Simen
We decided to channel our inner tourist, and rented a golf cart to explore the rest of the island (25 dollars for 2 hours). Our first stop was the turtle farm (one of the main attractions on the island, entrance fee is only 3 dollars!). Here we got to see tons of different turtles, from tiny ones to huge and even white turtles.
Simen in his element
After a quick visit to the turtle farm, we decided to make our way to the highest point of the island: Punta Sur. Here we admired the beautiful and rocky coastline of Isla Mujeres, which at times reminded us a bit of Malta.
The rest of the day we spent exploring the souvenir shops and cosy streets of Isla Mujeres. Since we’re so white and Simen is so tall, street vendors immediately know we’re tourists, which means we’re constantly hassled and asked to buy things. This can sometimes be quite annoying, but we’re learning how to deal with it! After another refreshing swim, we decided to call it a day and take the ferry back to Cancun.
Exploring downtown Cancun and the zona hotelera
On our second day in Cancun, we mainly explored the city. We didn’t really do anything touristy, except for visiting Mercado 28. This is a huge market located in central Cancun where you can buy tons of souvenirs. There are about a thousand stalls both indoors and outdoors, all mainly selling the same items: t-shirts, sombreros, cigars, etc. Like I mentioned earlier, street vendors constantly hassle us, which made it a bit hard to enjoy our visit to the Mercado 28. After about an hour, we’ve had enough of being almost physically pulled into the stalls, and decided to make our way to the bus station to get our ticket to Valladolid.
Afterwards, we hopped on a bus to go to the “zona hotelera”, a.k.a. the hotel zone where people with a lot more money than us stay. Walking around in this area of Cancun, felt a bit like walking around in the US. It did not feel authentic at all. We also noticed it was a lot more expensive than downtown Cancun, since Simen paid about €8 for a beer!
Two days in Cancun is more than enough, and we’re already looking forward to exploring the rest of the Yucatan peninsula! After watching the World Cup final tomorrow, we’ll take the bus to the colonial city of Valladolid, from where I will write the next blog post!
¡Hasta luego!
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