Mexico: Mexico City, Chichén Itzá and Cancun

Capital: Mexico City

Largest City: Mexico City

Population: 129.7 million

Currency: Mexican Peso

Language: Spanish

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At the age of twenty-three in June of 2016, I flew alone from the Toronto Pearson airport to Mexico City where I met a friend I knew from online. We spent two weeks traveling around Mexico. My family was terrified for me as most of what they heard in the news about Mexico were horror stories. Despite all the fears and stereotypes, the country most Americans travel to each year is Mexico, and car accidents and drowning are statistically a greater risk of death than cartels or gang violence.

Mexico is the first country I ever felt like a foreigner in. I did not know about throwing the toilet paper in trash cans, having to pay for a glass of water, the lack of air conditioning or cops coming on buses for security checks. I did not discover the joys of having T-Mobile yet, so we relied on paper maps and directions we printed from the internet. Needless to say, we got lost a few times in Mexico City.

Mexico City: The Largest City in North America

Our hotel was located near a busy market. It was only $29.00 a night! The shower water filled up to our knees and there was a small window, but it was the cheapest hotel I have ever stayed in, and I do love saving money!

Despite being exhausted from traveling, we attended the famous Ballet Folklórico de México on our first night in Mexico City. I drifted in and out of a weird dream-like state during the ballet.

After leaving the ballet, we found ourselves lost for the first time. Our hotel supplied us with a paper map that we used to help get around the area. Given the size of the city, it was not a very detailed map with only the main sightseeing points near the hotel. Our navigation back got even worse when our paper map crumpled apart in the rain. Eventually, we found our way back and survived our first night in Mexico City.

Even though we never fully figured out how to navigate the largest city in North America, we still managed to visit the city's most famous museum, the Museou Nacional de Antrpología. My friend is not a big museum fan, and all the descriptions were in Spanish. While I was a tad disappointed by the visit, I did leave with a very detailed souvenir key chain.

While I tried to experience as much as Mexico City as I could, I did not try as much Mexican food as I would have liked as the overwhelming smells of the city took some getting used to.

Historic sight seeing in Mexico City

After a few days in Mexico City, we took a 19-hour bus ride to San Cristóbal de las Casas, which is a cute mountainous city near the Guatemalan boarder. We upgraded from our $29.00 hotel to a Best Western in the center for $45.00 a night. While it was a nice city with churches and historic sites, we often got caught in afternoon downpours when leaving the hotel.

Viewing Iglesia de Santa Lucia in the mountainous city of San Cristóbal de las Casas

Merida and Chichén Itzá

Our next stop on our Mexico adventure was in Merida. We stayed quite a distance from the city center in a $50.00 Hampton Inn. We went to a nearby mall where I finally had the American food that I missed so much at the American restaurant, Chili's Bar and Grill.

From Merida, we took a guided tour to see one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Chichén Itzá. Chichén Itzá was built by the Mayans between the 5th and 13th centuries. It was fascinating to see something so old and historic but it was quite hot there with little shade.

Standing in front of El Castillo at Chichén Itzá while exploring ancient Mayan architecture

On the tour, we also stopped at a cenote which I assumed was fairly common, but come to find out years later, they're actually not. Scientists believe the meteor impact that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs millions of years ago struck near the Yucatán Peninsula and helped shape the region's unique geology and allowed the cenotes to form in the area.

Seeing one of the cenotes formed from the meteor impact that caused the dinosaurs to go extinct in the Yucatán Peninsula

Cancun

After Merida, we took a shorter bus ride to Cancun. Instead of staying in a beachfront resort along the Caribbean, we stayed a few miles away from the beach (which was also much cheaper).

On our first night in Cancun, we ate a restaurant where we ordered two entrees. They started bringing out appetizer after appetizer after appetizer that we did not order. By the time our actual entrees came, we were completely stuffed. We also ate at the Hard Rock Cafe which had a beachy vibe and a Hooters.

Besides swimming, we thought about doing another activity in the area. However, when asking about tours in the area, we were quoted prices in American dollars instead of Mexico pesos. This was a much different experience compared to the other cities we had visited in Mexico.

Being in Cancun, we of course wanted to experience a beach in the Caribbean. We took a bus to a free, local beach which did not have the beautiful blue Caribbean water. One of the nearby resorts allowed us to use their beach. We were thirsty from the salt water. We did offer to pay for a drink, but they did not have a way to charge us directly, so they gave us complimentary alcoholic drinks instead. Since we were still thirsty, they gave us a few more.

After our swim, I went to wash the sand off and we soon had hotel security following us down the beach. Luckily, we managed to stay out of a Mexican prison that day, though, after our swim, we were sunburned from head to toe (maybe it's karma for all the free alcohol we were not allowed to have).

Final Thoughts

Mexico is a very diverse country with mountains, beautiful beaches and a lot of culture.

I look forward to exploring the country further, especially given the travel knowledge I have gained since visiting.

While I learned a lot, I do have to say that the best thing I learned in Mexico was how heavy a huge suitcase with wheels is!