Got a collectivo from the airport. I was last to be dropped off and the woman at the desk and the driver were both a bit unclear about the location of my hostel. The desk woman made a phone call then accepted my money and I must admit the driver did pretty well.
I seem to have an en-suite room anyway even though I didn't book that.
The place seems huge, the drive between various hotels took what seemed ages. (Everyone else was staying at much flasher looking places. Most of the others seemed middle aged Americans, though there was a youngish French woman who spoke to me who was second to last to be dropped off, she has lived in Mexico City for about 5 years and is here for diving.) Centre looks like Las Vegas (not that I've been there, but I've seen photos - the receptionist said it was like Miami according to some of her friends who had been there). A bit more local-ish round here I think.
Oh, there is another bar over the road. This is plausibly the 'over there' the receptionist (who had a chat with me while she made the beds, I got maybe 75-90%) was telling me about.
Three beers for some unclear amount probably quoted in USD. I have a bit of cash and a five dollar bill in my hidden belt and a MXN500 note. They have a sign saying they don't take MXN1000 or USD100 bills, so I guess the exception proves the rule and they should take my 500 without blinking.
I sort of gather from the receptionist they consider themselves rich here because they get dollars. (I clearly mangled that somehow, it doesn't quite make sense but there seems a grain of sense hiding somewhere.) I suspect I may be a little unpopular with businesses who expect me to be American and proffer dollars. Tough shit...
The receptionist kept asking me about Ireland tho I think I conveyed that I was not Irish, I guess she thinks I'm just from round that way. She asked me what the weather was like there, I said I thought it rained a lot. (I am sure I read that somewhere on straightdope.com, and it does also sound plausible.) Oh, and she asked me what language they spoke. I said they all spoke English, which I think is pretty much true in practice. I have some vague idea they learn a bit of Irish Gaelic (if that's what the native language is called) at school but most people aren't particularly fluent.
I hope I wasn't inadvertently gross, she said something about liking to go to Europe but it was expensive for Mexicans and I essayed some comments about how it was for us too due to the fall in the pound, tho of course I suspect there is still a big disparity. I didn't have any bad intentions so I suspect it was OK but I can't help feeling it was in hindsight a bit off and inadvertently 'smug rich tourist'-y.
Was sort of not planning to come out tonight but I will certainly not be having a really late one.
Sign on the wall says they take USD at 1 to MXN11.80. I think that is slightly a rip off (not that I care) but not insanely poor value.
There is an 'irish pub' called Pookeen across the road. Not going there, at least not know, but I note it for what it's worth. This place seems to be called Chikito. Not rammed here, not that I am complaining - the bars in the Las Vegas bit in town looked foul - maybe about 10-15 customers.
Receptionist said I was only English person at the hostel. Apparently there are few Americans, most guests are Australian or European.
Feel OK yet a bit odd. Not exactly let down, in fact it all went better than I expected and round here seems acceptable and of course I am mainly here as a stopover to meet Zheyla before going on to eg Chichen Itza. The French woman recommended some Maya ruins nearby called Titum or something like that, will have to consult my guide book or ask Z.
I suspect the other customers here are locals although I could be wrong.
I asked the receptionist about safety here, at the risk of looking touristy. Didn't fully understand but I think it's basically OK, and I gather I can take a taxi in the street. I shouldn't need to tonight but good to know. I guess tomorrow I may need to get one to meet Z or to do a bit of sightseeing before I meet her.
Oh, receptionist said she was from Vera Cruz and I looked a bit dumb because I said I thought that wasn't far from here (I had some vague idea it was in SE Mexico on the coast) and she said it's a 24h drive. So it must be round the coast quite a way north (Gulf of Mexico she said). Oh well.
Flight was rather turbulent as we came in to land. Not really that bad but worse than I've had in a long while. It was dark as well and I was frankly a bit surprised when we actually touched down as I had no idea what was happening. We got the 'coming in to land' announcement maybe 20 mins earlier then that was it.
23:40. Finished those three. Might see if I can get three more then go home.
Must admit it is oddly cool to be here.
Just tried to order off some guy who wasn't a waiter. Embarassing. He was cool about it and I apologised but there you go. Oh well, just ordered three from the real waiter. Surf over these little difficulties baby...
Started reading Les Miserables on my phone earlier. (I think JR recommended it to me at one point.) It is actually pretty good so far, but I am a little intimidated by the sheer size of the thing (the electronic copy is nearly 2MB and I think that's with compression) and it is a bit of a change from Angela Brazil. :-) (I have now read enough of her books I am starting to see her standard plot hooks. In every other book, if not every book, someone is accused of stealing money unjustly but can't explain as they are shielding someone else.)
I must say reading the Economist's post-coalition commentary was heartening. I suspect I just got caught up in their enthusiasm but still. At least the ID card scheme has finally been canned, which has to be something.
Was also freaky to read their commentary on this whole "ban the burqua (sp?)" stuff and find them pretty much arguing the same stuff that had occurred to me when I read brief mentions of it before. I often find the Economist's reasoning suited to my political temperament but it's nice to actually pre-emptively have come to the same conclusions, it makes me feel less like I am just sucking down their opinions. (Of course, I probably wouldn't read it if it didn't align pretty well with my views. But still.)
23:55. Five (probably Mexican) guys just turned up. It seems a bit odd, though hardly surprising in some ways, that this place should be livelier than Mexico City. I am sure if you know the right places Mexico City is lively and even round the Zona Rosa I generally did OK.
On the walk over here before I found any bars (there is a sort of plaza near the hotel with lots of little food stalls but no bars and I was getting hacked off) some guy accosted me in the street touting a night club. I wasn't desperate enough to take him up, but it was oddly reminiscent of the Zona Rosa.
Saw lots of 24h grocery places on the way over here, similarly round the Zona Rosa. A big improvement on Panama City in that respect.
Oh, no one said anything about my bulging hand luggage. A woman who got on ahead of me had some fairly enormous looking suitcase and no one said anything about that either. I suspect the airlines just don't care, but I am surprised they don't try to gouge more or drop the pretence and loosen up their luggage allowance rules.
Looking at the sign, it occurs to me I didn't know there was a MXN1000 note. Though its existence is not too surprising, I expect it is the highest value note and being worth about fifty quid probably plays the same role. That is, the things are hard to use and rare in day to day life but have a role in large cash transactions like buying a second hand car.
I am heartened to have had little difficulty passing MXN500 notes so far, no one has argued yet. I could swear I had problems in Guadalajra back in 2007 with them, but maybe inflation has taken the sting out of it. I still remember when you could get fivers out of cash machines and I would always be a little apprehensive handing over a twenty in a pub. Ah, sweet memories. :-)
I do need to withdraw some cash tomorrow, after paying MXN1000 at the hostel my reserves are a bit low. At least I believe it's safe enough here I can actually walk the streets with my debit card on my person...
Oh, I saw an ad at the airport and actually drove past the place in the collectivo, and there is a restaurant here called 'Bubba Gump Shrimp Co'. The ad at the airport had a discrete trademarky logo which implies this is a licenced job. But how oddly cool and yet deeply wanky. I am sure it suckers in a fair few tourists just for novelty value though.
For the last five minutes there have been two distinct music sources. I assume one comes from the bar next door which has perhaps just kicked off, but it grates a bit.
Oh, rambling on, Z was very understanding about the problems meeting Claudia. I haven't had any e-mails from her in response to mine, I hope she isn't too upset.
I keep feeling flies on my bare arms. I just saw one and it was a tiny thing. I don't think any of them are mosquitoes, simply because I never feel them, I just notice the lumps afterwards. I hope this place isn't too much of a spider risk, it occurs to me I am practically in Guatemala here, but I am sure it's cool.
Oh, Cancun is in the delightfully named Mexican state of Quintana Roo. There is something strange about that name. Other Mexican states seem to have historic or somehow more 'dignified' names (Morelos, Jalisco, Michoacan, etc). Should any random Mexicans read this there's nothing *wrong* with Quintana Roo, but it seems a bit freaky, in a cool way. I wonder where it comes from. I might suspect it has native language roots, I have an idea southern Mexico has a stronger 'non-hispanic' quality than a lot of other areas, even if they also have their own populations of 'natives'.
I have nearly finished this three. I think I may have one more round for a satisfying 3x3 then clear off. A bit weak maybe but sod it. Besides, it will make paying with a 500 a bit more reasonable. :-)
00:20. Yeah, just ordered three more.
I am sure it's just in my head, but I can't help feeling that people think I'm American more than usual here. Not that it matters, unless they want to be rude or exploitative.
In the collectivo on the way through the centre I found myself musing that surely it can't be safe here. I mean, the whole place is so geared to foreign tourists it somehow screams "rich pickings for criminals". I am sure that is unfair but the thought crossed my mind. My guide book says Cancun is notably safe. And of course, by the same token, I guess you might expect the policing to be particularly top notch here as the last thing you want is to scare off the free-spending foreign tourist. I gather the place was essentially created out of nothing back in the 70s with a view to encouraging tourism.
I think I am a bit sensitive on security issues post Mexico City, tho as I blogged I largely stopped worrying. (I made some conversational sally with the French woman who lived there about safety and she said it was fine if you were careful. But she agreed with me when I said I had read you couldn't take taxis off the street. So I suspect my attitude after my initial super caution was correct - the place is OK if you're careful but street taxis are a no-no.)
I asked for a fresh supply of limes when I ordered this last round but they haven't materialised. Dare I ask again? The beer seems a bit tasteless without a squeeze of lime. I don't like to be overly touristy but on the other hand I genuinely like a bit of lime with my beer so fuck whether it's touristy.
Yeah, just asked again. Waiter was fine. Of course I shouldn't be surprised, but I was.
Coming across mention of guillotine in LM, am reminded it was apparently invented as a humane form of execution. Speculating randomly, it seems a terrifying pre-death experience. I think I'd rather have the electric chair even if the actual death might be nastier. Not sure what I'd choose between an executioner with an axe and the guillotine. I have a strong suspicion the latter is better, but for pre-death terror the relatively low formality of an executioner would be less frightening.
Not sure how hanging would compare. Although I am reminded of J K Jerome's quote that "I don't care if [the guillotine] is neater... I'm an Englishman and hanging is good enough for me".
On this train of thought, I am reminded of the probably apocryphal story of some guy whose ruler believe coffee was very bad and who was sentenced to drink himself to death on coffee and lived 20 years in captivity on several cups a day...
Don't feel that pissed - though my free association blog may argue the opposite - but did just belch a bit. I doubt I will stay past these three. Easy does it...
Do feel slightly drunk but not insanely so and I can still type spendidly.
Continuing my means of execution thoughts, in a pseudo-1984 way I suspect the best way to go would be an unanticipated bullet to the brain. None of that horrible anticipation and it must kill pretty much instantly. I am vaguely reminded of some J G Ballard short story I read, which I cannot remember the name of, where a guy called Constantine is sentenced to an indeterminately dated death and confined in a villa with his executioner. The point of the story was somewhat indepedent of my musings (it was on the nature of guilt and its acceptance), and the protagonist experienced various emotions relating to his impending yet ill-defined date of execution, but still.
Yeah, I think if I had to be judicially killed I'd probably take an unanticipated head shot any day of the week and twice on Sundays. For preference (and I know a society in which this occurred would suck on general grounds, and would sow doubt which would spoil what I'm about to say, unless it could somehow be kept a secret, which I doubt) I'd rather believe I had been acquitted and be shot down unexpectedly as I went about my business.
This is vaguely 1984ish really.
Not that it matters - it's not like I have a wide range of followers reading my blog (I just accidentally typed 'blah', a Freudian slip? :-) ) and forming opinions from it, but none of this should be taken to imply I approve of capital punishment. I am against it. I sometimes wonder why advocates for it don't go the whole hog and go for gruesome dragged out methods of execution to add to the horror and presumably therefore an increased deterrent effect. If you believe in it a sense of 'humanity' in execution seems - and I appreciate this is perhaps simplistic - misplaced. If you're big on that, why not go for hanged, drawn and quartered, or have people torn apart by wild dogs? Nevertheless, I find my speculations interesting, though I doubt anyone else does. I would not normally be exposing my opinions like this but since I happened to be reading Les Miserables while travelling and without any friends to discuss it with, it ends up on the travel blog.
01:10. MXN186 for nine beers isn't bad. I am calling it 210 with the tip, I shall have a slash here then back home. Slightly pissed but it's cool.
Got a huge amount of change after saying 210 with the tip. My rough drunken count makes the change what I would expect after the tip so I am taking it all.
FFS. Just went for a piss with a glass of beer left and the cunts have cleared it away. That annoys me. Can't do anything but the bastards. It's not like they are closing either. I was feeling well disposed to this place as well but that really rankles.
I am tempted to order another beer. But no, I won't. I am hacked off though. Waiter is cleaning my table now without showing any sign of remorse. Fuckers. And it was going so well too.
01:35. Am hacked off about that. Bought 5l of water on way back so I am sorted on those grounds and got into hostel OK. As I had noticed earlier, the light switch is above the bed so entering the room in the dark requires a certain amount of fucking around with phone as a torch. Oh well. All sorted and I shouldn't let a minor bit of fuckery dominate matters. Maybe a quick attempt at logging onto the wifi then to bed.
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