November 26, 2021
Day 2: Vancouver to Cancun
The weather bomb so earnestly predicted by Environment Canada definitely did not materialize over our heads today. In fact from the airport we could even spy a bit of blue sky. No matter, we did appreciate the extra day we took in Vancouver, to get the bikes well organized.
While we felt organized, Westjet did not start out doing so well. First off, they unilaterally scheduled the flight for an hour later, not due to unexpected delays, but because they felt like it - some days in advance. We only found out the night before, and had to contact the B&B people who were already waiting up for us, to wait up longer.
Next, although we had checked in using the Westjet app the night before, they wanted us to talk to a touch screen in front of their check area. Also they were using an area for domestic departures, so all the signs directing us to the right place were wrong.
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The screen failed to scan any of our documents, and we ended having to repeat the whole thing with a human. Here is where Westjet and in fact the whole system through to picking up our stuff in Cancun began to work perfectly.
The Westjet agent was friendly and efficient, and our bikes went smoothly onto the oversize luggage belt. Then it was time to sweat out how security would react to our twelve large batteries, and numerous power banks, tablets, and camera batteries. So here is the big news - security was polite and efficient. They made sure the batteries were under 100 wH, and away we went!
The next sort of gauntlet for us was the bit we had shied away from for the past two years - the idea of being locked in a cigar tube airplane with so many people. Of course there was 100% mask usage (though Dodie did have a friendly word with the man across the aisle, whose nose was consistently hanging out. Through the whole trip, even in Cancun airport, mask usage was 100%, though social distancing is not on, and in fact is almost impossible in a lot of the situations - like filing on and off the aircraft.)
It turned out that we were ok with the situation. It's just impossible to be totally freaked for years on end, so with the vaccine on our team, we find we are able to function.
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Cancun airport impressed us, as it had before, by its extreme cleanliness and efficiency. The floors are all shiny marble tile - really classy:
There was debate between Dodie and I about whether we should assemble our bikes on arrival and pedal the 10 km to the B&B, or take a taxi. Dodie favoured taxi. Her main argument was that we would be arriving late and in the dark. On my side, I knew that Cancun airport is the most expensive place for taxi in Mexico, and I was not keen on having to negotiate a price on the sidewalk.
Naturally the taxi idea won out (did any readers have a doubt about that??) and I must say Dodie turned out to be completely right, on several scores. First off, we had an idea of what we should be paying, so when we walked into the gauntlet of people calling to us from six or eight taxi desks, we were able to choose one at random and begin to negotiate. (Of course these were the "official" taxi people inside the airport building, maybe we could have done better outside.) As always, we found the people to be totally lovely. They want to make the sale, and negotiation is part of it, but they are so sweet. We really love them all! Anyway, the price started at 700 pesos and drifted down to 600 and 550, but we insisted on 500. That's still $35 for a 10 km hop!
Now we exited the building, to one of my favourite parts of Cancun - the place where they line up the dozens of seemingly brand new VW, Nissan, and Toyota window vans. As usual, I whined heavily that I need just one of these to be mailed home to me.
"Our" van turned out to be a VW - my fav. But now we were to "enjoy" the absolute sweetness and integrity of the people we were dealing with. The B&B we had booked was new to Booking.com, and also does not show up in Google. So although we were able to show the driver and his on the loading dock helper where the Booking latitude and longitude placed the accommodation, it did not ring a bell with them. They spent a long time searching in their own phones and tablets, and they puzzled at length over the very long and complex "address" the B&B had sent us when we had asked for more detail.
Here is where the sweetness of the people just shone through. There was no impatience, and no expectation that we really should be going to some standard tourist destination. They just kept plugging away at the problem, pausing to pose for a photo:
Eventually we set off, and arrived at the coordinates to find nothing that looked like a B&B. Our driver carried on, bumping slowly along the laneways of what was a surprisingly undeveloped area for so close to the airport. We watched the progress on our phone, and grew more anxious as we moved further away from what we had supposed was the spot. Had we been on the bikes, we would have wandered in this wilderness and in the dark indefinitely!
Finally, almost magically, our driver announced that we had arrived, and that that man over there was our host. And he was right! Our B&B was Casa Jorge y Marvin, and that was Jorge!
We through in another 200 pesos for the driver. He had gone way beyond the call of duty!
Now we introduced ourselves to Jorge, who was (wait for it) totally sweet. And when we asked about internet (which Booking said was not available) he went and woke up Marvin to get the password. Marvin works shift and was asleep! But only for that are you reading this now!
Our room and the Casa generally is just what we want and expect in Yucatan - very humble but good. There is a small kitchen outside our room, and the table there is giving me a good place to type. I am fascinated to see what lies outside in the street. Right now we have almost no idea of where we are! That's a good start for an adventure.
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