Merida, Yucatan winter holiday 2010

Hola from the lovely colonial city of Merida, capital of the province of Yucatan. We arrived yesterday via Westjet from Ottawa to Cancun (airmiles paid for the flight which was pleasant and fast). Cancun airport was surprisingly efficient for a place that channels so many gringos into the country. We found the bus to the downtown bus station and bought a first class ticket to Merida which gave us entrance to the Platino lounge where we waited for an hour and then boarded our super swanky coach, all blue velour and pleated grey window curtains which make the inside look a bit like a plush coffin. Mexicans like to watch tv on the bus and of course since it is so hot most of the time, shutting out the sunlight is necessary. But, coming out of -22 temperatures in Ontario...we want light and sun and it wasn't particulary warm when we arrived with a reading of 0nly 16 for the day and a bit breezy. The driver, a tall handsome Latin gentleman in an impeccable starched blue suit, introduced himself and welcomed us and then shut himself into his curtained plexiglassed drivers cubicle and off we went. The seats fold out to make a very comfortable reclining bed and they provide pillows and blankets like you get (used to get and now pay for) on an aircraft. Each seat has a small screen tv with a choice of films and music. Free. Bottled water or softdrinks. Free. Price for a first class ticket on the ADO Platino is 438 pesos which is approx $32.oo per person. We glided along the straight highway and in what seemed like no time at all (but was indeed four hours and right on time) arrived at our stop at the Hotel Fiesta Americana. We could have travelled much more cheaply but the first class bus is the only one which stops at the Fiesta Americana which is near our rental casa.

Because our flight was half an hour late, and we had already arranged to meet Ruben at the casa, we wanted to get to Merida as fast as possible. We hailed a cab, or rather several cabbies hailed us, and off we went richocheting down the narrow streets while I prayed fervently to the Virgincita that we weren't being taken off to be robbed or murdered. We had been warned about getting into a cab on the street as it seems they can be fronts for criminals who have stolen or borrowed the cab from its presumably honest owner. Seemed a bit bizarre to me, but nevertheless, this driver didn't seem familiar with the streets which I had written on my sheet with the address and he hustled us into the car with unseeming haste and slammed our door shut, threw the luggage including my computer bag into the trunk, and off we went into the dim Merida night.

Just as I was contemplating our options in terms of escaping, he swerved into yet another narrow street and ground to a stop...just yards away from our casa where Rubin was waiting by the door.