Yucatan - Cancun to Merida by Car - A Friendly Welcome NOT
In the "Mexico Amigo" country (remember that tourism slogan?) there is a disconnect between what the country wants to project to visitors and what the visitors actually encounter when they arrive.
One of these situations is the drive from Cancun airport to the city of Merida.
Many people whose real destination is Merida, fly into the relatively nearby airport of Cancun, which is very busy and has far more options and better pricing than flights into Merida's comparatively tiny two-gate airport. The Manuel Crescencio Rejon airport even closes at night - how cute!
But I digress.
Once the intrepid traveler has arrived in Cancun he will either board an ADO bus or shuttle and make his or her way to Merida, or rent a car from one of the many drama-infused options (disparate and confusing rates, outrageous drop off fees) and drive to Merida.
Leaving the airport, there is a sign indicating that Merida is to the right and so off they go. The route is along the toll road, also known as the "cuota" highway, but this is not mentioned at any point. One drives and drives and drives and after about an hour of mind-numbing driving with nothing to look at or anywhere to exit, one arrives at a large, modern toll booth station. Signs indicate Holbox, Playa del Carmen and Merida, Chichen Itzá. As one rolls down the window the cashier informs the driver of the toll to be paid, which, at the time of this writing is $285 pesos.
On my recent trip to Cancun and back, just for fun, I handed the cashier a US $20 dollar bill. She informs me that the toll is to be paid in pesos mexicanos. While I knew this, I did want to make sure that this was still the case and wanted to know how they handled the situation. When she handed me back the US $20, I offered her a credit card. She said no, only efectivo (cash). Pretending to be surprised, asked her where it said that it had to be in cash or pesos mexicanos. She answered that the information was on the highway website.
Over the past few months I have gotten into arguments on line with folks in Merida who complain about how stupid the tourists are and that they don't realize they are in another country, and what kind of idiot doesn't know that in Mexico you pay in pesos. Interestingly these nasty comments are not from Mexicans, who would have a natural right to make these statements, but from other American and Canadian expats, who now feel it is their duty to get all local on these new arrivals and demonstrate their outrage - the OUTRAGE - at how someone would even DARE to ASSUME you could pay with US currency at a Mexican toll booth!
"You're in Mexico!"
"Do some research!"
"How ignorant!!"
These are some of the indignant wailings of these now oh-so-local gringos who feel it is their civic duty to berate the newcomers. And of course when you are coming to Merida you will feel the urge to peruse the ICA website (here you go: http://www.autovia.com.mx/) to find out all about tolls and payment methods; right after your airbnb and car rental website research.
While it is obvious that when one is in Mexico one should be paying in pesos - it is the national currency after all and the government goes to great pains to print up pretty new bills every few years to keep up with hyperinflation and create the illusion of monetary stability - would it be so hard to be kind to the folks who are visiting us for the first time? Laying off the shrill criticism from the expats who speak Spanish like Tarzan and yet feel so Yucatecan that they must defend the country as a whole from imagined slights? To be patient? To show some empathy?
The fine folks in the tourism sector, dreaming up new routes and fancy signage, in their air-conditioned offices are not going out of their way to help of course with anything that might actually be beneficial to the actual tourist actually arriving in the country.
Imagine if there was signage indicating where the toll highway was and where the regular, non-toll highway started?
Imagine if there was a friendly sign from the "Amigo Country" welcoming a weary traveler and reminding him or her that they were on a toll road and tolls would be collected in pesos and that there was NO WHERE ALONG THE ROUTE where they could obtain said pesos? Perhaps such a sign could be placed at the BEGINNING of the toll road, near a retorno where the driver could make a quick u-turn and head to an OXXO in Cancun where they could purchase something (in US dollars, funny) and get some pesos?
What about the crazily revolutionary idea of having an ATM at this junction? Would this be too 'out there' for the 'Amigo' country? Would it be too risky? There is a Policia Federal office right there - I'm sure security would not be an issue.
And while I am on the subject of this first toll booth and contact with the bureaucracy that is Mexico, I would be remiss not to mention that this modern structure, with offices for the Policia Federal, employees, cash registers, garages and maintenance bodegas, does not have any washroom facilities. Would it be a huge stretch to include some sort of facility for such a basic necessity? Telling people to pee behind the palapa just down the road (actual tip from an employee) or to continue another half hour down the highway seems less than welcoming.
Even more insane, how about a tourism info center right there? With a map, a bathroom, a place to get a coffee?
I know, I know, it's just too far-fetched.
My point is that there is much to be done on the part of anyone (Hola, Secretaria de Turismo) who might be reading this that might be in a position to make the welcome to Mexico that much more... welcoming.
And to those nasty Merida gringos who insist that these tourists should be turned back to drive the 45 minutes or more back to Cancun to get pesos because they "deserve it", I hope they get their karmic reward in the form of a nightclub opening beside their restored colonial.