"Tum bahut khubsurat ho" in Mexico!

My husband & I just got back from a beach vacation at Cancun, Mexico. What a great break it was - beautiful beaches, perfect weather, interesting mix of culture, and the food was to-die-for!

Coming back very satisfied from our vacation, I wanted to make a few comments about how impressed I was with what we saw/did at Cancun & the few neighboring places we visited. Agreed Cancun is developed solely because of tourism, but the people in the city are genuinely helpful & courteous.

We went there with our guard raised very high because of all the warnings posted on US travel websites about the drug cartels, mafia, robbery, etc. First of all, we felt very safe. Cancun is so touristy, there is no other way to describe that city. Everyone knows you are a tourist, and treats you well. The local people welcome tourists because tourism is their bread & butter. They know one wrong doing is enough to stir a lot of negative spot light. We felt safe enough to not only walk around in the hotel zone (designated zone for the all-inclusive resorts, expensive touristy shopping plazas with the Louis Vuittons & Guccis, and flea markets that only sell $$ marked up memorabilia), but also use the local transport & walk the streets of downtown & find some very cool Mexican cuisine restaurants that weren't americanized.

At first most vendors & restaurateurs would greet us in spanish. Then when we responded Hola! in our confused accent, they would start talking more Spanish than our cheat sheet would allow us to understand!

Downtown (old) Cancun reminded me of Bangalore, India and how it was about 15 years ago. Small vendors at every nock & corner, yumm street food, and gardens everywhere in the city. Cancun was better in the sense that their public transport was far more sophisticated, and the decency of the local population (I mean the men, no letching, no boob grabbing, nobody trying to follow u home!) is commendable. One thing that was kinda ooh-la-la was the PDA. These young 20 something's could not keep their hands off each other - on the bus, on the street corners, in the mall, at the restaurant... they needed to get a room!

And oh yes, I have to comment about how everyone knew we were Indian! When we're in the US, my husband & I get mistaken to be Mexican (never a good thing!) ever so often. But it was a welcome change that the local Mexicans knew we were Indian. They would say Namaste every opportunity they had, lol! So much so, that the officer at the port of entry spoke to us in Hindi. He said Namaste & we were like, “Oh wow very cool”. Until he started spitting out full sentences like "Tum bahut khubsurat ho" and then, "bas, masthi karro". With those lines he managed more hindi than my husband!

It's a great place, put it on your agenda! Come back with more than just a tan and a bottle of Mexican tequila; the hand crafted antiques, hot sauce, and a visit to Chichen Itza is recommended. Hasta luego!