Cancun - A Tale of Two Cities

What do you think of when you hear Cancun? Spring Break, outrageous hotels, big clubs and 5 figure holiday packages? It sounds like fun, but it doesnt sound like a good spot to be a backpacker.

I only flew here because it was cheaper than Mexico City and I only expected to spend a night here before bugging out. What I ended up discovering was another side of Cancun, separate from the tourist catered beach strip, which lured me in for close to a week.

Playa Delfines - the hotels in the background are spectacular at night

To say that there are two very different Cancuns is an understatement. Next to the beach is Tourist Cancun. My ride from the airport took me past the hotel strip first where each building competed to be more fantastically lit than the next in the sticky Caribbean night. I was in a van that dropped a few people off in front of hotels where valets whisked the bags and clients through glass doors to fresh air con. This part of Cancun is its own world, a self-contained principality of tourist dollars and chain hotels where residents need not interact with the rest of Mexico for the duration of their package deal. 

After a while it was just me and the driver in the van, and that's when we got to Mexican Cancun. We left the strip behind for downtown, and suddenly we were in another world. Streets lined with taco stands and colourful houses, cumbia music and delicious spicy smells drifting through the windows and unconcerned Mayans strolling the streets. That's more like it.

This street flooded as high as my thighs one night after a storm. It made grabbing dinner a tricky encounter.

Downtown Cancun is actually pretty great. Relaxed, eventful and possibly the cheapest town in Yucatan. A few tacos could be yours for 40 pesos (about $2.80 AU), or you could get a torta sandwich for 15-25 pesos that works miracles on a hangover. Accommodation was less than $10 AU a night for good quality lodging, and you can have a whole night out at a local bar for the price of a single cocktail in the tourist district.

You always have the option to engage with the tourist zone of course. The most obvious way is by going to the beaches in front of the hotels such as Playa Delfines (Dolphin Beach), which is why people come here after all. They are incredibly beautiful, with miles of white sand and warm turquoise water. You can get a bus there for less than a dollar and spend the day relaxing on the sand or hunting for shells in the waves.

I borrowed these sunnies from someone much cooler than me.

Besides the beach, it is common for hostels to offer deals on tables at some of the tourist zone's hottest night spots. The most famous, Coco Bongo, features a series of impersonators of everyone from Freddie Mercury to Justin Bieber, where you can get a table with unlimited food and cocktails for $70 - $85 USD depending on which night you go. As tempting as this sounded, I opted instead to get sauced at a rock bar downtown for $7 USD and eat a late night pizza for $5 USD. 

So there you have it - even in a location often compared to Las Vegas, it is possible to have a good time as a stingy backpacker. Some advice if you ever come here - don't do any ruins tours (eg Chichen Itza) from Cancun! You can do it much cheaper further down the road. Also, don't change money at the airport - you get a much better rate in the city. Adios!

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