INAPAM BENEFITS It's not my intention to post every time I discover a new way to use the INAPAM card, but since I just got to use it for the first time, I'll post. ADO gives a 50% discount to INAPAM card holders! I'm going to Chichen Itza for the first time, and we're going there by bus. So, instead of 172, my ticket cost 86 pesos. Yet to be tested- I expect to get into Chichen Itza for free.... When I've had a little broader experience with the use of this card, I'll post again, to let you know what I've found. [For those unsure of what an INAPAM card is, see the previous page, this thread, for more details, including how to get one!]
Taxis, Cancun For those who don't live here, and might like to know, I suppose I would be remiss not to mention one extremely nice thing about living in Cancun- the taxi service. For reasons I don't understand, they've decided to go with a "meterless" system. Sound risky? In practice, it's not, and it's extremely cheap! I go all over the city, daily, by taxi, and find it's cheaper than owning a car would be. Short to medium trips in town cost 20 pesos, and longer trips 22-25 pesos, typically: the drivers are friendly and courteous, though few speak English well. I've been told by the drivers that there are 7,000 taxis in service, 24 hours/day, so getting a taxi is not normally difficult: I don't think I've ever had to wait more than 3-4 minutes. Cabs are often shared, here, with the driver, already having a passenger, stopping to offer you a ride, as well: I've never found this to be a safety issue, it being the norm.
Although I don't consider Mexico to be a truly cheap place to live- as compared to SE Asia, for example- in Cancun, at least, there is one area in which many people will find their costs to be significantly reduced: it's clothing. First of all, owing to the climate, you can forget about needing to replace coats, gloves, and other warm things if your bring them with you. They'll get little use. But clothing, in general, will necessarily be lighter in weight, use less wool, etc., and therefore cheaper. Finally, in Cancun, dress style is at most "business casual". Wearing a jacket and tie often seems the norm in business, in other parts of Mexico. But not here! and, in this warm climate, that's a blessing, as well as a savings- on suits that never have to be replaced, for example. (I put a tie on yesterday, but it was just to make a photo!)
Yes, you do need less clothing here than somewhere colder. But clothing here costs more for lower quality than what I can buy in the US. A microfiber sport shirt will cost me $10 USD on sale in the US, here it will be over $300 MXP and may never go on sale. A tshirt from Target in the US that costs me $10 USD will last years. A comparable tshirt from Walmart in Cancun may cost the same but will fall apart quickly. A pair of shoes that I pay $400 MXP for here will not last anywhere near as long as a cheapo pair of $30 USD shoes I buy in the US. I think good quality clothing here is expensive. But yes, you do need less of it.
Cost of clothing Good point, Rivergirl. I buy all my clothing in the U.S., too. I've not lived or been anywhere that can beat it for quality to price ratio, on clothes. Electronics, too, for that matter. You can't even do as well in China, where I lived for three years, and where much of the low cost clothing comes from: the clothes produced for the local market, designed by Chinese fashion designers, are different in color and style, and frequently pricier than the clothes designed with U.S. tastes, and U.S. markets, in mind. Not everyone would feel comfortable in it, but my wife recently bought a Mexican peasant dress (I suppose that's what to call it: it's a kind of shift) that is intricately embroidered on a blue background. There are many designs, but the main one is of a peacock. It's just amazing the amount of detail that has been put into it, and the degree to which the entire garment has been decorated. Cost, just 150 pesos. She only wears it indoors, but locals who've seen it have praised it, highly, and I like it, a lot, too.
Are these the dresses you refer to? Flickr: Vestidos Mexicanos Bordados' Photostream They are made all over Mexico, I think, with regional variations. I bought a nice one for my ma-in-law from a Oaxaqueño dude who roams the streets here selling all kinds of products from Oaxaca. I think I paid about $200 MXN.
Discount day, Wednesdays I don't know if this qualifies for "why do you live in Cancun" but one nice thing about being here is that movies come to town, fast! We see most of them right along with those who live in the U.S., for example. Wednesday is discount day on movie tickets: we get in to see new releases for just 38 pesos each, and take advantage of this to break the week with a nice treat. Recently we saw "Avatar" and "Invictus", both rewarding, in their own, very different ways. Going to the movies here is much like going anywhere else, with lots of popcorn and other things on offer- none of it very good for you, but tasty!
Don't know if you're a football fan, but we're sitting here, watching Superbowl 2010, live, on our local cable TV. Provided by Cablemas, it costs just 499 pesos per month for cable TV, internet service and telephone, combined. My wife was saying the other day that living here is like living in the U.S. in terms of convenience, but has the sea, the warm weather year round, and the interest added by Mexican culture, as a bonus.
Yeah except in the States your cable will be in full HD, your Internet will be at least 10mb, you'll have unlimited national calling, and most importantly it will be reliable! In the US you can get phone, HDTV cable, and FAST internet for around $70 with brighthouse....you cant even get cable here with as many channels for the same price or internet faster than 4mb (which by itself is over $100) .. and I'm pretty sure that the phone service doesnt offer unlimited nation calls to all of Mexico including DF. You also cant get a new TiVo boxes or PROFESSIONAL installation here from the cable company.... not that the prices are terrible here but they dont match the "bang for the buck" of services that you can get in the US.
