I hate to say anything negative about Mexico because we had a really
amazing time and I can't wait to go back. But the country has its fair share of
scammers and we met up with a couple of them...
Speeding Ticket Scam
On our way to Chichen
Itza, a police officer waved us down. He asked us how we were, where we were going
and was helpful enough to give us directions. Then he told us we'd been
speeding and demanded $20 US (200 pesos). Lots of cars had passed us, but
apparently we were obviously tourists and a prime target for cops who earn
extra cash from bilking innocent tourists.
Luckily, we were traveling with a friend who's been living
and teaching in Mexico
for almost a year. She informed the officer we wouldn't pay him anything until he
wrote us a ticket. He looked at us for a moment and then told us to go. Apparently,
writing a speeding ticket in Mexico
is close to impossible (don't ask me why).
Gasoline Scam
Buying gasoline is a questionable process for tourists
because prices aren't posted. We didn't have any trouble until our last day. We
pulled into a gas station near Playa del Carmen and asked for $20US (200 pesos)
worth. When paid, the cashier did a quick change with our bill and accused us
of handing him only $2 US (20 pesos). We stood our ground and refused to pay
anymore. Annoyed and surprised, we pulled back onto the highway only to notice
that they had only given us a quarter of the gas we had paid for. We let the
frustration go though because we were on our way to Isla
Mujeres, a beautiful little island just
waiting for us to explore!
I can't wait to go back to Mexico and continue exploring. And
now that you have the lowdown on where to go, what to do and how to avoid scams,
you should go too!
Kim Bowerman,
Nomadik Personal Fitness Expert
