無事にカンクン空港に到着した。イミグレーションをスムーズに通過し、外へ出るとドドッと客引きの嵐にまず驚いた。すごくＣＨＩＮＡと似てると思った。ＡＴＭは、空港のすぐ隣のビルの中にあると聞いたので、その方向に向かっていたら客引き達が容赦なく声掛けてくる。ヤバイ、と思って出来るだけ何にも言わずに通過しようとしたら、ＢＥＮがある客引きの一人に断りの一言。「I'm going to the Bank ! 」 ''オオオオ～ィイ!!!銀行って言うなよ～''と思えばもう遅かった。「I know the Bank, Follow me , Come on this way!!」、連いていく振りをしながら別のATMを見つけ、まずは500ペソだけおろした。バスに乗りカンクンでの宿泊先Rosas 7(シエテ)に到着。何か明日来ると勘違いしてたみたいで着いてから掃除を始めたのでそれまではオーナーの奥谷さんや他の宿泊者と話をした。掃除が終わり、シーツと枕カバーを受け取った後、とりあえず食べ物と飲み物を求めて屋台がある近くの公園へ向かった。言葉は分からないながらにタコスとトルタス（メキシコ風グリルサンドイッチ）、そしてホルチャッタと言うお米のジュースをGET。それがまたすっごく美味しくて感動!!!!! 昼食後はそのままメルカド（市場）に向かい今夜の食材探し。カンクンに着いたら絶対海鮮食べようと二人で約束してたので、魚屋でまずはフィレ（25ペソ）を購入。野菜や果物も買って気がつけば荷物でいっぱいになり一度宿に戻った。長期宿泊者から近くにウォルマートがある事を聞き、また二人で出かけた。結局宿に戻った時は疲れて夕食も食べずにそのまま就寝Ｚzzz。。。。
We arrived in Cancun, today, leaving behind a whole lot of snow for sunny Caribbean skies. As we made our approach for landing, we were able to see the short trees covering the arid, completely mountain-free Yucatan Peninsula scarred with a multitude of perfectly straight roads.
The smell as we stepped out of the airport reminded me of the sweet, almost fruity, fragranced air of Malaysia. We were immediately hit with a wave of salesmen (though nothing of the scale that we had seen in China), offering everything from beach bungalows to taxi service to bus rides. We pushed through, surprised that the people here actually accepted a rejection like "no gracias", unlike China where it causes increased attention.
However, in a moment of stupidity, I decided I would shoo-off one of the more insistent salesmen by explaining, "We don't need a bus, we have to go to the bank." This, of course, did not produce the intended effect, but instead, several people were then running ahead of us calling "bank this way!" "ATM!" Nice work, Ben. Once we had ignored them long enough, they eventually left us alone and we withdrew a small amount of pesos, and were on our way.
After leaving our bags at the hostel, we proceeded to the local park. Here we learned that Mexico has sandwiches (tortas) and that the Mexican people are both inviting and very patient, no matter how terrible your Spanish may be. We continued on to the local market, where we bought some fish and vegetables for dinner, but ended up heading to Walmart instead of actually making dinner...we fell asleep eating snacks we procured there.
↑Tortas and Tacos! at the local park ↓
Low-lying houses of Cancun↓
Kaori was quite surprised when she first set her eyes on the brightly colored graves, many of which resembled small houses or churches, continuing far off into the distance. I had seen a similarly brilliant, though significantly smaller, cemetery from the bus window outside Valladolid, but was equally enamored.
The graves, some of which were independently standing units and some of which were connected at the base with those next to them, are all above ground. A good indication that cremation is the norm. A better indication was a peek into the back of a tomb which had lost it's back door--human bones.
Visible in a vast majority of the graves were gray tin boxes (most likely holding remains) behind a locked gate and often candles and an image of Guadalupe. Resting in front or on top are the names of the deceased as if written on a book, perhaps a representation of "the book" of names at the gate to heaven?
The general construction of the graves in Merida mirrored what I had seen in Japan, with lanterns or stone vases for flowers on the left and right and the remains of entire families stored in individual containers in the center behind door of some kind. See an example of a typical Japanese grave below.
Needless to say, I found the cemetery quite interesting. I hope you did, too.
