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Hi my dreamers !
I hope you’re doing great!
After Greece, I’m going to tell you about my trip to Mexico in 2018, starting with what you need to know when traveling there.
First, during your flight, maybe you will have a stopover in the United States of America. If so, even for only a stopover, without leaving the airport, you’ll need to get your ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) from the website: esta.cbp.dhs.gov
For a little more information, you can read this article where I already talked about it during my trip to New York City.
Money
When you arrive in Mexico for the first time, you could feel a bit confused because all prices are in “$”, so, you will think that it means USD of course but it does not. Prices are in pesos, except if it is clearly said that it is in USD. Otherwise, always ask so as not to have a nasty surprise. Moreover, the conversion from USD to pesos is not the same everywhere. It differs a little bit depending on whether you pay in a restaurant, in a store, or in a supermarket for example (that’s what a local told me).
Some places only accept cash payments and some only accept payments in USD. According to me, the best thing is to always pay in cash and in pesos.
Finally, tips are required like in the United States of America (generally between 10% and 15% minimum)!
Language
According to my experience, I think it is recommended to be able to speak a little bit of Spanish but it depends on the cities you will go to.
In Cancún, you won’t have any problem communicating because almost everyone can speak English. Except most of the bus drivers, I would say.
In Tulum, I think Spanish is a bit more necessary (well, in 2018 it was), like for example, in a pharmacy or in a phone shop.
In Mexico City, I think it is better to be able to speak a little bit of Spanish because even workers in the Mexico City airport could not speak English (or they didn’t want to make any effort), which surprised me a lot. They could understand English but they replied only in Spanish. To talk to a taxi company and to a hostel, I also had to speak in Spanish.
I hope these little tips will help you!
And you, what are your tips when traveling to Mexico?
Stay tuned, in the next article, I will talk about Cancún! *o*
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