YBR stayed the night<\/mark><\/strong>.<\/strong> <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nFirst-Timer Tips<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
New to Yucat\u00e1n or M\u00e9xico? <\/em><\/strong>A few things you should know that nobody seems to tell you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n- Never<\/em> drink tap water.<\/strong> Not just because you’re a foreigner, NOBODY drinks tap water, even though it is called “agua potable.” Bottled water–agua purificada<\/em>–is cheap and available everywhere.<\/li>
- Never flush the TP.<\/strong> Mexican plumbing systems are not built for TP. There will be a small wastebasket next to every toilet you ever see; that’s where it goes. Get used to it. (The only exceptions to this rule seem to be high-end hotels and Costco.)<\/li>
- The “$” sign means PESOS.<\/strong> Mexico (and many other countries) use the $ sign for their currency. The exchange as of September 2021 is about 20-to-1 (your 100-peso note is like a US $5 bill).<\/li>
- Cash is king.<\/strong> Although credit cards are accepted in large stores and most hotels, you’ll need cash for any small business and even many tourist venues. Many places that do accept cards add a small percentage to recover their bank charges.<\/li>
- Our paper money is changing.<\/strong> Mexico is rolling out new bills. The most important thing to watch for is that the new $500 is blue and looks a LOT like the old $20!<\/strong> LOOK at any blue bill before you give it or accept it!<\/li>
- Mexico is Metric (mostly).<\/strong> Nearly all measurements are given in metric units. So the 80<\/strong> speed limit sign is kilometers\/hour (about 50mph). <\/li>
- Be careful walking!<\/strong> Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way in Mexico! Do NOT think you can step off a curb and a car will stop for you. The one very important exception the raise-pavement Paso de Peatones<\/strong>; if you are driving you MUST stop if a pedestrian is anywhere on the raised walkway.<\/li>
- Always dial 10 digits.<\/strong> There’s really no “long distance” anymore. To call ANY number in Mexico, from any phone, dial the full 10-digit number. To call the US or Canada, dial 00-1-area code-number.<\/li>
- This country runs on WhatsApp.<\/strong> Doctors, hotels, businesses, and everyone you see is messaging and even making calls using this Internet service. If you don’t have a free WhatsApp account for your cellphone, get one. Call anywhere in the world for free (via WiFi) or using the cellular data network. Your WhatsApp number is your cellphone with country code (USA\/Canada: +1-987-654-3210, Mexico +52-123-456-7890, etc.).<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This will be a page of links to websites, Facebook groups, Flickr pages and… ? Resources will have different levels of confirmation, which we’ll try to make clear, each with a color-coded note at the end. The note will tell you whether your YBR Admins have actually visited a site or used a service, or … <\/p>\n
Read more “Resources”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-54","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yucatanbackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yucatanbackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yucatanbackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yucatanbackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yucatanbackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/yucatanbackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":787,"href":"https:\/\/yucatanbackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/54\/revisions\/787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yucatanbackroads.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}