(not) being ripped off, the mexican way

hi everyone! it's been a while since i updated anything. After staying in Playa Del Carmen for two weeks, we finally moved our lazy ass again and moved west for more mayan ruins and colonial towns. In the past three days, we've been to a small but really charming town Valladolid, made it our base to explore the surroundings, including the famous Chichen Itza (one of the candidates of the new seve wonder), an archaeological site El Balam, and then made our way more west to the capital of Yucatan, Merida. Tomorrow we'll catch the equinox phenomenon in Dzibilchaltun. But before going into the wonderful details of the trip, I'll get a bit of dark side story out of the day. Okay, not really dark side story, but more like things to watch for when traveling in countries like Mexico...i am sure anyone who've been here or some Asian countries have tons of stories like this to tell... so here is ours :) Yesterday after visiting the archaeological site of El Balam, the only way to get back to Valladolid was taxi, or shared van. There was no shared van in sight so our only choice seemed to be taxi. There are always drivers outside the ruin and the one approached us said he'll take us for 100 pesos. it was more than what we'd like to pay so we told him we'd try to wait for more tourists to share the cost. So we waited. During the next hour he kept reminding us "i don't know if there are other tourists that need taxi ride" "you know, it's getting late, you probably should just take it so you'll have more time" Dude! what we have is time. We just kept ignoring him, then we saw a taxi arriving. The driver dropped off two tourists and was about to make his way out. Seeing us waiting, he stopped and told us he'll take us back to Valladolid for $20 pesos per person. That's 60% saving from the other taxi!! we hopped in right away. Funny thing is as we talked to the driver, we can see the other driver (who's been patiently waiting for us to give in for about an hour an half now) ran over, probably trying to save his biggest fish of the day. But he arrived too late, we heard him asking the driver how much he charged us just when the taxi starts rolling.... I am happy we stick to our guns and didn't give in. the rest of the day we gloated over our winning battle against the taxi driver and decided to use the saving to splurge on a nice dinner, which leads to the second story... :) we went to a restaurant recommended by our hostel for lunch. We were told that they have two sets of menu, one for more expensive food and one cheaper. When we arrived, of course we were only shown the "tourist" menu. After repeatedly asking for the other menu, the server finally gave it to us (after blatantly lying about there is NO other menu last time we came). The food and service was all right but the place is very touristy. We probably saw only one table of local looking people during the entire dinner. When we were done eating and ready to pay, this is when the story starts. The price doesn't sum up to the total (thanks to Pascal's sharp eyes)! and there's nowhere on the bill indicating that tips are included! We asked the server why the total is more than the sum of everything, he replied without blinking an eye "it's the tip", so i asked "how many percentage is the tip?". he said "10%", then i said "but the difference is not 10%", he calmly replied "12%", "but you just said 10%!". At this point i was outraged! i stood up and walked to the cashier. I asked her what's the extra charge, and amazingly without any argument, she immediately took out 20 pesos to give us. How did she know it's exactly 20 pesos when it's nowhere showing on the bill! It took us two engineers more than 30 seconds to sum up all 6 items on the bill and concluded that there's a 20 pesos difference. She's really good at math. or it's a calculated mistake? we took the money and left. On the way out i can't help but looking at the room full of tourists wondering how many of them are gonna get ripped off tonight? Of course i will never go back to that place, ever, but i want to do what i can to warn other tourists. I certainly don't mind tipping when the service is good, but not to be gypped like this. I know it's not much money, but it's not about the money. Back home i would probably laugh at the amount. But now, it's about traveling smart. Being here, it's a constant battle everyday. Sometimes we are short changed 10 pesos, sometimes 100.....I start looking at it with humor. so, let's see if this guy is going to short-change us. :) wish you all get the warning and have it at the back of your mind one day when you visit Mexico. of course, don´t let these little stories discourage you from coming here. most people you´ll encounter are genuinely friendly. happy travelling!