Wednesday, July 17, 16:25
We’re on our way!
The first leg of our journey is a one-hour flight from GDL to MEX. There we will spend the night before continuing across the pond tomorrow.
I remember my first few trips. Everything was a milestone, and every piece was exciting. Getting to the airport. Boarding the flight. Stepping foot on foreign soil.
Perhaps I’m more jaded now. It hasn’t begun to dawn on me yet how potentially thrilling this trip might be. I’m just going through all the routines of travel. I don’t even look out of the airplane window during take-off. Hell, I’m in an aisle seat!
Which is not so comfortable. My butt can just about tolerate the minimal padding for an hour. That’s how it goes with the budget Mexican airlines like Viva Aerobus.
Still, I’m looking forward to little things tonight. Checking into the airport Marriott, having a first meal away from home (and by that I mean the first meal of this particular adventure). It’s nice not to feel the stress of making a quick connection this evening.
Meanwhile, I have to get used to remembering how I packed. Which compartment has my reading glasses? Where is my journal? Eventually I will build habits of putting things in the same place so I can find them easily. But at this early stage of the journey, looking through my backpack for a pen is part of the adventure.
Wednesday, July 17, 17:17
We were on approach at MEX when we hit into a big thunderstorm. Suddenly we pulled up, and now we’re in a holding pattern waiting for the weather to clear.
Thursday, July 18, 07:22
About 90 minutes ’til we depart on the second leg: MEX to IST with a short stop at CUN.
We got on the ground okay yesterday after about a 15 minute delay. It was pouring rain when we got off the plane. Fortunately we were at a jet bridge and didn’t have to go outside. And our hotel was connected to the terminal.
Have I ever written about how much I hate the Mexico City airport? Everything is far away and requires a lot of walking. And signage is very poor. The letter H indicates a hotel. Once you figure that out, and you follow the sign, then after a while there are no more H signs.
In the past I’ve gone upstairs and downstairs and back upstairs looking for where to check in or where to get my passport stamped. Last time I stayed at the “pod” hotel, I passed the narrow hallway leading to the hotel three times. At least now I’m familiar with where things are, but it’s still an absurdly long walk.
And once you’re through security, the distance from gate to gate is ridiculous. Plus there’s nowhere near enough seating at each gate.
Another thing: passengers arriving on international flights are funneled to immigration via a hallway that runs between the gate areas and the jetways. If you’re boarding, you have to wait for arriving passengers to pass through. It’s a very stupid way to build an airport.
But we are relaxing in the lounge while we wait until it’s time to board our flight. I’m grateful for small advantages.
Friday, July 19, 11:25
I forgot just how long the flight from MEX to IST is. And even with lie-flat seats, I didn’t manage to sleep on the plane for more than an hour or so.
I watched Killers of the Flower Moon, which was really good and took up about 3 1/2 hours of the 11-hour flight. And I watched Baz Luhrman’s over-the-top production of The Great Gatsby, and I listened to music. Turkish Airlines provides noise-cancelling headphones, which is nice even if they aren’t terribly comfortable.
While we were waiting to board, I struck up a conversation with two American men (clearly a couple) who live in Puerto Vallarta. It was fun exchanging travel stories.
Now we’re in the Business Class lounge at IST. For some reason, they don’t have any American soft drinks available. I know they had them last time I was here.
We landed at 10:00 and taxied for a good 20 minutes to get to our gate. As usual, it was a long walk from the gate to the lounge. We’re here for a while. Our flight to Cape Town departs at 01:40 (tomorrow morning). But at 16:00 we are planning on doing Turkish Airlines’ free tour of Istanbul. Until then, maybe I’ll be able to sleep a little.
Saturday, July 20, 02:50
What a long day it’s been!
A worldwide technology disaster struck this morning, causing major flight disruptions. We weren’t sure if our flight to Cape Town would even go. So many flights were canceled today.
We tried to do the TourIstanbul thing, but it turns out it was fully booked. Apparently it’s now necessarily to sign up. This wasn’t the case last time I checked the website. It said just show up a half hour before the scheduled time.
There was a virtual fly over Istanbul experience in the lounge. I guess that was the next best thing.
Our flight wasn’t canceled, but it was delayed, first from 01:40 to 02:50 and then to 03:50. We just walked to the gate to wait to board. Our aircraft just arrived, and passengers are disembarking, so I’m hopeful we will be on our way within the hour.
My friend Tim from Ajijic was passing through the airport on his way home from a nearly three-month journey to the Stans, Italy, Tunisia, Norway, Germany, and Hungary. We met in the lounge and it was fun catching up with him.
His flight back to Mexico was not delayed, which seems entirely unfair.
So instead of arriving in Cape Town a little before noon, we should get there just after 14:00.
I hope I can sleep on the plane!
Saturday, July 20, 03:20
And we’re delayed yet again. New departure time: 04:10.
Have I ever written about how much I hate traveling?
About this post
I didn’t blog during this trip, but I kept a journal. All my posts consist of journal entries I wrote during the trip and transcribed into this blog after I got home, with some editing and embellishing.
Leave a Reply