Well that was a whirlwind 24 hours!

We are back at our casita overlooking the lake near Valle de Bravo, Mexico.

But after three taxis, three airplanes, two subways, and a bus ride, all in 24 hours...we are exhausted!

We got up at 3:10am (silly o'clock!) on Tuesday morning in Quito, Ecuador. We had prearranged an Uber driver to take us to Quito airport. Sure enough, he was right there outside the hotel waiting for us at 3:30am. It's a 40 minute drive, even at that hour with no traffic, and it cost $22 USD ($30 CAD), but that was the cheapest option at that hour.

The flight to Manta was also about 40 minutes. You just get up there, and then you start to descend.

Our Avianca plane.

Really tight seating with my long legs. But not worth it to me to pay extra for a 40 minute flight.

The problem was, we arrived at Manta at like 6:30am. And it's a small airport, with only three departing flights that day. And our flight didn't depart until 6:45pm or so. So we had a bunch of time to waste. There wasn't really anything else we wanted to see in Manta, and the weather wasn't the best. Fortunately, they had decent seating and great WiFi.

Once people were picked up from our flight, and it departed again, the place was a ghost town!

It reminded us of when we got the heck out of Canada during Covid.

Toronto airport looked a bit like this at the time.

We wasted the morning away, but then there was nowhere to have lunch. So we took another Uber to a nearby shopping mall and wasted a few hours there. Then back to the airport late afternoon...

It was a little busier because there was another flight coming in.

Our two hour flight to Panama City was fine.... but it was packed full. Then we had an hour and a half in Panama City airport to walk around and stretch our legs. That is a big busy airport!

Our three hour flight from Panama City to Mexico City was only about half full. Probably because they do four of these flights a day, and this one arrives at 1:00am!

Arriving Mexico City at night.

We didn't book a hotel room, figuring that we wouldn't get in there until after 2:00am. But Mexico City airport never stops, so it was quite a noisy night and of course not very comfortable so we didn't get much in the way of sleep. As soon as the Metro system opened at 5:00am we made our way to the subway station. The first train was fine, but the second one was the beginning of the line and it was packed! When the doors opened, there was nobody to get off and people pushed in hard. We now know what it must feel like when crowds get out of control. Not a very comfortable feeling. 

But, by the time we passed the central area, things thinned out and we made it to the bus station just before 7:00am. We were both starving so we found a street food stand and had a couple of tamales for breakfast.

They were delicious! 

Then we got the 8:00am bus back to Valle de Bravo. Did manage to get some shuteye on the bus, but there will definitely be a nap on the agenda at some point today! Happy to be "home"!

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