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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Fantastic deal on this HP 15.6" Laptop.
And in Canada...
Yikes! That day would have done me in!
ReplyDeleteLol, it pretty much did us in. Kevin had a small nap in the afternoon and we both had a decent sleep last night so we are pretty much back to normal. We are glad that we don't have too many travel days like that.
DeleteYou certainly are hardy - well done!
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely a long travel day but thankfully we don't have many travel days like that, so we just deal with it!
DeleteThat airport emptiness! My favorite time to travel was during Covid. Basically had the plane/airport to myself with plenty of distance between people! We were on the hunt for a replacement RV so the timing was great.
ReplyDeleteThe Manta airport is busy first thing in the morning because they have a few flights in and out and then nothing throughout the day and then another few lights in and out in the late afternoon/early evening. It was wierd seeing nobody there.
DeleteWe also enjoyed traveling during Covid, things were a lot cheaper and very quiet back then. Did you find a replacement RV?
That sounds really rough, since you had to get up so early on night one and really got almost no sleep on night two. I could NOT do that kind of travel any more, maybe in my 30s and 40s, but no longer. Sleep is just too important. Glad you made it home safely and hope you can get back on a regular schedule now!
ReplyDeleteIt was a very long day but we just plowed through it. Thankfully we don't have to deal with those kinds of travel days very often, so every once in a while we just do what we have to do!
DeleteWe definitely had a decent night's sleep and woke up yesterday feeling refreshed again. I am not sure that we will have a regular schedule, there are a number of things that we want to get done over the next few weeks but at least we will have a little more time to relax throughout our days.