The expat's new adventure: traveling south of the border to Mazunte in the state of Oaxaca!

 

Odd, how I always seem to be seated over the airplane wing....this was the view over Mexico City. Lovely clean and clear air, as you can see!

Wanting to escape the smoke and terrible air from all the fires on the West Coast, I changed my flight from the original date of October 2nd to September 19th, three days ago. As a result, I was given a pretty horrific itinerary through CheapoAir: about 8 hours of flight time coupled with 10 hours of layover time! So the whole journey wound up being a hellacious, 19 hour ordeal to get to my destination of Mazunte, in the lovely state of Oaxaca. (This included an hour-long taxi ride from where I was picked up at the closest airport at the town of Hualtuco.)

Was it all worth it? You betcha!!! Absolutely. But before I launch into a description of my new, temporary home here, I simply must recount my adventures/misadventures en route. 

To begin with, as I was checking my bag in at the Delta Airlines counter at the Sacramento airport, the Delta employee lectured me about mask-wearing at all times, keeping my carry-on with me, blah blah blah. She seemed to think I needed a visa for Mexico, which of course is incorrect. (One is issued by the Mexican government upon arrival, good for 6 months.) She became QUITE alarmed when she noted that I only had a one-way flight down, telling me quite sternly that I would stand a very good chance of being sent right back to the U.S. without being admitted into Mexico! Why? Because the Mexican government wants the assurance that I have NO intention of staying indefinitely. That I will NOT become some low-life squatter on their precious soil, basking in the Mexican sun and swimming in their ocean forever and ever. Clearly, their retaliatory stance in response to Trump's hard-nosed approach regarding Mexicans coming into the U.S.! 

Of course I then also became most alarmed! I simply could NOT risk such a thing happening! (I only bought a one way ticket down because my intention is to travel on to Europe after Mexico, before returning back to India, once their borders are reopened.) 

My solution? Book a flight to Guatamala, so I could show those customs authorities that I am no slacker! (Do I REALLY look like one?! I am, after all, a middle-aged, retired school teacher.... but then you never know... !)

So I bit the bullet, further over-extended my painfully stretched budget, and bought a ticket for March 1st to Guatamala city. It cost me $120 on JustFly.com. It was the cheapest flight I could purchase, being the closest country to Mexico. It is a ticket I might not use at all and is most unfortunately non-refundable.

Of course the customs official never asked me to show a return ticket or ANY ticket, for that matter! So of course I just wasted the $120 that I might have used to buy such essentials as food! Thus describes my first of several annoying misadventures en route. (Learn from my mistake: others I have since spoken to assure me there ARE ways to purchase tickets that ARE refundable if cancelled within 24 hours. Leave it to me to NOT be able to find such options myself!)

The flight from Sacramento to LAX went off otherwise without a hitch. Owing to Covid, few people are traveling, so getting through security is a breeze and the flights have not been full. Such a blessing! However, as you already suspect, more issues ensued....

In L.A., I had my first grueling, 5  hour layover. Why grueling? Because of the incessant, annoying announcements, but worse: some apparently faulty wiring (or brain-dead employee?!) kept triggering the alarm system on one of the airport emergency exits, causing a most painfully piercing, screeching sound to occur at regular intervals. It would take several minutes before someone finally got around to shutting it off again. As I became more and more exhausted from the wait (arrived at 6:30 p.m.; flight out to Mexico City was not until 11:45 p.m.!), my nerves became more and more frayed.... by the time this screechy alarm went off for about the 15th time, I was truly ready to "go postal" in that airport!!!

Thank God, the flight time FINALLY arrived... and on I got. However, as Murphy's law would have it, I happened to have been assigned a seat directly in front of the ONLY screaming, crying toddler aboard the entire aircraft. How do I know this? Because it was a small craft, which I cruised quickly from end to end. I don't even think there was a single other small child on board, let alone a painfully noisy one! Again, ready to kill...that child!!! When I looked over my seat to glare (a snarl would have been useless, concealed as it would have been behind my obligatory mask) at this child, her mother smiled sweetly at me, as if to indicate that I surely must be looking because I found this little monster adorable! (Good thing I was NEVER a mother... such painful, continuous wailing would have never been tolerable. Most especially in a public setting! I would have been SO mortified!)

Once in the air, I went to the back of the plane and located one of the flight attendants seated there. This unfriendly woman got snarky with me when I asked to change seats, stating the plane was full, so changing was not possible! In disbelief, I motioned to the 3 last rows, all of which were empty except for some small pieces of baggage. "But what about THESE?!" I wheedled. "These are all empty!" "Those are kept empty intentionally, for purposes of social distancing," she curtly responded. Honestly puzzled, I then asked, "social distancing from WHOM?!" She all but rolled her eyes at me before answering, "From US, the flight attendants!" Ohhhh, now THAT makes a heck of a lot of sense, me thinks! That explains why these attendants have NEVER made an appearance amongst the passengers, except to throw bags of junkie snack foods at us. But...what about all the passengers who HAVE to walk within a couple feet of them back there in order to access one of the only two bathrooms aboard the plane?!? In fact, I think the REAL reason was that she simply didn't want to be bothered...not be me, or anyone! She did NOT want to have to move her baggage off of those seats, NOR did she want to interact with any customer OR have her conversation with her fellow flight attendant interrupted. 

However, I was adamant: my sleep deprivation was turning me into a snarling animal, and I was simply not going to take "no" for an answer! "I HAVE to be able to have some peace! I HAVE to be able to get some sleep!!!" I insisted. Her response came in the rudest possible tone: "Keep your voice down...people are trying to sleep!!!!" I kid you not! It was unbelievable. I was thinking, "Just you wait, lady, 'till your employer gets word of your incredible rudeness!" Outloud I said, "Fine...but I WILL take these three seats right here", indicating one of the three empty rows. In a huff, she removed the luggage, and said "FINE!" but extremely nastily. Clearly this woman is in the WRONG profession!!!!

Could I sleep THEN?! Not a chance, as she and her flight attendant friend upped the volume of their animated conversation behind me. Like they really cared if the passengers could sleep!!! Simply unbelievable. 

When the hellish flight finally ended, I mentioned something to the captain on the way out. I asked for her name...he wouldn't tell me, simply stating that he would say something to her. I doubt that he will. But I tell you, the airlines is going to hear ALL about this incident when it is time to do my survey! (Yes, they did send me one by email, and are they ever going to get an earful!)

Next: another 5 hour wait in an airport, this time Mexico City. Another hellish experience, if you can believe it! It was freezing cold, and fantastically noisy--in fact, the coldest and noisiest airport I have been in, EVER! More incredible is that I was FINALLY exhausted enough to catch some modicum of sleep, curled up as I was on the most uncomfortable set of chairs AND with the massive amount of noise all around me, including a loud-mouthed American letting all the world know the intimate details of his sordid life....

Thankfully, the last flight--aboard AeroMexico--was uneventful and quick. The scenery down below was beautiful, the skies--vast blueness with large, white puffy clouds--magnificent. I couldn't believe the brilliant, dense lushness of greenery beneath me. "Heaven approaches!" I thought to myself gleefully....

We landed at the lovely Hualtuco airport in Oaxaca, where commeced the final unpleasant moment of this extremely arduous journey: getting yelled at for taking a photo of our airplane after deplaning. (I could be a Russian spy, after all, planning to mimic their top secret aircraft construction or...something!) "Soy tourista!" I called out cheerfully, by way of explanation. I am, after all, just a silly and ignorant tourist, bent on sharing the photos of their fairly ordinary plane along with my beautiful, new surroundings.... 

From the plane, looking down: 

The seeming "top secret" AeroMexico aircraft: (do YOU detect any special nuance of this airplane that explains their response?! If so, please do comment!)

The amazingly beautiful, small Hualtuco Airport has thatched roofs, as you can see below. They are apparently a trademark of this region. According to my Airbnb host, Carlos, they get very messy and expensive, needing to be replaced every four to five years. I say, who cares? They are so beautiful and charming!

So here you go, first sight of the airport, backside, walking from the plane:

Front side, as I was leaving and walking toward the main road to connect with my awaiting taxi:

My taxi driver, Jorge, was a super nice guy. All tiredness left me as I thrilled at the sights passing us by on our way from Hualtuco over the country roads to Mazunte. This area is so lush, so green, so extraordinarily beautiful, and so welcome after the dry, smokey climes of California! As we rolled along with the windows open, I breathed in the sweet scent of the tropics, not at all minding the heat and humidity. At one point, a magnificent moth flew in the window--my official greeter!--resting on my hand long enough for me to take this photo--before flying out the window and off again. How very auspicious!

NEXT BLOG POST: 

My new digs in Mazunte, at the Airbnb and with my charming host, Carlos. Also included:  a photo tour of this most lovely little seaside town!