The fortress-like ex convent at Yuriria, Guanajuato, Mexico.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Yuriria, Guanajuato, Mexico.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Heading towards Valle de Juarez, Jalisco!

Thursday, December 26, 2024

Well that was a bit of a marathon travel day!

We got up at 3:30am Wednesday morning. Then we had to do a one hour drive from Playa del Carmen to the Cancun airport in order to get there early enough for Lindsey and the kids to get their 8:00am flight to Montreal.

We said our goodbyes, then headed to a nearby beach parking lot where we had a snooze for a couple of hours in the car!

Saying goodbye after a fun week together!

Ussie at the airport. Photo taken at 5:04am!

Sunrise at the beach near Cancun airport.

The water is sure calm!

We had to return our car rental by 10:00am, but we went there a little earlier because there is a good breakfast restaurant close by. So we dropped the car off, went for breakfast, then went back to the car rental place where they drove us back to the airport.

We both had the eggs with chorizo.

Our flight back to Toluca wasn't leaving until 10:15pm Christmas Eve. So we knew that we had to spend all day at the airport. We got stopped going through security because it was still another 12 hours until our flight! But we explained things and eventually they let us go through.

We have six free airport lounge passes annually through our Scotiabank Visa card, so this was a perfect opportunity to use two of them.

Lounge passes are definitely a good way to waste time in an airport!

This was one of the better airport lounges we have ever been in. They had a full bar where they even served mixed cocktails! It is a three hour time limit, so we entered the lounge at 3:00pm for a late lunch, and ate again just before we left at 6:00pm.

Fancy sales display in the gate area.

And then we waited some more. I would go for a walk around every hour or so just to stretch my legs. Not much to do other than people watch, and laptop time, but even that was getting old. 12 hours in an airport is too long! But we just dealt with it. 

Meanwhile, Lindsey and the kids had arrived in Montreal to find that their connecting flight to Halifax was delayed, so they had a long day as well. Though they did make it home before Santa arrived!

Eventually our flight boarded, and we were on our way to Toluca. We had splurged on the $20 each for extra legroom seats, so it was a comfortable flight. 

That was the 23rd different airplane we have been on this year! A record for us. 

We arrived at Toluca and it was almost midnight Christmas Eve by the time we got out of the airport. I tried to get an Uber, but none were responding. Then we looked for a local airport taxi, and there were none around! We decided to walk the 2.5 kms (1 mile) to our hotel.

Not bad, for 550 pesos ($39 CAD, $27 USD) a night.

Big bathroom!

Slept in until almost 8:30am Christmas Day, so we must have been tired! Then we took an Uber to the Toluca bus station. Still hadn't had breakfast, so we found a market stall that advertised my favorite... chicken enchiladas especial con salsa verde!

Big plate of enchiladas for 90 pesos ($6.40 CAD, $4.50 USD).

Then a bit over an hour bus ride from Toluca to Valle de Bravo, and we are once again reunited with Igor. We sat out with our friends Paco and Oti for a while, then it was an early night. We're going to hang out here until after January 1st, then we'll make our way slowly west towards Valle de Juarez, Jalisco.

Back at Valle de Bravo.

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And in Canada...

4 comments:

  1. Wow, that really was marathon! Enchiladas are my favorite. It looks like it was a good time had by all.

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    Replies
    1. It certainly was but we made it through it and it is all just part of travel so we take it in stride and deal with it. Hopefully it will be a good long time before we have to deal with a travel day like that again.

      The enchiladas were great and very filling!

      Yes, everyone had a great holiday and we can't wait to do a trip with them again, hopefully sometime next year. 😊

      Delete
  2. Wow, what a day you had! I am not sure I could handle being in an airport for 12 hours, because I wouldn't have the lounge pass. Even with it, not sure! The enchiladas looked delicious. Glad you made it to your destination with no serious issues, other than a long day. Belated Merry Christmas to you both!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was definitely a long day even for us. Unfortunately the airport is kinda in the middle of nowhere and not easy to get to without spending more money than you should on a taxi in this area so it just wasn't logical for us to hangout somewhere else. Having those two lounge passes certainly helped out, especially with us not having to buy food in the airport.

      The enchiladas were great and really hit the spot. We know from the past that you can get good food somewhere near the bus stations and that was definitely the case for us here in Toluca.

      We now have a week to relax back with Igor before hitting the road once again.

      Thank you and we hope you had a Merry Christmas too!

      Delete

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