The Royal Route - Day 3 - "Until Next Time"

9/7/15, “Until Next Time”

Tequila, Jalisco, Mexico

I have had tequila in Tequila.  I might say that my life is complete, but I have only now visited 18 of the 33 World Heritage Sites in Mexico.  I will return, at least five more trips it will take me to say, “Mexico Complete.”  Enrique will probably be with me another time, but I’m not as sure now as I was 24 hours ago.  When we part, I will say, “Until next time,” but it is far less certain now that there will be a next time than it was yesterday.

The next trip I take to Mexico will be to the Yucatan peninsula, six WHS in 3 days.  Ambitious, but doable.  Enrique and I were discussing the various options, but, one thing led to another, and my new friend offered to join me.  If I was travelling with a local WHS hunter, I did not need to hire Enrique as a tour guide.  This is a stranger I have never met, have only known for two weeks, only started messaging two days ago.  Now, we’re planning a three-day trip together.  I guess I can file it under “That escalated quickly.”

After I closed last night, Enrique and I headed out to dinner, his favorite spot in town, called Casa Veracruz.  I was starting to get a caffeine headache, so I got a double espresso and a Diet Coke.  For my first course, I chose Aztec soup, my second course one of their famous steaks.  The soup was so filling that I wasn’t even hungry for my steak, which came with fried potatoes, onions, and cactus, yes, cactus.  I had force myself to eat, and I got a Leon beer to go with the steak.  I lit up an OpusX to go with the meal.  The steak was delicious, but I only ate half of it.

As we ate, we discussed various issues from politics to the economy to gay marriage.  He said it was legal in Mexico, and I asked his personal feeelings on the issue.  He said he didn’t care, complete equality before the law, right?  I agreed.  We also agreed that it makes us feel uncomfortable when we see two men or two women being affectionate in public, but we quickly added that we felt just as uncomfortable if we saw a man and a woman being affectionate like that in public.  Gay or straight, “Keep it in the bedroom,” we agreed.

After dinner, I started planning my Yucatan trip, and I went to bed as soon as the cigar was done.  I overslept a little, and I had a rich breakfast, which I couldn’t finish, still full from last night, traditional Mexican fare, and I uploaded my photos to Facebook.  We then hit the road, heading to Guadalajara.  I unsuccessfully tried to sleep, lighting up a My Father when I failed.

We were soon at the WHS in Guadalajara.  It’s called Hospicio Cabañas, a famous, historic hospice, now a museum.  The museum was closed today.  Fuck.  The inscription photo and the plaque were both inside.  I lit up my Romeo y Julieta, and the security guard let me take a picture of the interior through an open door, but I couldn’t get inside to take the picture with the plaque.  I even tried bribing him.  He pointed to the security camera.  I did, however, manage to get a keychain of the site, so it was good enough.

We then headed straight to Tequila.  We got lunch at La Fonda Cholula (like the hot sauce), and I ordered a glass of their finest tequila.  Somehow, without me even thinking about, the Spanish rolled out of me effortlessly.  “En un vaso, con nada, no hielo, no agua, nada.”  (“In a glass, with nothing, no ice, no water, nothing.”)  I also got a steak to go with it.  The tequila was excellent, but, reader, I don’t particularly like tequila.  In fact, I hate it.  I couldn’t finish the glass, but I slowly sipped on it.  The steak was beyond delicious.  It was cooked with an agave sauce, their house speciality.  When the bill came, I was shocked at the price.  Well, the tequila was pricey, more than the steak.  Okay, fine, it was still cheap by New York standards.

Afterwards, I lit up an Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 (not H. Upmann as I wrote on Day 1) and took my ceremonial pictures at the Jose Cuervo factory.  I then got some souvenirs and took my ceremonial pictures with the plaque.  I found a nice place to sit down in view of the plaque, where I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can get some tequila to take home and head to the airport.

Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla Guadalajara International Airport (GDL)

Well, here I am, sitting at, of all places, a Johnny Rockets in Guadalajara International Airport.  I have almost two hours before my flight, plenty of time to eat, write, and smoke.  Well, except for one small problem.  The smoking bar has been discontinued, and I’m too hungry to wait until I go outside and smoke to eat, and I don’t think I have enough time to go outside and go through security again if eat first.  Hence, the Johnny Rockets.

As predicted, we exchanged the greeting that formed the title of this entry: “Until next time.”  I’m not sure, now if there will be a next time, if Enrique will be joining me for the Yucatan or Oaxaca or another trip or none at all.  We have now been to 18 Mexican WHS together, an Olympic Stadium, and one of the Natural Wonders of the World.  Even if we never see each other again, we had a great run.  Loyola, that’s his last name, and he’s been as loyal to me as the name suggests.

I have made a new friend (through Instagram) and he may become my new go-to Mexico travel partner.  It’s funny, we’ve never met, only connected through social media and our love of plaques and World Heritage Sites, and we’ve just made a plan to spend a three-day trip together, and I’ve invited him to come to New York next summer, and I would show him around the east coast.

What’s left?  The three-day trip to the Yucatan with 6 sites.  A two-day trip to central Mexico to see the last 4 sites I need in the region.  A two-day trip from Phoenix or ABQ to see the 2 sites by the border.  A three-day trip to Baja to see the two sites there.  Then, one more, a two-day trip Cabo, where I will say, “Mexico Complete” and finally sit on the beach, something I haven’t done in Mexico (or Central America) since I went to Cancun half a lifetime ago.  I love Mexico, and it feels a very familiar country to me now, as familiar as Canada.  I have not gotten behind the wheel of car in Mexico yet, but, other than the Cabo trip, I believe I will be driving in each of my remaining trips.  And the food?  Well, it’s always phenomenal, even when it’s not.

After I closed in Tequila, I found my tequila and the found Enrique.  I still had a little cigar left, and I figured I’d have just enough to find an agave field and take a ceremonial picture.  I was right.  We stopped at the first agave field we found, and I trekked across to take the picture.  We then settled up our finances as we drove to the airport.

The initial price he quoted was a little higher than I expected, and I asked him to round down (a discount of about five percent).  He had paid for gas and tolls and everything, so I figured that, if it included his tip, it was a very high price, especially with all the extra driving.  We stopped at an ATM, and I paid him in a mix of dollars and pesos.  Before long, we were at the airport, took our ceremonial picture together, and said our goodbyes.

I checked in, having over two hours before my flight, and asked where I could smoke.  They told me there was a bar upstairs.  I headed to the bar, but the smoking area had been discontinued.  That was when I went to the Johnny Rockets and got my burger with fries and onion rings and cherry milkshake.  There was nothing Official about that meal.  I decided not to smoke, so I sat at the counter, where I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can publish.  I will treat the entry from MEX as part of the Return Journey entry.  Wait, that’s not Official.  Fuck.  Maybe I can just upload the photos now and do a short entry from MEX, or maybe no entry at all from MEX.  I’m so confused!

Benito Juarez International Airport, Federal District, Mexico (MEX)

Yeah, I published the entry.  If I can get WiFi before I board, I’ll just addend this to the entry.  This is the third time I have sat and smoked here while I waited for my flight to take me home.  The lesson I learned the first time is to always check in before the smoke.  This will not be my last time flying home from here.  I will do it at least twice more.  The first time I flew home, I smoked first, then went to check in, but they wouldn’t let me board, since, by the time I was done with my smoke, it was too close to the flight.  That was a disaster.

This time, I have my boarding pass, but it was no easy task to get from the terminal back outside.  In the US, it would be no problem at all.  Here, not so much.  The next two times I fly out of here, I will probably be likewise connecting from another destination in Mexico.  The trip to Baja, I will connect somewhere in the US.  The trip to Cabo, I can fly direct.  After I closed, I had to buy a new cord to charge my phone, and I also got an aux cord, since I lost mine.  I went to the gate and upload my photos and published, not without some difficulty.  The flight was delayed, but I had plenty of time.

We were soon landing at Benito Juarez (does anyone else call it that?), and we had to take a shuttle bus to the terminal.  That’s when I saw something really weird.  In order to get back in the terminal for a connecting flight (as opposed to pick up your baggage and leave), you had to go through security.  That simply does not exist in the US or Canada.  This being my first connection Mexico, it came as quite a shock.  Actually, I think this might be my first domestic connection outside of the US and CAN since I went to Norway in 2000.  Yeah, it has to be.  The only other domestic flight I took was London to Glasgow.  Hmm, I guess I could count my Helsinki to Oslo flight in May, since that’s all Schengen Area.  When I continued on from Oslo to Newark, there was no security, no customs, just the emigration from the Schengen Area.

I then got a Diet Dr. Pepper to quench my thirst and tried to figure out how to get outside the terminal.  The first person told me I had to see the federal police officer and something about “su nombre,” which means “your name” politely, but it can also mean “his name.”  I figured she said I had to give the police officer my name, and then he’d let me go outside.  Fuck that shit.  I had a MEX-JFK boarding pass.  I could just pretend like I was coming anew.  If anything came of it, I’d feign confusion in English.  I then went to leave the terminal.  That was when I found out that by “su nombre,” they had meant “his name.”  I needed to get permission from the police officer and get his name, and then they would let me outside.

That worked.  I then went to get my seat assigned.  I was able to get the exit row, but only middle seats were left (even in the other rows).  Fine, whatever.  I will probably need to take a nap when I get home, anyway.  I’m doing Chinese and a movie from my friend tomorrow night, so it’ll be pretty late by the time I get to sleep, and the flight is only like 4 hours.  A redeye flight home really only works if it’s more than 5 hours.  LAX, SAN, and SFO are the best, since it’s like 6 hours, but PDX, SLC, ABQ, MEX are all brutal.  Even PHX is somewhat bearable.  I then got a donut and headed out to my usual spot.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted a pipe or a cigar, so I flipped for it.  The side I designated for the pipe came up, and I was pleased with the result, so I lit up an Ardor and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close.  It is now 11 PM, and my flight does not leave for two hours.  I don’t even have to be at the gate for another hour.  I’m too tired to work, so I have no idea what to do.  Trip plan, I guess.