1/18/15,
“Many Partings”
Palenque,
Chiapas, Mexico
Not long
after I finish writing this entry, Roberto and I will part ways, and our trip
has come full circle. We are at a Mayan
archaeological site not dissimilar from our first stop at Chichen Itza, and I
am similarly writing my entry in view of the structure from the inscription
photo. It has been approximately 50
hours, but it feels as if we have been travelling together forever. I will be back at my desk in about 20 hours,
and back to my normal routines. It has
been a very enjoyable trip, and we have appeared to have done what Roberto
initially thought unthinkable, visit all 6 sites in a three-day weekend. After I finish this entry, I will leave
Roberto in the town of Palenque and continue on the airport in Villahermosa,
where I will connect once more at Benito Juarez. That is familiar. This trip, my first time in the tropical part
of Mexico since I set out to see the world is unfamiliar, though not that
dissimilar from some of my other trips to Central America. In fact, a year ago today, I was in
Belize. A year from now, I will likely
be in Haiti, which will be my last country to visit in North America.
There is not much to report since I closed in
Escarcega last night. Of course, we
drank. And smoked. Roberto had his second cigar ever, a small H.
Upmann, and a Destino Siglo for me, while we each swigged from our own half
pint of rum. Roberto thought that I
might have been Cuban in a past life. I
offered instead maybe I used to be a pirate.
He liked that idea. Meanwhile, I
was messaging with my friends about different movie awards and the usual
conversations. I also played some
various music from my laptop.
After the
cigar, it was time to go bed. There was
just one small problem. My phone was
almost dead. My laptop was almost
dead. We didn’t have enough
outlets. There was one outlet by the
bed, which I needed for my sleep machine.
The only outlet I could use for my laptop was far from the bed, but
Roberto needed it for his phone. Once we
got in the car in morning, I could charge everything, including the laptop, but
I would need a decent charge on my phone in case I wanted to continue my
conversations in the morning. Well, I
wound up charging my phone by the bed, while I was half asleep, until it got to
a quarter charge, which I figured would last it until the morning. Yes, that worked.
In the morning, we got ready and got in the
car, where I was able to charge everything.
The album for today would be our final Taylor Swift album: Speak
Now. We were a little tight on time, but
not too bad. We stopped for gas by the
highway, and there was a Burger King there, but it wouldn’t open until 9
AM. We figured this would be our best
chance for food, so we waited. They only
had lunch food. Fine, that would
do. We got our food and hit the
road. The meal was quite good, and I lit
up a Fuente afterwards. We soon got to a
border checkpoint to enter the state of Chiapas, which was far more extensive
than any checkpoint we had seen so far.
I closed my eyes for a bit, and we were soon at Palenque.
Once we got there, we found the Plaque at the
entrance and the Palace, which was featured in the inscription photo. I lit up my Trinidad, my last one, and we took
our ceremonial pictures. Just as in
Chichen Itza, Roberto wanted to explore some more, and I wanted to write my
entry. This time, we made sure we both
were clear on where to meet. I got my
souvenirs and then headed to a bench in view of the Palace, where I sat down
and proceeded to write this entry. I was
soon told I couldn’t smoke, just like in Chichen Itza. Roberto was back before long, and I will now
close so that I can finish my cigar and begin the return journey.
Carlos
Rovirosa Pérez International Airport, Tabasco, Mexico (VSA)
Ah, at last,
the triumphant airport entry. I am now
smoking a well-deserved Opus X Angel’s Share.
Other than a little adversity with the raw sewage, the trip has been a
perfect success. We are already planning
our next trip. After I closed, I relit
the cigar, and we drove to the town of Palenque. I wanted to finish or almost finish my cigar
before I left him, and I had plenty of time.
He had even more time. We hung
around until it was time for us to leave.
We then took some ceremonial pictures as we planned future trips
together. It was the parting of the
ways. Yes, my astute reader, the title
of these two past entries are taken from Lord of the Rings. Roberto wants to come to New York in May, and
I told him I’d take him to Philly and Boston if he comes, along with showing
him around New York. In the fall, we
will do another trip together in Mexico.
There are only a few trips left for me in Mexico, possibly as few as
three, but five max. One of them could
just be Cabo, which I want to save for my last trip, when I say Mexico
complete. I like the idea of, having
visited every WHS in Mexico without going to the beach, flying into Cabo,
taking a picture at the Plaque, announcing “Mexico Complete,” and then spending
the rest of the weekend on the beach, finally.
There are also 2 other WHS in Baja California Sur, which are very hard
to access and not at all near Cabo, nor close to a big airport. There are 4 WHS left in Central Mexico,
including the new one by Mexico City and two by Oaxaca. That is probably doable in a weekend, easily
doable in a 3-day weekend or split as two weekends. That leaves the two by the border with the
US. That was the one we were discussing. I would fly into El Paso, go across the
border to Juarez, and we’d drive to both of them in the weekend before I flew
home. I had originally been planning on
doing it by renting a car out of Phoenix.
We will figure that out.
There
are, I believe 33 WHS in Mexico. I
started trying to complete them less than three years ago, and I now only have
9 left. I will be going to the Bahamas
in a few weeks, just an overnight stay when I visit my parents in Florida. I will also need to revisit Jamaica to see
the Blue Mountains. I want to do the DR
and Haiti, each with their own WHS and capital, as a 3-day weekend. Then I need to do a trip to PR and the VI
next year. Also, my mother and I will
likely visit San Antonio in the fall. I
have three or four more trips to Canada, too.
That’s it. That’s all that’s
required for me to be able to make my Hawaii trip the trip that allows me to
say, “North America Complete.”
This has
been the most grinding of all my travel goals, and there has been so much
adversity and near misses along the way.
I’m thinking of my adventures with Fernando in Central America, my solo
trips to Panama and Costa Rica, each with their own scares. I’m thinking of how we miraculously managed
to do Cuba Complete, despite Ernesto’s constant doubts. However, I’m also thinking of the trips where
I was mopey and depressed and could barely enjoy myself, just going through the
motions. I’m thinking of Belize and
Carlsbad.
However, those are far
outweighed by the good times. I’m
thinking of all the relaxing evenings I spent in the Caribbean, whether it was
that unforgettable night in Kingstown or just enjoying myself at the hotel in
Basseterre, not worrying about anything.
I’m thinking of the last great summer road trip adventure I took with my
mother last summer, along with my extension in the Canadian Prairie. I’m thinking of the Alaska/Canada trip I took
with my friend the year before that. I’m
thinking of all the relaxing times I had in Canada and its natural beauty,
whether it was 24 hours of daylight or the Northern Lights. Those were the good times, and they more than
enough to forgive a mopey weekend in Belize or an even mopeyer day driving from
Alburqurque to El Paso.
I have just
under 20 months to complete my goals, so I am definitely entering the home
stretch. North America Complete is
definitely within sight. Outside of
North America, there are only eight or nine trips I need to take to finish my
goals. There are two to South America,
one of which will be in a month to Peru, the other one for the Olympics this
summer. There are four to Europe, all of
which I intend to take this year, Antwerp, Greece, London, and Rome. There is also one to Asia, to see Everest, a
second one if I decide to go to Iraq.
That just leaves the trip to Australia at the end of this year.
That means, if everything goes according to
plan, I won’t need to leave the continent in 2017. Oh, wait, the Iceland/Greenland trip. Technically that is to fulfill North America
complete, so I forgot to list it earlier.
That will be my big summer trip next year, but I consider Iceland to be
at least half in North America, and all of Greenland is in North America. There are some other trips I am considering
for 2017, if time and money allows, such as Angkor Wat or the Galapagos Islands
or Svalbard and the North Pole. However,
none of those are required to fulfill my goals.
It will be an exciting 20 months, and exhausting, too, I suppose.
Anyway, after I left Roberto, I finished my
conversation with my friend about sequels and remakes and then got on the
road. I had forgotten to download Les
Miz to my phone after I rebooted it, and that is my traditional last drive
music. That didn’t stop me, however,
from lighting up my Avo, the traditional last drive cigar, and put on Avril
Lavigne’s “Let Go.” I had plenty of
time, and I made even better time than GPS predicted, even as I had to manage
the checkpoints on my own with my mediocre Spanish. As I mentioned, earlier, I had trouble
spending money this trip, and I had way too many pesos left.
When I got to the gas station, not far from
the airport, I still had five largish banknotes left, worth a little more than
the banknotes you would usually get from an ATM machine in the States. I did not want to come home with that much in
pesos. I used one for gas, and I
figured I’d buy some snacks to take home to use the rest. I got as many snacks as I could carry. It only came out to one of those
banknotes. I even got a new charger and
aux cord. Reader, this was enough for a
small Super Bowl party, and it cost about the price of a case of beer. How was everything so cheap? Well, you gotta love the weak peso.
I was soon at the airport, where I found
Dollar, Avis, and Europcar, but no Hertz.
Hmm. I kept circling around and
getting conflicting answer. It was three
hours before my flight, so I had time, but this was annoying. Eventually I figured it out, actually by
chance, that I had to drop off the car in a special parking lot (I had asked
the attendant where Hertz was, and it turned out to be that lot) and then bring
the car inside. That worked. I dropped off the keys and went to check-in
while they checked the car. I still had
plenty of time, and I was starving, so I got a sandwich at the Subway inside
the airport. It was half the price of
what I would have expected to pay at the Subway a block from my apartment. After I closed, I headed outside and lit up
my Opus. I sat down on the bench, where
I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that I can finish my
cigar and head to my gate.
Benito
Juarez International Airport, Federal District, Mexico (MEX)
Well, isn’t
that a familiar dateline! In fact, other
than “New York, New York,” it might be the most familiar one of all. Other than my apartment or the cigar store,
it might be the most familiar view for an entry. This is the fourth time I have sat in this
spot, with this view, and written an entry.
They have been four very different trips, but finding the familiar
within the familiar, that’s what this Travelogue is about. The view is simple, but
familiar, unlike the views from Kas, the Drake Passage, Jackson, or Alexandria,
where I have previously smoked my 2013 Christmas Pipe. There is no WHS that awaits me in the
morning, just the rest of the return journey.
This will not be the last time I write from here, I don’t think. I will write from here again at least once
more, maybe two or three more times.
Each
time I have written from here has been under different circumstances. The first time, I fucked up, and didn’t check
in before my entry, which led to me being denied boarding due to a late
check-in. The second time, I checked in
first, and everything worked out right.
The third time was connecting back from Guadalajara, but I went through
connections, which made leaving the airport a hassle. This time, I went straight to the exit, and I
got outside with no problem. Actually,
maybe that’s theme here. These are in
pairs, the first two times I was dropped off at the airport, the other two
times I connect from another city. Each
pair, I messed something up the first time and learned better for the second
time.
My previous entry was about the
future. This will be the reflective
entry about the past, though there is not much left to write. The first time I went to Mexico was a family
trip to Cancun. I made friends with a
snorkeling instructor who had a dream of buying his own boat. It was a small dream. It is funny the things you remember from when
your age was still in the single digits.
When I got home, I got a letter from Publisher’s Clearing House, one of
those misleading letters that makes you think you won something. Or maybe it was addressed to my parents, but
they said I could have it. My parents
asked me what I would do with the money.
Among other things, I said I would buy my snorkeling instructor friend
his boat. My oldest friend, the same
friend I went to Alaska with two summers ago, said it would be my parents’
money. They agreed, I believe, if they
won they’d by the snorkeling instructor his boat. I remember my dad, after haggling, buying me
a mariachi guitar, and maybe a sombrero.
I’m sure I still have it. My
brother just cared about going to the tiki bar where he could legally drink as
a high school teenager and practice his Spanish while hitting on whoever caught
his eye. CFBS. Always.
The next trip to Mexico came about 15 years
later, though it’s hardly a trip to Mexico.
I was going to Los Angeles for a philosophy conference, and I figured I
would, among other things, dip into Tijuana for an hour. I went to the Casa de Habanos, where I got
Mexican food and tequila delivered while I smoked my cigar. I got another six cigars to bring back with
me and had a box of Cohibas shipped to my office. Thus begun the tradition of smoking a Cuban
at every WHS and US National Park. I was
only supposed to be there for the weekend, but Hurricane Sandy turned that into
a 7-day trip. I was only supposed to
visit 2 National Parks. I wound up
visiting 5 (or maybe 6), and I smoked a Cuban at each one. That opened up the possibility of attempting
to visit every US National Park as one of my goals.
The next trip was my first trip to Central
Mexico, the first time I flew to Mexico on a plane by myself, the first trip
with extensive driving, and my first trip with Enrique. I wanted to do it all, an extensive trip to
visit all the WHS in central Mexico.
That was not possible. We had to
omit the two in Oaxaca from that trip, but we saw everything else. I also wanted to visit the Olympic Stadium
and the Paricutin Volcano, a Natural Wonder of the World. I couldn’t get inside the Olympic
Stadium. I would need to come back. It was almost two years before I came back,
timing it to coincide with a soccer match and the butterfly season so that I
could also visit the Monarch Butterfly reserve WHS. We threw in El Tajin for good measure, too,
along with a picture in front of the legislative building. I believe I even stayed at the same hotel as
from the previous trip. This time I
booked Enrique privately, instead of through a tour group.
Enrique and I talked about another trip based
out of Guadalajara. He would meet me
there, and we would attempt to visit all 8, I believe, World Heritage Sites in
that region. He thought it was
impossible, but, with a little prodding, he agreed, though I’m not entirely
sure he realized quite what I had in mind.
We did that six months later, and it was the first time I connected at
Benito Juarez. When we got there, he
once more thought it was impossible.
More prodding, and he agreed to go through with it. It was rough going, but it worked out in the
end. We then talked about going to the
Yucatan in January.
Meanwhile, during
that trip, I connected with Roberto, and he also expressed interest in doing
the trip. I knew I could not do it with
both of them, and I decided it would be better to make the trip with Roberto
instead of hiring Enrique to fly out to Cancun and work for me for three days
as a tour guide. I think I made the
right choice. That was this trip, as I
have described, very different than the other trips, and the first time I have
driven myself. It has been a great trip,
and I have had a lot of fun with Roberto.
We are both very much looking forward to our next trip together, whether
it be to Boston or Chihuahua or Oaxaca.
There are 9 WHS left for me to visit in Mexico, and I have a feeling
Roberto will accompany me to most of them.
I am now three-quarters of the way to saying “Mexico Complete.” Once I finished the CA-4 trip in April 2014,
I always knew that Mexico (and Cuba) would be the biggest impediment to
attempting North America Complete. When
I finished Cuba, I saw the end in sight, and a week later, I did the
Guadalajara trip, which brought me past the halfway point and made Mexico
Complete seem obtainable. This trip has
brought me into the home stretch.
Anyway, after I closed, I headed through security, got a cappuccino,
which I paired with some Oreos, and headed to the gate. I tried to sleep on the plane, but I wound up
reading the whole in-flight magazine instead.
I never read the whole thing, usually just skimming through it, always
back to front, but this was actually an interesting issue. I always collect the magazine. I have a lot of them. A lot.
We soon landed, and I stopped at the 7-11 to get a pizza and some soda,
Diet Dr. Pepper. After that, I headed to my familiar spot, but, it was
occupied. NOOOOO!!!!! There were two girls sitting there, but they
soon got up. I then sat down in my spot,
where I lit up my 2013 Christmas Pipe and proceeded to write this entry, which
I will now close so that I can figure out how to spend the remainder of the
three hours I have before I need to head to the gate.
1/19/16,
“The Return Journey”
Aboard
Aeromexico 400, En route MEX-JFK
This is now
the third time I have flown home on AM 400.
It should have been four times, but I checked in too late the first time
in May 2013 and was denied boarding. I
almost missed my flight again today?
Why? I had a 6-hour layover, and
my connecting flight was on-time. How
could I possibly have almost missed my flight?
Well, it was out of sheer stupidity, and it is a very interesting story.
After I closed, I went to get a donut and
some coffee. Somehow I wound up with
three donuts. I ate two of them before I
headed back outside to my spot. I then
lit up an Undercrown and worked on adjusting my budgeting and finances. I had come in under budget on this trip, and
I was pleased to see my budget was back on track after having overspent a bit
at the end of last year. I adjusted my
trip list and updated my checklists. I
then moved on to my next task.
I wanted
to figure out my trip to Peru to see Machu Piccu, and it was starting to look
untenable if I wanted to do it as 3-day weekend with an overnight within the
sanctuary. I would either need to do it
as a 4-day trip, which was not the best option, or do the site as a day trip
from Cuzco, which was an even worse option.
Also, I only had internet on my phone, and it was hard to figure out the
train schedules and such like that. I
would need my laptop to have internet to do it properly. It is in less than a month now, so I need to
start booking everything right away.
This is the least accessible of the New7 sites. Petra is a bit tricky, as it is a bit of a
far distance from Tel Aviv, but you can get there by car easily enough, maybe
like 5 hours to the border with Jordan, and another 2 hours to Petra. Taj Mahal is a 3-hour drive from Delhi, a
major international airport. The Great
Wall is a 2-hour taxi drive from Beijing, also a major international
airport. Christ the Redeemer and the
Colosseum are easily accessible from cities with direct flights from Kennedy
(Rio and Rome).
Now, reader, if those
don’t exactly sound like around the corner, they are nothing compared to Machu
Piccu. Lima has a direct flight from
Kennedy, and you can then take a connecting flight to Cuzco. From Cuzco, you must proceed by bus and train
to the station at Machu Piccu. Then you
have to walk quite a bit to the site. It
is not easy. Not at all. Even if my entire goal for the trip was to
take a ceremonial picture in the sanctuary and turn around, it would be very
difficult to do that in a 3-day weekend, impossible to do it in 2-day
weekend. That doesn’t even allow time in
Lima or Cuzco. I hope I can do it as a
4-day trip with overnights in Lima, Cuzco, and Machu Piccu. I would like that. Otherwise, I’ll see what I can do about
making it a 3-day weekend.
I gave up on
figuring it out tonight, and I was dead tired.
I was no longer enjoying my cigar.
I left it in the ashtray and had the third donut. I then proceeded through security and was
disappointed to find the shop that usually sells cigars no longer sold
them. I headed to my gate. It was about 12:30 AM at this point. The flight was scheduled for 1:30 AM, but it
got delayed until 1:55 AM. I plugged in
my electronics and sat down. How then
did I almost miss my flight?
I fell
asleep. I woke up with a start. Where was everyone? Oh no.
Did I miss my flight? I raced to
the counter. Was I too late? No, but if I had woken up 15 minutes later, I
might have missed it. I was the last one
to board, and there was no room for my bag in the overhead at this point. That would mean I had to gate check it. Fuck.
The flight would be delayed, and I would have to wait for my bag. That would mean I would probably be late to
work. Ugh. I was supposed to be half an hour early. Anyway, I took out my souvenirs, as I did
want to risk losing/breaking them, and most of my snacks, as I did not want to
risk them crushing and getting all over my suitcase.
I got on the plane, and fortunately there was
room above the overhead for the snacks, souvenirs, and my computer bag. To make matters worse, since I had slept for
a full REM cycle, I was not at all tired.
That meant that I would have trouble sleeping on the flight. I sat down in my seat, where I proceeded to
write this entry, starting it while we were at the gate, and writing it nonstop
through taxi and takeoff, surprised that I wasn’t made to put away my
laptop. Meanwhile, I tried to pick out
some music. I tried a couple of pop
artists who looked good, but I didn’t like either of their music. In the end, I settled on Jamie Lawson, one of
my best friend’s favorite new artists, someone about whose music we have shared
dozens of texts in appreciation. Anyway,
I will now close so that I can try to get some sleep.
En route,
NYC Taxi 8B16
Nothing new
to report. I fell asleep quickly enough
and then was woken up by the announcement that we were making our descent. My bag came out quicky, and I cleared Customs
easily. I then went to the taxi line,
and I got in the taxi, where I proceeded to write this entry, which I will now
close so that I can publish Days 3 and 4 as a pair, along with closing out this
trip. Next stop: Florida to visit my
parents, whom I haven’t seen in close to a month, along with a brief shot over
to The Bahamas to check that off.
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