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25th APRIL 2009 - ARRIVAL, PIG FLU & SLEEP!!
The flight to Mexico wasn't cracking. We had some good roomy seats in front of the emergency exit and we were sat together but that was as good as it got. No meal, 3 hour flight, just got off to sleep and the lights come on bringing drinks and cookies around. I have a drink and just settle again before the lights come on again to bring immigration and customs forms around. I fill that in and settle again when it is just about time to land. So much for getting some sleep on that flight. We have also fast forwarded 3 hours as it is 5.30am when we land in Mexico. Once through customs we headed to the luggage carousel. I was anxious as I had not seen my luggage for a long while now. The luggage began to come around but I didn't spot ours. Nat went to the toilet and I continued watching...never taking my eye off the game! Still no sign...my palms were starting to get clammy! Nat came back and we both watched...only a few bags left on there by now and those same bags kept going around and around. Scared!! Turned out I was only stood at the wrong carousel and our 2 bags were gliding nicely along another one further down. What a doofus...panic myself for no reason!
Felt strange getting off the plane and knowing that the next time I go on a plane will be to go home. Only 5 weeks left and if it goes as quick as the last 7 months I will be home in the blink of an eye. Really excited to see everyone again and catch up but scared too. Going back to no job, no money and no man! Working on the first 2 but the latter one will have to wait! Oh well.....only 5 weeks left...best make the most of it!!
Bags on trolley we headed through the airport. Most thing were closed as still very early. We got some funds out of the bank not that there was much left in. Hoped Mexico is cheap! We managed to book a taxi at the airport stand. Difficult due to not being able to speak Spanish and hardly anyone seems to speak English. There may be trouble ahead to quote a famous song!! As we walked to the taxi we saw a few people in face masks and wondered if the pollution in Mexico was bad like in Hong Kong. We got in the taxi and he drove us to where we needed to be. I was glad we had written the hostel address down as he certainly didn't understand us when we relayed it verbally! We arrived at Cayote Flaco Backpackers at around 6.30am. It was all closed up...big locked gates and very dark. We did not fancy waiting out on the street until it opened. We had been warned that the streets were not so safe. The taxi driver was really nice and he waited with us and pushed the intercom button until someone came to let us in. We had arrived!
The hostel seemed nice. It had a Spanish villa sort of feel to it...white walls, courtyard, spacious. The guy who let us in didn't speak English but he tapped the clock and indicated that it was too early and we should sit on the sofas and wait. All we wanted was a bed but we laid on the sofas and got a half hour nap until he came back. 2 girls from New Zealand came down at 7ish and checked themselves out. It was a shame they were leaving as they seemed nice and could have given us some good tips. The guy came back at 8ish and said through the use of hand signals, Spanish and the odd English word that our rooms were not ready yet, but we could go and get our heads down in the beds those girls had left if we wanted. Dirty beds...nice!! Too tired to worry about it though and so we went up, climbed in and slept like babies!!
I woke up at around 12pm to the sound of someone in the room. It was German guy. I felt really groggy but I raised my head and managed to say hello. He was quite abrupt and asked if we were going to stay in bed all day. I explained that we had flown through the night but thought we should get up anyway really as otherwise we wouldn't sleep later. I woke Nat up and we asked him about Mexico. He was quite helpful as he gave us a map and showed us where the bus station and tube stations were so that we could navigate our way around. He then started telling us about how a lot of things were closed. We asked why and he responded with "don't you watch the news?" Erm....not in the last 24 hours mate...we've been on a plane!! He explained that there was a Pig flu epidemic in Mexico and over 60 people had died. Kind of a big deal then!! He went on to say that we should get a mask asap and wash our hands regularly. He then left us to wake up and digest the information.
We got up, went down, got our room keys and then headed back up to swap rooms and freshen up. When we went back down, the German guy and his German mate asked if we wanted to go for something to eat with them. Sounded good and we set off out. We walked into the little town nearby. Lots of streets and through the weekend market. We eventually found somewhere cheapish and sat down with the menu. Menu was in Spanish and my Spanish is very limited. I saw something with pollo in which I know is chicken. Good enough for me!! All adds to the excitement when you don't know what you are getting...meal time is like a surprise!! The language thing is going to cause us some trouble I think. There is certainly going to be a lot of smiling, shrugging, pointing and universal had signals used. I just hoped it would get us by!! The food came not long after. A bit spicy but surprisingly nice. Whilst we ate the Germans gave us some good tips about things to do and see etc. Advised us from going out on a night as not really safe especially for girls, told us to be wary of taxis and said that we should expect a lot of attention as Mexican men really like western women! Not really what I wanted to hear but helpful as we needed all the advice we could get!
Once eaten we called into the fruit market to get some snacks. Loads of fruit and veg... making sure I got my 5 a day!! All looked tasty too and cheap which was a bonus! Once stocked up on fruit we headed back to the hostel. Once there we picked up our journals and headed out again to the internet to blog and catch up on emails for an hour. Internet over we headed back to the hostel, wrote our journals, read a little of my book and then tried to go to sleep at around 9pmish. I was really tired and hoped I would sleep well.
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