8th Time a Charm

I had planned to take the metro/subway from downtown Mexico City to the airport but since the winter festivities continued into Sunday, the thought of being packed like sardines on the metro (with my luggage) persauded me to seek an alternative. Having taken a number of taxis throughout my stay it seemed to be the logical choice.

The hostel was kind enough to arrange a taxi. I am certain the "taxi" that arrived was simply a friend of a hotel clerk, not a regulated taxi. The car and the driver appeared to be in better condition than any previous taxi in Mexico (there were a few real 'winners' along the way). Once we got going, the driver informed me the airport would be only 15 minutes away thanks to the new raised highway. Apparently, the driver had no been on the new raised highway as I would later discovered.

As we approached the new highway, all of the entrance ramps were closed. In all, we encountered 7 closed ramps. After the fifth, my driver was visibly sweating and was getting very nervous. I tried to reassure him, in my broken Spanish, that I had lots of time and was in no immediate rush. The next two failed attempts to find an on-ramp only added to his frustration. He ended up pulling the car onto a side "road" (back alley meets bad gravel road) pulls out a map and proceeds to tell me where we are and where the airport is. Now, my Spanish is functional and I can read a map, it was clear to me that there was a significant gap between where we were and and where the airport was. That, however, didn't help the situation! Eventually, the driver returned to the road and with the assistance of a local food vendor we found an entrance ramp. With a kiss to the cross hanging from the rear view mirror, I was now airport bound.

All in all, I arrived at the airport well before my flight. The 15 minute journey ended up being about an hour long and I am sure the driver was happy to see me leave!