Mexico - Day Nine: On to the Big City

Ike the Iguana

Early to bed, early to rise.  But it must be past 6 a.m. because the sun is up.  I get some breakfast - my only meal until tonight - and bring some fruit back to my room, which I end up sharing with Ike the Iguana on my patio.
       Then it’s off.  This time my driver is Nicolas, or just Nico.  It takes two hours (all in Spanish) to get to Villahermosa, the capital of the state of Tabasco.

Popocatépetl

       At the airport, it all starts to fall apart.  The Aeromexico Airlines agent tells me with a shrug and in a very matter-of-fact voice that “no hay vuelta” - there’s no flight.  She says “mañana” - tomorrow, which is not an option because that would mean I don’t get to see Teotihuacan, which is my whole reason for flying to Mexico City in the first place.  Plus I’d lose my money for tonight’s hotel so I tell her that’s not good enough.  When pushed, she suggests “try Interjet”... and points absent-mindedly to her right.
       Luckily I’d asked Nico to come in with me, just in case.  He pleads my case, but to no end because no hay vuelta, period.  Then he waits in the Interjet line with me to buy a ticket (that’s two now, Aeromexico’s and this one).  Luckily the man in front of me doesn’t get the last seat, and I even get a choice of aisle or window.
       I say good bye to Nico, with much gratitude.  The flight leaves on time and even gets into Mexico City early... and a good hour earlier than if I’d had my original flight, so I miss rush hour traffic in the capital.  During the flight, I enjoy the company of my row-mate Marilu, a young Mexican business administration graduate on her way back to Toronto and her Canadian boyfriend.
       I also get a balcony view of two of Mexico’s active volcanoes.  The upright Popocatépetl is the most active in the country... and it erupts again on March 19, only a week after I fly over it.  Nearby is Ixtaccíhuatl, the Sleeping Lady shaped by four individual snow-capped peaks depicting the head, chest, knees and feet of a sleeping female when seen from east or west.  In Aztec mythology, Ixtaccíhuatl was a princess who fell in love with one of her father's warriors, Popocatépetl.  This Ixtaccihuatl, however, is not sleeping but rather sending out smoke from at least a dozen vents.  She hasn’t erupted in more than a century, yet all is brown around her.

Ixtaccihuatl

Thanks to a tip from Marilu, rather than venturing out into the streets, I pay for an “authorized” taxi inside the airport (and I strongly recommend this tip to other travelers).  “It’s safer,” she tells me.  Which is how I meet Edmundo, my second knight in shining armor of the day.  Because after we wend our way half an hour around the city limits of Mexico City, the hotel turns out to be a disappointment.  Hotel Boutique El Jaguar stands across from the Teotihuacan ruins, yes, which is why I chose it.  But it’s really only an afterthought, some rooms over a restaurant.
       The woman who runs the hotel is gone, only Abuelita (grandma, as I think of her) is there, and there’s been a mix-up with my room.  No one speaks English, not even Madame after she’s summoned.  My Spanish isn’t up to the fight so Edmundo steps in.  After a half hour of his time, it’s cleared up.  He leaves, Madame disappears and Abuelita is left to a) replace a dead bulb in my bathroom, b) bring me a fan for the stifling room (no A/C), and c) scrape up a heaping plate of cold chicken and veggies when there’s a misunderstanding about the dinner arrangements (food she hides from Madame, who would have charged me for it, she says).  I eat some, watch some TV and turn in early... if only to end this day of bad surprises.  I, as tourist, am no longer queen... except for my two knights.

Teotihuacan