The conclusion of our really long journey is in Guadalajara, Mexico, a city and country that I have never been to before. I did zero research about this place before coming here because my family lives here, so I really didn't know what to expect.
Looking around LAX airport at near midnight made me believe that there wouldn't be very many people on this flight but that was a very untrue presumption. The flight was totally full and I played the role of Good Samaritan by giving up my premium seat to sit in an exit row because one older women was deemed unfit to sit in an exit row. The staff were so impressed that I would be willing to give up my seat that they gave me 5000 miles on their frequent flyer program. I am not a member of this program nor do I know if 5000 is worth anything. Whatever! I didn't do it to be rewarded for it, I did it because it was the right thing to do.
So this flight from LAX to GDL was 4 hours and after what I had been through with the 12 hours form Taipei to Los Angeles and the near 9-hour layover in the airport this seemed like a really easy task to accomplish. Mostly I was just delighted to get the flights over with and especially to get out of LAX, which as was likely clear in my last post, is just as much of a confusing mess as I thought it would be.
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Like a lot of people, I kind of unfairly presumed that Mexico was going to have not so modern airports and when we first landed I thought that was the case. There was no jetway, just some stairs for us to walk down, which were dangerously shaky, and then we got on a bus. There were a lot of disabled people on our flight to simply getting off the plane took about 40 minutes. I got a bit of a chuckle about the people that just like in any other flight I have ever been on, immediately stood up as soon as we landed only to be forced to remain standing for quite a long time.
I am one of those travelers that sits there and waits for the people in front of me to get off the plane before me and honestly folks, if everyone utilized this same strategy, all of us would get off the plane faster.
I'm starting to get long-winded with my words again so lets talk about the image above. This is the first place in the world that I have ever been that my immigration was completely automated. You put your passport on the scanner, then a little gate opens up in front of you and you stand in there and have your picture taken. Then something gets printed out, you take it, and that is your visa. At no point in time did I speak to a human being and I also wasn't grilled for "WHY ARE YOU IN MEXICO?" the way that you get needlessly harassed in other countries. This is the most efficient immigration system I have seen anywhere in the world and I can't believe that it is happening in the relatively poor country of Mexico. Well done you guys!
Unfortunately, that was basically the only modern part of the entire airport.
In the baggage claim area it just looks like they have given up on trying to make it look nice and you know what? That is just fine with me. I am not here to admire the wonderful floor patterns, I'm here to get my bags and get the hell out of here.
The bags arrived pretty quickly and that is likely because as far as I could tell we were the only arriving flight which makes sense because it was 4 in the morning.
one thing I definitely wasn't prepared for was how cold it was in Guadalajara. I was still wearing my clothes from Vietnam where it was blazing, sweat immediately hot and as you can tell by what the people are wearing that are also waiting for their bags, it was chilly. I was shaking at one point and when I got my bags I opened it up and got one of the two long-sleeve shirts that I own.
Customs here were a bit more militaristic than I had expected. I say this because who is smuggling anything INTO Mexico? The customs people were wearing military outfits and were quite intimidating. When I was spoken to by one of the guards or officials, I panicked and said in Spanish "No Hablo Inglés" which means "I don't speak English." The guard kind of chuckled because even he knew I meant to say that I don't speak Spanish but well, we got through it.
I don't know what it was about me, maybe I just have a look of someone that is definitely not trying to sneak anything into the country, but I was one of the only people in the masses that was allowed to bypass customs inspection. That was a nice treat because I am exhausted at this point and really just wanted to get the hell out of there.
The next part of our dive into the unknown began anew from this point because even though my sister was picking me up we hadn't agreed on a particular place that we were going to do that and Guadalajara is the 2nd most populated city in Mexico. Thankfully, and just by dumb luck, she just happened to cruise by the same place that I was standing out by the street. I had no data on my phone and the wifi didn't extend out to the street so we just got lucky.
Here is one thing about Mexico that I had all wrong in my mind and I feel a bit bad about that. I wouldn't say it is racism but just me being ignorant about the fact that Mexicans generally are not as dark skinned as I had imagined. A great deal of the population looks just like I do and this is why people and officials were always speaking Spanish to me. I do not speak Spanish.
When I got into my sister's car and knew that the journey was nearly over this was a massive relief to me. The longest journey of my life was over now and I don't know if you have been in similar situation in your life but it just seems like it will never end.... but it does. I am now in my parents' house in Chapala and am going through getting over the jet lag. Some people say that they are not affected by jet lag and well, I admire you people and I don't see how that is even possible. For the next 3 days at least I am going to be waking up in the middle of the night and am going to be exhausted by 6pm.
It's been many years since I have had to deal with this but like all things, it will pass.
So in the end the moral of the story here is that if you ever are finding yourself needing to fly to Guadalajara, the airport is significantly more streamlined and convenient than I was expecting it would be. It was actually one of the easiest airports I have ever been inside of in my life. The only downside I would say is that there weren't very many people that could speak English, which was surprising to me.
I loved reading this. Everything you described was so typical! I've been to that airport countless times. It has modernized a lot over the years. I'm surprised you still had to hop on the shuttle bus. That is common but I thought they were building or had already finished the gate/s to disembark directly into the building. I wonder when the hotel they are building will be finished.
The system for customs inspection is also funny: just an RNG button that either flashes a red or green light.
I've heard many superstitious people claim that the button senses your nerves or sweat on your hand or intuitively knows that you are hiding something in some way. Hilarious.
The sitting and waiting until the mad scramble to the exits is over was also a strategy I remember my grandpa using when we would fly together.
P.S. Even the street cops are fully decked out in military-like vests, helmets, and automatic rifles.
I've noticed this and it can be intimidating at first but I guess they have a good reason. They seem to leave the people alone for the most part, there are a lot of checkpoints when I am riding around with my family but whatever they are looking for, it isn't us.
I don't need an airport to be super modern, I just want it to be streamlined and for things to work, and in that case GDL gets really high marks from me. I suppose the customs guy being a bit abrasive is kind of what they need to be like, we can't have them being all cordial to everyone. This guy was all business and that's fine. It's not like he was shaking me down or anything.
The 4 hours was the easy part ad I would also be glad to get it started. Jet lag I only experienced flying back from the States and not flying there. This took a good 3 days to get over and has to probably do with flying against the clock. The Europe trips are easy as you just don't sleep until it is your normal bed time even if you have not slept for 24 hours. At least you will get legit Mexican food now and can tell everyone how bad the Vietnamese Mexican food tastes.
There is a friend of mine that has attempted to explain to me that jet lag is far more common if you are going East than if you are going West. I have to call BS on that in my particular situation because regardless of which direction I would have left Vietnam in, it is still almost exactly the other side of the globe so what direction you traveled in would be irrelevant, wouldn't it?
Your friend could be correct in this East to West theory. I flew to the States which is West n y case and had no jet lag. On the way back now travelling East I was mot normal for a few days. We shall see with you as you will be travelling West on your way back so you should be fine.
I'll have to be sure to check on that and see if there is some truth to it.
I didn't realize they lived down in Mexico. I thought they were still up in the US. that is kind of cool. Besides the long travel, you get to visit them and you still don't need to visit the US. I've never been to Mexico and I am not sure I will ever get the chance to visit. I hope you have an awesome time.
I hope you live out your dream of going someday! It is truly marvelous. I suggest the national park where the monarch butterflies migrate to in the state of Michoacán.
Good to know! I had the chance to go a couple years ago, but the timing wasn't right and the price was quite high.
Yeah it will yo-yo
I went like 6 times last year reach time getting a one way ticket on a whim
They were very cheap
And the Mexican peso has been getting stronger
Interesting. I don't think I could live my life without plans like that!
Most of my family doesn't live in the USA and it is kind of funny because when I decided to leave 'Merica nearly 20 years ago they all thought I was nuts. I guess I trailblazed enough for them to realize that it isn't that hard. I mean, once you get visas sorted out, which is really easy for Americans in Mexico and other countries in Central America as well, the rest is just language barriers. Spanish is a lot easier than any Asian language so they are doing just fine.
Yeah, I guess you are right there. It is probably different if you are living there than if you are visiting. I have just heard it is quite dangerous. Not that we don't have our own dangers here. I'd hate to have to live in a gated community all the time or anything like that.
that's what I thought as well and it was unfair for me to presume that. My family who have been here ages have never felt unsafe. I think there is some property crime because every house has high walls and razor wire on the walls but as far as violent crime is concerned it seems that is largely a myth. The people have been extremely friendly everywhere I have gone and its not like my family is hardcore, they aren't. I think it is likely safer here than most of the USA.
Very interesting! I am glad you seem to be having a good time! Sadly, most of my traveling is done for the Winter now.
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