It has been a while since I posted last. I have spent most of my time preparing for the trip by reading at least a couple dozen books from the local library and independent booksellers online. On the history side I thought Biography of Power by Entrique Krauze and Conquistador by Buddy Levy were outstanding. I also read a few books about the Maya and a nice, recently published book on Palenque--although that destination got deleted in our most revised itinerary. I enjoyed B. Traven so much I read all the novels from our local library--about 6--and four more that I picked up from booksellers online. Great Stuff! Most recently I enjoyed On Mexico Time and Yesterday's Train by Pindell.
While pouring through books I worked through various versions of our itinerary as I tried to please everyone, maximize our use of rewards points, and work around our paid reservations. We went from renting a car and doing a loop from Mexico City through Oaxaca, San Cristobal, Palenque, Veracruz, Puebla, back to Mexico City to various versions of bus travel and limiting ourselves to Mexico City, Puebla, Oaxaca. Just when I thought I had it worked out fairly nicely we received a call from Volaris Airlines informing us that our flight down had been cancelled. After two hours of broken English and poor connections that kept cutting us off, I managed to work things out. Our choices were either leave a day earlier at a similar time--not possible for us, taking a red eye or leaving three days later on the same flight basically. The only option was to chop off three days of our trip.
So, I spent the past two weeks, reconfiguring the trip, changing reservations and planning again. Hopefully this latest itinerary will stick:
LA to Toluca (transfer to Mexico City)
Bus to Oaxaca for a week in an apartment.
Bus to Huatulco for a week.
Interjet back to Mexico City for a week. (great deal btw--about $90 ea. total)
We ended up with a much less ambitious itinerary but I must say I am sleeping better at night without worrying about the details of driving through some of the more remote areas and dealing with the stress of a car in Mexico. I still may rent in Oaxaca City or Huatulco for a few days.
Some of the details that gave me a bit of a headache included the transfer from Toluca to our hotel in Mexico City around 8:30 pm and getting back to Mexico City from Huatulco--15 hours bus did not sound very pleasing. We ended up getting that Interjet flight for twenty bucks more per person and only 1.5 hour flight! As far as the Toluca transfer, Volaris offered a shuttle to its Sante Fe Terminal in Mexico City where we could catch a taxi to our hotel--another 5-7 miles. I wasn't thrilled about this option with the family and all of our luggage. After getting quotes ranging from $75-$200 I finally secured a transfer from Omextur (a company in Mexico City that offers transfers and tours) for $63 which I think is a sedan but not totally clear on this yet. Hopefully it will be worth the extra money to clear customs and get a ride directly to our hotel without having to transfer again, find a taxi etc.
Lately I have been planning our week in Mexico City--Chapultepec, Teotihuacan, Zocolo, San Angel and vicinity. It should be a lot of fun!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
The Passport Process
The rain cooperated and paused long enough for us to make our appointment for the kids passport renewal. I don't know why they call it a renewal because you the application, cost and required documentation is the same whether you are applying for the first time or renewing--at least for kids under 16.
We had all of our documents in order so the process was fairly easy--about 30 minutes in the post office. The pain in the butt was the fact that we showed up at the wrong post office and had to hightail to the correct one so we didn't miss our appointment.
The one bit of advice that may prove helpful to you has to do with the passport pictures. Most places will charge from 8-15 dollars for two pictures. I found a coupon for CVS for 5.99 ea. I thought I had a pretty good deal until the woman behind the counter pulled out a digital camera, took the pictures, and then used the self service kiosk to print the pictures using the passport choice. After asking she said "technically" I could have done it myself and yes it would have been less than a dollar! I imagine most of the self service kiosks have a passport mode for printing the correct size picture.
We had all of our documents in order so the process was fairly easy--about 30 minutes in the post office. The pain in the butt was the fact that we showed up at the wrong post office and had to hightail to the correct one so we didn't miss our appointment.
The one bit of advice that may prove helpful to you has to do with the passport pictures. Most places will charge from 8-15 dollars for two pictures. I found a coupon for CVS for 5.99 ea. I thought I had a pretty good deal until the woman behind the counter pulled out a digital camera, took the pictures, and then used the self service kiosk to print the pictures using the passport choice. After asking she said "technically" I could have done it myself and yes it would have been less than a dollar! I imagine most of the self service kiosks have a passport mode for printing the correct size picture.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
The Plan
Call me crazy. But when the travel bug bites I have little control. The latest episode occurred during the holidays and the only cure it seemed was a trip south of the border...well south of the border. Our last family trip to Mexico was a driving adventure down the Baja peninsula about five years ago. It was an incredible journey to gorgeous, empty beaches, small villages, gigantic cactuses and the amazing beauty of the desert.
After considering all of the options we settled on a summer trip. This allowed us the maximum time--3 weeks, and I was able to secure us a pretty good deal on plane tickets. We will be flying into Mexico City, renting a car. Our ultimate goal will be the Palenque ruins in Chiapas but we will spend time in Puebla, Oaxaca City, Emerald Coast, and wherever else strikes our fancy.
Lately my life has been filled with travel guides, internet queries, mapping distances, reading travel blogs, and trying to convince my wife that we can afford this and we will survive. I have mapped out a pretty good sketch of our trip but am trying to leave as much flexibility as possible. Because we bought discount plane tickets that will be the most inflexible aspect of this trip. I also booked us an apartment in Oaxaca City for a week with a somewhat inflexible cancellation policy. Other than that, the only hotel reservations I made can be cancelled within 24 hours of arrival.
By the way, the name of the blog comes from our son's favorite stuffed animal, Treelow who has traveled all across the country with us on various trips over the last seven years, including the trip to Baja. He has been washed, sewn, and patched up over the years but like our family has held together pretty well.
Next step, renew passports for the kids next week!
After considering all of the options we settled on a summer trip. This allowed us the maximum time--3 weeks, and I was able to secure us a pretty good deal on plane tickets. We will be flying into Mexico City, renting a car. Our ultimate goal will be the Palenque ruins in Chiapas but we will spend time in Puebla, Oaxaca City, Emerald Coast, and wherever else strikes our fancy.
Lately my life has been filled with travel guides, internet queries, mapping distances, reading travel blogs, and trying to convince my wife that we can afford this and we will survive. I have mapped out a pretty good sketch of our trip but am trying to leave as much flexibility as possible. Because we bought discount plane tickets that will be the most inflexible aspect of this trip. I also booked us an apartment in Oaxaca City for a week with a somewhat inflexible cancellation policy. Other than that, the only hotel reservations I made can be cancelled within 24 hours of arrival.
By the way, the name of the blog comes from our son's favorite stuffed animal, Treelow who has traveled all across the country with us on various trips over the last seven years, including the trip to Baja. He has been washed, sewn, and patched up over the years but like our family has held together pretty well.
Next step, renew passports for the kids next week!
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