I was the last person onto a crowded Gatwick Hoppa and had to cling precariously on as we twisted and turned along the roads to the South Terminal. Smaug would have been impressed by how the guy before me was puffing smoke into the atmosphere, I was chary of being right next to a heavy smoker as they can smell like ashtrays. The machines wouldn’t issue me with a boarding pass as they didn’t like me not needing a visa for Mexico (currently they issue one on arrival for UK tourists there). Instead I had the pleasure of chatting to a pleasant check-in girl who had started work at 5am. I was processed through the security assembly line quite smoothly behind a guy who seemed to have tattoos everywhere. The ancient Maya took body piercing and alteration much further. I confess I failed to take my watch off for security but the scanner didn’t protest.

Had a breakfast bun in Itsu but it was less in size and style than I expected. I don’t like to eat much when I’m flying so just about okay. I settled for an orange juice as there weren’t any water fountains in Gatwick South Terminal. I did find one later but that was broken. The silver lining was that one was allowed to take water on board the flight.

The facilities weren’t great, a long tramp to inadequate toilets. The waiting at the airport to board was the first in a long line of draining time bleeds of the day. I didn’t feel like doing a crossword. My numbed mind registered just how the guy on the exchange money desk was acting as an information desk.

Time did move on very slow. The gate got posted. I was in the last group to be boarded. I was sitting in the aisle by a couple who were polite when they needed me to move, but they were worryingly coughing and spluttering throughout the flight. The food was very limited - either you had Indian or you had vegetarian. Entertainment was watching people play Angry Birds which palled quickly. I did watch a Hong Kong film “A Guilty Conscience” which was efficient and moving enough. But the hours passed and we landed at Cancun in Mexico.

On the plus side the Maya Mobile eSim worked fine and I could notify home as soon as we landed that I had landed safely. We were processed quickly through immigration without having to fill out a landing card. One of the immigration controllers a lady had a very pronounced “Next”. And then a long desperate wait for one’s luggage to appear. But it did appear and I did find a couple of guys from Condor Verde waiting for me. And so we began a long long drive to my Chichen Itza hotel in the overpowering darkness. I had to readjust my timezone on the phone as Chichen Itza is in a different timezone to Cancun.

One of the Condor Verde guys (Daniel?) talked about Aztec influence on the Maya, the Maya abandoning cities like Chichen Itza. We did arrive at last, and I stumbled through attempting to tip Daniel and the driver and then the guy who took my luggage to Room number 1. I marvelled at the hotel swimming pool in the night which could have been a Mayan sacred entrance to the underworld. The insects were loud and that completed the day.