On to Puebla, Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido

June 13 2006

After Mexico City we spent 3 days in Puebla, a cute
colonial town in the mountains. We ate the typical mole there but it wasn't one of our favourites. We are not really big on sauces and mole is made from chocolate and ground nuts etc. So it’s pretty rich. After that we went down south to Oaxaca, a really nice town with cobblestone streets and brightly painted buildings. The people were really nice there. We stayed for three days in the city. The first day we just bummed around the town. There is a teachers strike going on and the whole downtown was full of tents and people camping out, which made it a difficult if not impossible to see the buildings and visit any museums in the main square. But there are other beautiful areas in Oaxaca and I am glad that we went there and didn't skip it because of the strike. The next day we went to Monte Alban, ruins of pyramids. We ended up hiking up there instead of taking the tourist bus. It was a nice 4km hike to the ruins and the surrounding area is beautiful. We really liked Monte Alban. There is a lot to see and they have a nice museum. Then we hiked back down and caught the local bus back to Oaxaca. The next day we left early in the morning for a 2 day hike in the Sierra Norte.
We took a local bus at 9am about 3hrs to a town called Cuajimaloyas which is at about 3,500m. It was much cooler than Oaxaca and the town has only about 1,500
population. We met our guide there and started a 15km or 5hr hike through the forest. We ended up being 5 so it was nice to talk with other people about there
experiences. It was a good hike, a lot of up and down and with a backpack on is a little harder. We stopped about an hour from our final destination at a trout
farm and had dinner. We saw as they picked our trout
out of the river and cooked it in aluminium foil with veggies and potatoes. It was pretty good. The only thing is the guide expected us to buy his dinner and
beer. But we were told when we were getting ready to
leave that there was one trout left unpaid for...hint
hint. None of us had calculated that into the price
and so we said no and that if he would have told us
before hand then we could have all decided together. He
seemed to take it well. From there we continued on to our cabins, which were at the top
of the hill in a town called Latuvi, 1000
population. The cabins were super deluxe. We had a
hot shower, fluffy towels, a nice bed and pillows.
There is also a fireplace but it wasn’t cold enough to
light. The views are spectacular from the front
porch. We met another American Aaron who had lived
in Chiapas and was a great source of info for us and a
lot of laughs. The next morning we met our guide and
started off to Lachatao. The guide was the big
downfall of the trip. He didn’t talk to us at all and
walked about 20ft in front the whole time. He was
eager to get to the town so he could turn around and
return home. Understandable but we paid for a guide
and would have liked some kind of info about the area or
the hike. It was another 15km hike alongside a river
and through a forest which is called the haunted
forest. There is white moss hanging from the trees
and it is a little ghostly. About 4hrs later we arrived
at Lachatao. Lachatao is a beautiful little town in
the side of the mountain. It has about 800 population
but used to be one of the biggest towns in the Sierra Norte. Lachatao was
the first town and from there the locals immigrated to
other areas and created the other towns. The locals
are very proud of this and everyone will tell you the story. We
met Juan and his wife Veronica who basically run the
ecotourism there. The have a restaurant and the rent
out the cabins. They have a very nice family and we
enjoyed spending the day with them talking. They took
us to see a cave and gave us all the information that
we asked for. The cabins are no comparison to the
ones in Latuvi, in fact they are a little abandoned.
They are building new ones which were not ready when
we were there. I would have definitely liked to have
spent more time there. There is no noise and no
phones. It is a great place to do some exploring and
just relax. The next day at 5am we headed back to
Oaxaca and caught a bus at 10.30 to Puerto Escondido
on the Pacific coast. The bus was only supposed to
take 7 hrs but ended up taking about 10. The bus
driver stopped to pick every single person up on the
side of the road. He also stopped a few times to say
hi or eat something and watch TV with his friends. About 6hrs of the
drive or 100km is through the mountains on a curvy
road. It was beautiful and we were very entertained
which made the bus ride not seem so long. We had the
option to take a mini van to the coast which is faster
but in the end I am glad I didn’t. Being in a box
between two other people on those windy roads is
probably not that fun. In fact some of the kids on
our bus were vomiting. We had front row which I think
are the best seats, if you are not afraid of heights.
The bus was a 2nd class bus and people got on with
chickens and their fruits and veggies from their
crops, it was definitely a good experience. There was one
point when we went thru an area of heavy fog and
things got a little nerve racking but here we are
alive to tell. So the last few days we have been here
on the beach. Puerto Escondido is a cute little coastal town that
is very well known for surf. They call it the Mexican
pipeline and almost everyone comes here to surf or to
learn. It is low season so there are not that many
people. The first 2 nights we stayed close to the
only beach they say you can swim at, due to the
currents. But the place was very run down and our
room was like a black, humid hole in the wall. So
yesterday we changed and came down to the main area and
just decided to walk back and forth to the beach. For
about the same price we are in what seems to us like a
5 star hotel. The beach is very nice and we have
spent the last two days relaxing, reading and
swimming. We have made some friends with the locals
and at night we go out and have a few drinks with them.
We have eaten at some good restaurants and had some
great fish for pretty cheap. I am in heaven.
Tomorrow night we leave on a night bus to San
Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. We are definitely
going first class on that 12hr trip. We will be
meeting a few friends there who will be joining us for
two weeks.