Back to the Coast Again!

Leaving Oaxaca City, but staying in the same state, we picked up our rental car and headed over a mountain range to the coast. I was a little nervous about driving and navigating in Mexico, but my dad was definitely up to it. On the way to Puerto Escondido, we stopped at Grutas San Sebastian and toured the cave with a local guide. After a long drive, we finally ended up in hot and sunny "Puerto," as it´s called, and found Cabanas Acali right across the street from Zicatela beach. We spent the next three nights there and got the most out of the rental car by touring around to different beaches for swimming and seafood stops. Even though it was pretty hot, I enjoyed walking across town on a small rock path along the bluff to Playa Carrizalillo, which was definitely my favorite beach in the area.

Our cabana with a stove outside so I could make Oaxaca hot chocolate in the morning!

First night sunset looking at the town of Puerto Escondido

Playa Zicatela´s hands

The coastal walk to Playa Carrizalillo, and the view looking down on the beach

After three nights we drove a few hours east to Playa Zipolite, near Puerto Angel. It was difficult deciding on a hotel because there are a whole string of small beachy places in a few different bays that stretch west from unattractive Puerto Angel. We ended up at Zipolite because we found a second floor room overlooking the sand and there seemed to be a better selection of restaurants in the area. Unfortunately, the restaurant at our posada closed for a month only a few hours after we got there! But that kept the noise down to a level where nothing could be heard over the roar of the waves.

Iguana and crocodile sanctuary on the road between the Puertos

PERFECT! Our balcony at Posada Mexico, Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca, Mexico

On the following day we set out to the east to the Bays of Huatulco and swam at three gorgeous beaches there. The snorkeling was excellent at the first beach, as were the fried bananas! Later that night we celebrated my mom´s birthday (without her) with 2 for 1 mojitos at a street cafe in Zipolite. On our last day on the coast, we searched for sea turtle hatcheries, but apparently we were not there at the right time of year to see either the capturing and incubating of eggs or the release of the baby turtles into the water. But we made up for it with some nice swimming at Playa Escahuite!

Playa Escahuite (or something like that)...I think I´m remembering the name wrong??

Heading back from the coast on a different highway to Oaxaca was an even more gorgeous journey through lots of agriculture and forests at different altitudes. We stopped in a town called San Juan del Pacifico at one of the highest points along the highway. Dad and I were impressed by the unique setting of this town high up in the forest and we ended up spending some time hiking around and eating delicious banana bread. As we approached Oaxaca City once again, we stopped in a few more small towns and all in all we made great time returning from the coast. My dad did an excellent job not crashing the rental car and only skyrocketing over a few "topes" (speed bumps) along the way! Our next objective after turning in our rental car was to catch the 10 hour night bus from Oaxaca to Tuxtla Gutierrez, the largest city and capitol of Chiapas state.

Breakfast at Playa Zipolite! I'm so glad we invested in a giant $2 fruit cleaver, it definitely came in handy on our trip!

Biking with Pedro!

In addition to checking out all that Oaxaca city had to offer, my dad and I were also very interested in mountain biking in Benito Juarez National Park, which is just north of the city. During our first few days there, we talked to just about every bike rental or tour guide in town (there aren't very many, but they're spread out!) and it wasn't until we accosted some bikers on the street and asked them for a recommendation that we heard about Pedro Martinez. A former member of the Mexican National Biking Team, Pedro grew up in a little town in the valleys around Oaxaca and he now owns and guides his own biking tours. On our trip with Pedro, we were driven up to around 8,000-9,000 feet, where we started climbing for about 5 miles, then spent the next few hours on really empty and fun dirt roads through beautiful forest and mountains. We zoomed downhill for the last few miles until we met up with the van driver at a trout farm in the middle of nowhere, and then we ate a well-deserved trout lunch! The drive back into Oaxaca City was also impressive, and I couldn't believe how much ground we covered in one day!

 

The road less traveling into Oaxaca

Midway through the ride we were refueled by our van driver Beto during a mango and banana break! Pedro is on the right, he wanted to make sure that we could see his van logo in the picture! 

Back on the bikes again!

The trout pond at the end of the ride...what a delicious way to end!

Oaxaca: ruins, bikes and mole!

I actually can´t even remember how long my dad has been talking about going to Oaxaca. We were put off for years because it´s somewhat difficult to get to and they have had some violent teachers protests recently. Somehow he heard it was worth exploring this state in southern Mexico, and he suggested it for so many vacations that it became a running joke. But in the end of April, we finally made it there! I arrived by bus from Puebla and he took the full-day plane journey to meet me in Oaxaca City. We spent the following five days day-tripping to sites in the surrounding valleys. The town itself was so nice to just wander around and I had been looking forward to checking out the zocalo, markets and colonial buildings for my entire trip. 

The six moles of Oaxaca!

For our first day trip outside of the city, we went up to the hilltop Zapotec ruins of Monte Alban. Why not check out the big sight right off the bat? This a photo of me dancing with the danzantes, which are Zapotec carved dancers that were discovered at the site. Below is a full view of the expansive sight of Monte Alban.

As with a typical Sholund vacation, we were not there to dilly dally, sleep in or relax at our hotel, so the next day we signed up for a tour of five sights in the valley to the east of town. While I was very skeptical that we might start feeling like herded goats, this was the easiest way to see this area without renting a car. 

Stop #1: The El Tule tree in the town of Santa Maria El Tule. This is apparently the largest tree by volume in the world. It is a type of cypress tree and perhaps the most amazing thing is that they are not growing many more of these trees in the area because they clearly thrive!

Stop #2: Next we made it to a weaving workshop in Teotitlan del Valle, where artisans demonstrated traditional methods of spinning and dying yarn, and weaving on giant looms. Unfortunately my backpack is not big enough for one of their beautiful wall hangings, but seeing the process was very interesting.

Stop #3: The Hierve el Agua calcium carbonate "waterfall". This is such an amazing and rare rock formation and we got to bathe in the mineral rich pool above the falls.

Stop #4: Mitla ruins and the nearby church that was built on top of other ruins. This site is known for it´s intricate stone work. And stop #5 was a mezcal factory with plenty of samples. Mezcal is a regional specialty similar to tequila. 

The following day we went on an amazing mountain bike ride with a former Mexican biking champion. It was so exciting that it merits a post of is own! Our final day in Oaxaca City was May 1st, which is labor day in Mexico, and fortunately that was also our day to explore town, hang out on the zocalo watching labor unions march and make speeches. We also toured the museum inside the Santo Domingo church, which had a giant collection of artifacts from Monte Alban and other nearby sights. After out busy days in and around Oaxaca City, we were ready to move on to see the coast and Chiapas, but I could definitely see myself returning to Oaxaca someday and I highly recommend it to other travelers! Here are some other photos of nice Oaxaca memories:

Mayordomo chocolate maker

View out of Santo Domingo church

Group bike rides at night around the city! We did it on Sunday with about 10 people, and then again on Wednesday with about 60 people! It was so much fun and I want to start something similar in Seattle!!

Xalapa and Puebla

From San Miguel de Allende, I was about four hours by bus north of Mexico City. That is, four hours north of one of the many bus stations in the city and four hours to just the edge of the cultural giant in the core of the country. To take on Mexico City alone would have required much more energy and research, and most of all, lots more time than I had. So I made the easy choice to spend a total of about 30 minutes on the ground in the bus station, and then get on another bus to Xalapa. 

Xalapa was not even on my radar when I was planning my trip to Mexico, as I didn´t think I´d have time to make it as far east as Veracruz state. But when I read about the town in a novel in March, I realized that the cool and cloudy weather would be a nice break after over a week in the inland desert. And this is how I came to arrive in the humid cloud forest town, known for it´s large university, coffee farms and nearby volcano. I easily found my couchsurfing host Eren´s apartment and she got home from work five minutes later. I don´t think I have ever met as energetic and forthcoming of a host who had only three hours between a nine hour work day and her English night classes, but insisted on showing me around town in that time. She helped me plan my self-tour of the city the next day, which included morning yoga class, an awesome anthropology museum, a botanical garden in the cloud forest, a swim in the university´s pool and lots of tasty snacks and interesting bus rides along the way. Then, I made it back to her apartment and met up with Eren after her English class. After another long day, she asked if I wanted to got out to a local cafe or bar, and see live music or get a drink! I was way too tried and we both had to get up early the next day to catch buses, but I was so impressed by her hospitality, map-drawing ability, local CS event organizing, and general cheeriness and positive attitude. I wish that I was able to spend more time in Xalapa´s nice cafes and cloud forest, and I was so glad that I went out of a limb a bit and rode a bus to a place that I had only heard of a month beforehand. By meeting Eren, it had really paid off!  

 

Olmec heads at the Anthropology museum

Carnivorous plants at the botanical reserve

Hiking through the cloud forest on a sunny afternoon! 

From Xalapa, I bused four hours further south to Puebla, where I stayed in a hostel in the old town for a night before moving onto Oaxaca to meet my dad on Saturday April 27th. Puebla was fun to walk around for a day, but I can´t say that I fell in love with the place. The old town was magnificent and I got to see a Cuban band play lots of Buena Vista Social Club hits on the main square in front of a huge crowd at night. Puebla was really just a stop over on my way to Oaxaca City, and I think the excitement of heading further south and traveling with my dad overshadowed my trip through town.

 A few shots of Puebla--a University building downtown and the cathedral

San Miguel de Allende

There must be a reason why so many people move here and many people up north and elsewhere talk about San Miguel de Allende. Since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to see what all the hubbub was about, and now I completely understand! My couchsurfing host Carol was delightful, and even convinced me to stay an extra day in town. She and her boyfriend took me out to eat the first night and showed me lots of art around town, as they are both artists. I celebrated Earth Day in San Miguel at the botanical garden and the next day I took the bus to soak in natural hot springs and got a ride back into town with an expat who used to live in Seattle. It was strange seeing a lot of expats and speak more English than Spanish, but I can see why everyone enjoys San Miguel´s mellow atmosphere and variety of cultural events. 

This is part of the interior of the "casita" that I stayed in, next door to Carol´s main house. It was definitely the nicest place I´ve ever couchsurfed and is also up on vacation rental sites! 

Looking down on the garden at Carol's house

The cathedral at night looks somewhat Disney-like

Earth day celebration at the Botanical Garden...Son Jarocho music and dancing plus cactus fruit gelato!

Hot springs near San Miguel

Sunset out of the bathroom window at Carol´s place

 

Carol showed me the hidden parts of San Miguel, like the huge Tuesday market/swap meet, which also happens to have the best pork tacos in town (you just have to add your own avocado)!

SORRY FOR THE DELAY!

I´ve been so busy having fun and traveling that I haven´t had any time to work on my blog. I´m sure that the few people who were reading about my travels back in April have now given up, but today I will finally get around to posting a few things and maybe more tomorrow too! Being sick on the shore of beautiful Lake Atitlan in Guatemala has given me a chance to sit in front of a computer. That and sleeping are about all I can manage today. Hopefully I´ll be well enough by Sunday to move onto Antigua, then the waterfalls of Semuc Champey, and the ruins of Tikal before meeting my mom in Belize one week from today! Thanks for reading and please leave comments or email me if you´d like!

I promise I am still alive!!

Wanna Guanajuato?

Confusing, hilly, astounding and old...Guanajuato (pronounced wah-nuh-wah-toe) surprised me with so many interesting sights. Just walking down the streets and narrow alleys was an adventure because it was so easy to get lost or end up in the wrong tunnel! The city is somewhat squished between hills and there aren´t enough roads for all the cars that want to pass through downtown. Thus cars driving in one direction (I think it´s east to west) use a series of deep tunnels called the "subterraneo", while cars driving in the other direction use the cobblestone streets and some shorter tunnels. On top of all of this confusion lies a really neat city, with plazas, musseums, old buildings and a big university, which my couchsurfing host attends. This was my first chance to couchsurf in Mexico, and it went super well! Fernanda studies tourism and gave me a walking tour of town with her dog Maya on the first night. On my second day I explored the old town and the nearby hills on my own, and on the third day I went with her tourism class on a field trip to some nearby mining towns and a few obscure local museums. Her classmates were such a hoot! On my last morning before hopping back on the bus, I went to the Mummy Museum, which Guanajuato is famous for. They had an impressive collection of partially decomposed cadavers from the city's crypts, but I don't recommend it for squeamish folks!  

 

Part of the subterranean tunnel system

 

Now a nice museum, this building is known as Alhondinga de Granaditas (a public granary), where one of the first fights for Mexican Independence took place. 

Murals inside of Alhondiga de Granaditas

 

Another quiet Guanjuato street

The perfect sized market--very easy to manage and not too overwhelming.

"Callejon del Beso" or Kissing Alley, where the balconies are approximately 80 cm apart

 

Teatro Juarez inside and out

 

 

I climbed to the top of the hill to the Pipilan monument, which had great views of the city.

Universidad de Guanajuato, where my CS hosts studies tourism

 

On the field trip with Fernanda and her tourism class

 

Valenciana Cathedral outside and in

The mummy museum!!

 

Fernanda's apartment complex, which was laid out in an even more confusing way than the city streets!