Sunday 26 August 2007

Northward bound

Here we are in Oaxaca (that´s wa-hak-ah in case you were wondering).

We arrived yesterday from Puerto Escondido, where we got up super early to catch the quick minibus over the mountains. At 6 hours for $13, rather than 10 hours for $22, we thought we had snagged ourselves a bargain...

Worst. Bus ride. Ever.

3 to 4 hours of those zig-zag mountain roads with no seatbelts to restrain your movements, a driver with some sort of crazy delay+reverb effect on his CB radio, and a passenger next to me with a round pot which we later discovered had been oozing some kind of meaty goo onto the floor, attracting cockroaches - delightful!


Anyway, we arrived in one piece, if a little exhausted, and lucked into a private room at the rather splendid Hostel Pochon in the north west of the city, run by the charming Geraldine and Ilan. We were especially delighted to discover a properly equipped kitchen, with chopping boards, knives, multiple types of pan... everything!

A quick tour of our immediate area netted us some olive oil, courgettes and a pain de campagne. After the basic charms of the last week´s beaches, this represents seriously cosmopolitan living!

Today we enjoyed a lengthy stroll around the city, finding some great street art and a couple of awesome markets on the way round.

Debs has become completely obsessed with piñatas.

Tonight we are going to sample some mezcal - the local tipple - but not too much, cos we have to get up pretty early to move on to Mexico City.

We´re feeling like proper travellers now, skipping from city to city, fearlessly turning up at hostels without a room reservation, and economising like mad on meals (so we can spend it on drink). Give us another few months and we´ll be like Stanley and Livingston. Perhaps.

Hasta Luego!

Ben

1 comment:

james burke said...

mexico city...rockin...i enjoyed my time there.. Also quick aside note..I met the dude from http://luckofseven.com/ who wanted to hear about you guys as you are both blogging and traveling.. He is going the other way round the world...so maybe you meet each other on the other side of the planet(whatever that is from where you are now).
Sending love to you guys, james