Day 15 - Three Amigos

February 1st, 2009

Last I wrote we were in the seaside port of Puerto Escondido, making use of some beach time before we started to head back inland. The following morning we were on the road again, and heading to the capital of the state; Oaxaca city. The Journey mostly consisted of scaling the Sierra Madre mountain range to get to the city, which sat in a plateau/crator area 1550 m (5000 ft) above sea level. Basically 200km of never-ending hairpins bends climbing up on mountain, down the other side, then over the next. The views were pretty stunning, and although difficult, driving these roads is fun.

What it's like to drive the mountain roads

It took us the better part of a day to get there, but we arrived safely, and Herbie got us there with little difficulty. Updated visual journey map. Whilst in the area there were some activities we wanted to do, and we came up with a cunning plan to cram most of them into a single day. Waking up early we first made our way to a traditional weaving village outside of the city. Here we hoped to see workshops and the weaving process, but we just found shop after shop selling tapestries of all sizes. They were very nice, but not my style, and because of the high level of workmanship, not cheap either.

The highlight of the village for us was finding a homemade table-football table in a small bar we stopped for a drink. The players had been carved from granite, and it kept us amused for a short while...

Our Mexican table football experience

After this, we headed further out of town to a Tequila & Mescal producing area, where we had a short tour of the process they go through from Cactus, to smoldering for 50 days in a buried fire, then crushing by donkey-powered stone wheel, then fermenting for 4 months, and finally distillation. Was fascinating to see these individual small-scale distilleries still making their products in the traditional fashion.

The fermentation tanks where the cooked and ground cactus sits for 4-5 months.

Afterwards, there was some tasting, and Petr decided to buy a few bottles to take home...

Petr's mescal

Following a late lunch we headed to the largest temple in the region; Monte Albán. We had to travel back through the city to get there, and by the time we were stuck in crushing rush-hour traffic for a few hours (that I happily slept through in the back seat), we made it to the temple with minutes to spare before it closed for the day. We literally ran around the main complex, and were being herded out before we reached the other side, but was an impressive site, on a large hill providing amazing views of the surrounding area. We were tempted to return the following day for a proper look, but decided against it having many more temple opportunities ahead, and a large distance to still travel.

The temple complex at Monte Alban

Whilst in the city we needed to get some music for the car. The CD player as no input for our ipods, and the one CD we got thrown in the deal when we bought Herbie was starting to wear thin. So we bought a handful of comedy compilations & albums, ranging from Reggae, rock, 80's, some more traditional Mexican music, and even kiddies songs. Helps pass the time and drown out the engine noise on the long journeys!

The stack of CD's we bought for the car

Up early again to hit the roads for another mammoth journey. This time, after another full-day of driving, we hit a traffic jam. Skipping past the trucks to the front, we discovered a village has formed a road block and were not letting anyone pass all day. They must have been mad with the government about something, but it hampered our ability to reach our intended destination. After another hour driving around looking for a place on the coast to stay, we gave up and headed back to a small town on the main road where we crashed for the evening. We covered over 400km this day, and on some of the straight roads we reached what we think is Herbie's top speed!

Pushing the girl to her limits, past the (!) mark on the speedo.

Another early start. Blasting through the town previously blocked, and onto out destination in the afternoon; San Cristóbal de las Casas. Updated visual journey progress. Checked into a lovely little hotel in this charming town, then decided to stick around for a few days and partake in some activities. We discovered that there is a canyon near by, and fancied having a look. Deciding against the tour package option, we bought Herbie out again and made our way over ourselves. Downside to this was we had no idea how to get there, just roughly where is was, and by accidentally avoiding the main tourist areas we discovered an amazing location; a bay created by a hydroelectric damn at the northern end of the canyon, with incredible views of the canyon.

The Sumidero Canyon

The site we found was taken over by vulptures, who proved to be a willing subject for photography and really added to the dramatic nature of the environment. We didn't get our boat tour of the canyon we originally went looking for, but thought this experience was worth the sacrifice!

Friendly vulptures who seemed the run the palce

Today we have been on a horse back ride through a small valley to a nearby village. The ride lasted 90 min each way, and we looked like a right couple of cowboys, riding our stallions through the forests. Occasionally the horses would get a little frisky and jump into a fast paced gallop, which was great fun. The village had a central plaza with a large church and market. It was nice to see, but there are local restrictions around photography that proved to be little frustrating. A trot back into town, and we're chilling out now for our last night here before moving on again.

Horse riding

To date we have driven 1700km (1056 miles) in Herbie, and we think it's starting to take it's toll, she seems to have lost a few horses since we started, we think likely due to the wear & tear of driving so far since being in her pristine served state when we bought her. But she's otherwise holding up well, and we're looking forward to the rest of our journey together. Petr is only with us for another 4 days before he needs to head back, hence the rush to get around and see as much as we can. We're back on th road again tomorrow to a place with some amazing jungle temples, before making our way towards the Caribbean sea, where we'll say our goodbyes to Petr, and Lukas & myself will continue on, along he coast we think through the rest of the southern Mexican states.

More pics from Lukas