february 13, 2014
well, the defiant is in storage.
we are getting up at 2 am to start the trip home (almost 24 hours in airports). wish us luck!
Sunday 16 February 2014
Thursday 13 February 2014
day 18
february 12, 2014
1 pm:
we had starbucks this morning. it was kind of amazing. we also went out for brunch at this place called "100% natural" which was good (huge fresh fruit juices for $4 CAD, 3 giant tacos for $8 CAD) the food was spectacular, though it took them about 20 minutes to bring us our bill after we ate.
last night we were so hot and tired and sticky. i dropped mike's 7000 pound laptop on my leg. we were snippy with each other, and frustrated. we ended up checking into a holiday inn. the motivation for this is simple, we NEED someone who speaks fluent spanish AND english to call around re: storing the defiant, and also to get information from mexican customs re: leaving the defiant here while we're in canada. currently, the lovely lady at the front desk is calling around about storage. also, wifi in every room (important, given the amount of research we're doing, we don't want to have to live in the lobby).
anyway, although i feel like a copout for staying at a holiday inn, it's totally worth it to not have to struggle with communication at a time like this. also, they wanted $1400 pesos/night ($120 CAD) at the front desk, and some sketchy guy outside said he could get us a room for $1200 pesos, but i found a place online where it was $65 USD/night (about $750 pesos), so i sat in the lobby and booked online on my cell phone, then as soon as the confirmation email came, i took it to the front desk. muhaha.
this afternoon, we're going to walk over to the parking lot where the defiant is (hotel parking around the corner) and pop up the camper and give it a good clean, and haul back anything we need to take home with us. this is difficult, as we have no idea how long we'll be gone for.
10:30 pm update:
well, we got pretty much all of our research done - the people at the front desk here were actual literal superheroes, and were the most helpful ever re: truck storage and customs. we have found a place to store the defiant for $200/month CAD (it's a self-storage place, sounds good, i'll do a post just about that once we're back home), and it seems like customs will be ok - mike is going to call the embassy here tomorrow for advice, but it sounds like when we leave the country, they will just ask about the situation, and we'll tell them, and if necessary i will make a harmony-sized stink about things, and they will let us go home. aside from that, we can deal with things when we get back.
we had a nap this afternoon (or, mike had a nap and i laid in bed for a while then updated the blag) when it was super hot. later, we went out for sushi, then went to the camper and cleaned and organized it. the guy at the parking lot thought we were totally nuts, but chilled out once we gave him a beer. we've got all of our stuff that we are taking home, and tomorrow we just need to take the defiant to storage, repack our bags, and get massages (!!!). when we got back to the hotel room i got ice for our beer, and i dropped some on the floor, so i threw it over the balcony... then mike went out there, and apparently the security guys were sort of freaking out about it. when we went down for a swim i apologized to them for making them think it was snowing in mexico. they didn't think i was nearly as funny as i think i am. hmph.
i've been invited to a tobogganing party on saturday, which just seems so far from reality right now. i can't believe it's still winter anywhere.
leaving the defiant tonight was really weird - i know i'll see him tomorrow when we drop him off at storage, but it was like this weird leaving-home sort of feeling. i know we've only been living there for a couple of weeks, but i really love living there, and i really love doing this trip, and it's super hard to walk away and put it on hold, even though it's clearly what needs to happen. i guess this just means it'll be easy to come back to : )
Tuesday 11 February 2014
day 17
february 11, 2014
so, today was quite a day.
mike's mom has been sick for a long while, but we got word last night that she's in the hospital and not doing very well.
we're flying home friday from acapulco. we spent the day driving today, from zipolote.
apparently, neither of us noticed at any point today that a bit of the pop-up camper's "wall" was hanging out the side of the camper like a dog's tongue on a hot afternoon, so that was a little embarrassing when we got to our hotel and noticed... what can i say, it's been a long day.
also, i got stung by a bee today. on my face. over the last 10 years, i've had reactions to bee stings ranging from "this hurts but i'm fine" to "oh good lord WHY is my leg swelled up to 4 times it's normal size, and WHY is it purple and oh ps i can't walk"... so this was a bit worrying. we were driving along, on the road to acapulco, when a bee flew in my window and stung me RIGHT where my nose meets my face, in the middle. how awkward!?!? anyway, i screamed and flung it to the ground and mike was like "WHAT IS HAPPENING" and i was like "I'M CRYING FROM SHOCK AND FEAR NOT BECAUSE I'M DYING (I HOPE)". i didn't have any trouble breathing, and i took 2 advil right away, but i also wanted to get some ice on it asap, because i've had issues with severe bee-related swelling in the past. of course, we were in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, and there was no ice available... so we drove around for about 45 minutes with me holding a cold cerveza to my face to help calm the swelling.
mike was a champ, and stopped everywhere he could find to look for ice or freezies or anything to help, and we did eventually find some (but not before he stopped at a roadside store where the lady said "oh, do you need a beer, too?" lol). luckily, my face has not swelled to the size of a melon (yet).
anyway, we are in acapulco, and tomorrow we need to have somebody who speaks spanish call around for us to find out about customs and long-term parking for the defiant. we are booked to fly out at 6:15 am friday, from acapulco to mexico city, mexico city to chicago, and finally chicago to toronto, arriving at 11:50 pm. luckily, my spectacular parents are going to be there to pick us up from the airport. what would i do without them?
so, today was quite a day.
mike's mom has been sick for a long while, but we got word last night that she's in the hospital and not doing very well.
we're flying home friday from acapulco. we spent the day driving today, from zipolote.
apparently, neither of us noticed at any point today that a bit of the pop-up camper's "wall" was hanging out the side of the camper like a dog's tongue on a hot afternoon, so that was a little embarrassing when we got to our hotel and noticed... what can i say, it's been a long day.
 |
| i feel like there should be elephants in this one! |
also, i got stung by a bee today. on my face. over the last 10 years, i've had reactions to bee stings ranging from "this hurts but i'm fine" to "oh good lord WHY is my leg swelled up to 4 times it's normal size, and WHY is it purple and oh ps i can't walk"... so this was a bit worrying. we were driving along, on the road to acapulco, when a bee flew in my window and stung me RIGHT where my nose meets my face, in the middle. how awkward!?!? anyway, i screamed and flung it to the ground and mike was like "WHAT IS HAPPENING" and i was like "I'M CRYING FROM SHOCK AND FEAR NOT BECAUSE I'M DYING (I HOPE)". i didn't have any trouble breathing, and i took 2 advil right away, but i also wanted to get some ice on it asap, because i've had issues with severe bee-related swelling in the past. of course, we were in the middle of buttfuck nowhere, and there was no ice available... so we drove around for about 45 minutes with me holding a cold cerveza to my face to help calm the swelling.
mike was a champ, and stopped everywhere he could find to look for ice or freezies or anything to help, and we did eventually find some (but not before he stopped at a roadside store where the lady said "oh, do you need a beer, too?" lol). luckily, my face has not swelled to the size of a melon (yet).
anyway, we are in acapulco, and tomorrow we need to have somebody who speaks spanish call around for us to find out about customs and long-term parking for the defiant. we are booked to fly out at 6:15 am friday, from acapulco to mexico city, mexico city to chicago, and finally chicago to toronto, arriving at 11:50 pm. luckily, my spectacular parents are going to be there to pick us up from the airport. what would i do without them?
day 16
february 10, 2014
9 am:
we woke up at about 8, surprised that we were not in pools of our own sweat. the night was lovely, hot but not too hot to make sleep comfortable. at one point i was shivering under just the sheet, and grabbed a polar fleece blanket to pull on top of me - then it was just right.
we're camped about 40 feet from the waves, just over a little rise that has little cabanas on it. the cabanas are on stilts, so we can actually see the water from here. the sound of the waves was constant all night, and the roosters started at about 4 am.
it's already hot out, i didn't even heat up the milk for our coffee this morning. shortly, it'll be smoothie time. i'm really missing the ali baba pants andrew gave me, i couldn't find them when i was packing for this trip... i might have to see if i can find something similar here, i feel like they would be perfect in this environment.
we have nothing specific on the agenda for today. maybe a swim, likely a shower, certainly a smoothie or two. we should find miike some flip flops, as he's been kicking around in docs so far, but i think in this weather that will get very unreasonable very quickly.
3 pm:
we had a nice long beach-walk this morning, then a beer and a shower and a siesta. i'm thinking about another shower, lol. it's so hot i don't even really want to eat.
skyhorse just texted us, they are boondocked on the beach about 65 km from here. we may join them, mike is going to deal with the trailer wiring situation, then we'll make up our minds about whether we'll go tonight or tomorrow.
7 pm:
so we decided to head to meet up with skyhorse and carpe viam tomorrow. we went for a walk on the beach and took pictures of the beautiful sunset. i also ran into this guy steve, who i knew in toronto way back in the day.
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| i literally got this picture half a second before the waves washed it away! |
9 am:
we woke up at about 8, surprised that we were not in pools of our own sweat. the night was lovely, hot but not too hot to make sleep comfortable. at one point i was shivering under just the sheet, and grabbed a polar fleece blanket to pull on top of me - then it was just right.
we're camped about 40 feet from the waves, just over a little rise that has little cabanas on it. the cabanas are on stilts, so we can actually see the water from here. the sound of the waves was constant all night, and the roosters started at about 4 am.
it's already hot out, i didn't even heat up the milk for our coffee this morning. shortly, it'll be smoothie time. i'm really missing the ali baba pants andrew gave me, i couldn't find them when i was packing for this trip... i might have to see if i can find something similar here, i feel like they would be perfect in this environment.
we have nothing specific on the agenda for today. maybe a swim, likely a shower, certainly a smoothie or two. we should find miike some flip flops, as he's been kicking around in docs so far, but i think in this weather that will get very unreasonable very quickly.
3 pm:
we had a nice long beach-walk this morning, then a beer and a shower and a siesta. i'm thinking about another shower, lol. it's so hot i don't even really want to eat.
skyhorse just texted us, they are boondocked on the beach about 65 km from here. we may join them, mike is going to deal with the trailer wiring situation, then we'll make up our minds about whether we'll go tonight or tomorrow.
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| zipolite beach |
7 pm:
so we decided to head to meet up with skyhorse and carpe viam tomorrow. we went for a walk on the beach and took pictures of the beautiful sunset. i also ran into this guy steve, who i knew in toronto way back in the day.
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| the little cabanas for $300 pesos a night - this is where steve is staying - and the defiant parked behind |
day 15
february 9, 2014
12:30 pm:
we went to bed nice and early last night, and got a nice long sleep. this morning, after a chill breakfast and saying our goodbyes at the o.o., we hit the road. we're headed for zipolite/puerto angel. it's only about 250 km from oaxaca, but we just left, and according to calvin, it's about a 6 hour drive... luckily there is a place about halfway that is a small hotel that allows overlanders to camp, in case we need to stop there.
we're told the road is beautiful - fairly flat for the first half, then climbing from 5000 to 9000 feet above sea level, only to plummet back down to sea level, all within the space of about 150 km! sounds spectacular :)
we had an amazing time in oaxaca, both in the city taking spanish lessons, and (even more so) staying at the o.o. and getting to meet a bunch of other overlanders and do some true relaxing. it sounds like skyhorse and carpe viam are both headed zipolite way in the next day or two, so it seems likely we'll be seeing them again soon!
the adventures of the defiant continue...
8 pm update:
so, you know how i was telling you about that awesome road before, the one that was just crazy beauty at every turn?!? yeah, i think we've already topped it. the 175 from oaxaca to puerto angel today was breathtaking. literally 3/4 of the 250 km was on roads so twisty that we were topping out at 40 km/h. it climbed from 1550 m all the way up to 2600, then, in the last 80 km or so, dropped back down to sea level. i did that thing again where i took scads of pictures and i'm sure most of them are crap, but we'll see. the road wasn't a toll road, so it wound through tons of teensy little villages, with buildings precariously propped up on stilts on the mountainside. the weather went from chilly, pine-scented mountain air to sticky, humid, beach air quite quickly. i literally sat in the seat behind mike while he drove as i hung out the window, freezing, to take pictures. it was totally worth it.
we made it safe and sound to zipolite, it's really really hot here, and the place is beautiful. it's a little strange so far though... it seems like everyone is either super hippy-aloof, or too stoned out of their tree to smile/say hello to people. we walked around a bit to find this place we are camping (called la habana, $150 pesos, or $13 CAD/night, right on the beach, pretty quiet so far), and smiled and said hello to everyone, and the only people who didn't just stare right through us tried to sell us drugs. i feel that it's only a matter of time before someone tells me about the healing powers of crystals. anyway, hot. beach. palm trees. harmony. yay!
also, we realized (upon trying to use them) that we have left our forks at the o.o. we feel pretty silly, considering we also forgot our spoons in dallas and had to go buy new ones. go us.
we also seem to be having another minor wiring issue with the camper. mike seems confident that he can fix it in the daylight tomorrow. we both got shocked touching the door handle with wet hands. i thought i was having a stroke or something, so i'm glad it was just electricity.
we're having boozy smoothies and i think we'll go walk around town a bit here shortly.
10 pm update:
the walk was lovely. mike has never been in the ocean before, and discovered "sinking" (where you stand in the path of the waves and they sweep the sand out from below you) for the first time, to much excitement. we also had a beer at a little bar/pizza place, then walked back along the beach.
12:30 pm:
we went to bed nice and early last night, and got a nice long sleep. this morning, after a chill breakfast and saying our goodbyes at the o.o., we hit the road. we're headed for zipolite/puerto angel. it's only about 250 km from oaxaca, but we just left, and according to calvin, it's about a 6 hour drive... luckily there is a place about halfway that is a small hotel that allows overlanders to camp, in case we need to stop there.
we're told the road is beautiful - fairly flat for the first half, then climbing from 5000 to 9000 feet above sea level, only to plummet back down to sea level, all within the space of about 150 km! sounds spectacular :)
we had an amazing time in oaxaca, both in the city taking spanish lessons, and (even more so) staying at the o.o. and getting to meet a bunch of other overlanders and do some true relaxing. it sounds like skyhorse and carpe viam are both headed zipolite way in the next day or two, so it seems likely we'll be seeing them again soon!
the adventures of the defiant continue...
8 pm update:
so, you know how i was telling you about that awesome road before, the one that was just crazy beauty at every turn?!? yeah, i think we've already topped it. the 175 from oaxaca to puerto angel today was breathtaking. literally 3/4 of the 250 km was on roads so twisty that we were topping out at 40 km/h. it climbed from 1550 m all the way up to 2600, then, in the last 80 km or so, dropped back down to sea level. i did that thing again where i took scads of pictures and i'm sure most of them are crap, but we'll see. the road wasn't a toll road, so it wound through tons of teensy little villages, with buildings precariously propped up on stilts on the mountainside. the weather went from chilly, pine-scented mountain air to sticky, humid, beach air quite quickly. i literally sat in the seat behind mike while he drove as i hung out the window, freezing, to take pictures. it was totally worth it.
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| there were some crazy washouts, and places where the road was dirt because all of the pavement had washed away! |
we made it safe and sound to zipolite, it's really really hot here, and the place is beautiful. it's a little strange so far though... it seems like everyone is either super hippy-aloof, or too stoned out of their tree to smile/say hello to people. we walked around a bit to find this place we are camping (called la habana, $150 pesos, or $13 CAD/night, right on the beach, pretty quiet so far), and smiled and said hello to everyone, and the only people who didn't just stare right through us tried to sell us drugs. i feel that it's only a matter of time before someone tells me about the healing powers of crystals. anyway, hot. beach. palm trees. harmony. yay!
also, we realized (upon trying to use them) that we have left our forks at the o.o. we feel pretty silly, considering we also forgot our spoons in dallas and had to go buy new ones. go us.
we also seem to be having another minor wiring issue with the camper. mike seems confident that he can fix it in the daylight tomorrow. we both got shocked touching the door handle with wet hands. i thought i was having a stroke or something, so i'm glad it was just electricity.
we're having boozy smoothies and i think we'll go walk around town a bit here shortly.
10 pm update:
the walk was lovely. mike has never been in the ocean before, and discovered "sinking" (where you stand in the path of the waves and they sweep the sand out from below you) for the first time, to much excitement. we also had a beer at a little bar/pizza place, then walked back along the beach.
day 14
february 8, 2014
noon:
the party last night was spectacular. there were margaritas and a pinata and tons of good food!
today we slept in, and are chilling out in the shade at the o.o. it's a beautiful day. we're heading to zipolite soon, but are in no rush. i think we'll leave in the morning. it's likely to be a full day drive there, so we'll start nice and early.
i just made lunch, tortillas with refried beans and some of that stringy cheese (which it turns out is goat cheese! win!) and avocado on top. so tasty. i also chatted with my dad for the first time today since i left, and he's very jealous of all the fun we're having. i can't blame him, i'd be jealous of me too!
toby (of carpe viam) has helped me out with the gina maps situation, and we're making progress, i'm just waiting on some files, now. hopefully we can get that dealt with while we're here at the o.o., but if not, it'll work out :)
6 pm:
today has been the ultimate lazy day here at the o.o. i have had two smoothies (one breakfast, one with rum), and read a bunch of 'heir to the empire'. it's a bit windy here today, and has chilled to a balmy 26 degrees.
the files for gina are still downloading, hopefully we'll be able to install them tonight!
10 pm:
we are about to watch an episode of firefly and go to bed.
there is a birthday party for a baby going on down the street, and i gotta tell you, i've never even had a birthday party this wild. there is music that sounds like it's halfway between russian drinking music and a mirachi band, and they've been going strong for hours. the only thing left to do is fireworks, which mexicans seem to celebrate every day with...
noon:
the party last night was spectacular. there were margaritas and a pinata and tons of good food!
today we slept in, and are chilling out in the shade at the o.o. it's a beautiful day. we're heading to zipolite soon, but are in no rush. i think we'll leave in the morning. it's likely to be a full day drive there, so we'll start nice and early.
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| skyhorse and the defiant, at the o.o. |
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| the defiant, fluegelwieadler.ch, carpe viam and straight six straight south all packed in |
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| it was a full house! |
toby (of carpe viam) has helped me out with the gina maps situation, and we're making progress, i'm just waiting on some files, now. hopefully we can get that dealt with while we're here at the o.o., but if not, it'll work out :)
6 pm:
today has been the ultimate lazy day here at the o.o. i have had two smoothies (one breakfast, one with rum), and read a bunch of 'heir to the empire'. it's a bit windy here today, and has chilled to a balmy 26 degrees.
the files for gina are still downloading, hopefully we'll be able to install them tonight!
10 pm:
we are about to watch an episode of firefly and go to bed.
there is a birthday party for a baby going on down the street, and i gotta tell you, i've never even had a birthday party this wild. there is music that sounds like it's halfway between russian drinking music and a mirachi band, and they've been going strong for hours. the only thing left to do is fireworks, which mexicans seem to celebrate every day with...
Saturday 8 February 2014
day 13
february 7, 2014
3 pm:
well, we're done our last day of spanish class! in the end, we found it to be a good experience. we spent a lot of time conjugating verbs, but given how varied and useful they are, it was certainly worth it to spend that time on them. we think we'd like to take more spanish classes, but we're not in a hurry, maybe we'll do that in another area of mexico, or perhaps guatemala.
we've just had a seista, and are packing and tidying the camper to move to the overland oasis. we're going to stop to pick up fruit and water so that we can make boozy smoothies to share with everyone there. i'm also going to make some spiced veggies to cook in tinfoil over the bbq. we're going to head there shortly.
1 am update:
well, we had a lovely bbq. there are (i believe) 7 rigs here right now, and we had veggies and pasta and salad and some sort of steak (?? meat eaters...) for dinner.
there was also a pinata, and a rousing game of spoons.
i really can't believe how many overlanders there are out there, let alone in oaxaca all at once, this community is amazing. we are in love.
check out the rest of the pictures over at overlander oasis!
3 pm:
well, we're done our last day of spanish class! in the end, we found it to be a good experience. we spent a lot of time conjugating verbs, but given how varied and useful they are, it was certainly worth it to spend that time on them. we think we'd like to take more spanish classes, but we're not in a hurry, maybe we'll do that in another area of mexico, or perhaps guatemala.
we've just had a seista, and are packing and tidying the camper to move to the overland oasis. we're going to stop to pick up fruit and water so that we can make boozy smoothies to share with everyone there. i'm also going to make some spiced veggies to cook in tinfoil over the bbq. we're going to head there shortly.
1 am update:
well, we had a lovely bbq. there are (i believe) 7 rigs here right now, and we had veggies and pasta and salad and some sort of steak (?? meat eaters...) for dinner.
there was also a pinata, and a rousing game of spoons.
i really can't believe how many overlanders there are out there, let alone in oaxaca all at once, this community is amazing. we are in love.
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| tia passed out early. what a lightweight. |
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| chloe with the pinata on her head... it was that sort of night. |
Friday 7 February 2014
day 12
february 6, 2014
8:45 am:
we slept through our alarm this morning and didn't wake up until 7:15. it was okay, because we just took a $40 peso ($3.50 CAD) cab instead. it was nice to take a cab anyway, since we decided that today would be laundry day. we had a few giant bags of laundry, which we've dropped off, and will be done tonight for $140 pesos ($12 CAD). not too bad!
6 pm update:
well, spanish class was much better today. we had a good time, and conjugated some verbs, and i actually feel like i learned a lot. we're still planning to leave saturday morning for zipolite (thanks adrian for the suggestion - we asked our spanish teacher about it today and she said it was beautiful and cheap and a great place to camp!).
after school, we spent a bunch of time trying to load opensource maps onto gina, to no avail. luckily we've just arrived back at the oaxaca trailer park to find that chloe and toby are here now, so we'll see if they have any advice.
after our failed mapping adventure, we went to a little place called los quintoniles for a late lunch. it was well-reviewed in the lonely planet guide. anyway, it was alright, though it's advertised specifically as being vegetarian friendly, it only had one thing i could get, and i had to ask for it without cheese. regardless, it was good - i had a veggie sandwich and mike had a tlayuda (sp?) a giant flour tortilla with all sorts of meat and veggies and local cheese (which is weird and comes in ball-format. we bought some. it's like string cheese in appearance, i'll let you know how it tastes once i try some. update: mild, like those bococcini things). all together our meal was $60 pesos ($5 CAD), so i really can't complain.
after lunch, we went to the mercado (market) and bought avocados and bananas and potatoes (bags of each $10 pesos each, or 90 cents CAD), and cheese ($20 pesos, or about $1.80 CAD). i also was finally able to change all that useless canadian money i have into sweet, sweet pesos. the place we ate lunch didn't have beer, which we clearly needed, so we ended up hitting up a bar around the corner from the market for 2 beers each, which cost a whopping $100 pesos ($9 CAD) total.
we picked up our clean laundry (which they had somehow compacted to 1/3 it's original size, however after investigation, i have confirmed that nothing is missing. i have also confirmed that i have worn a total of 3 shirts on this trip so far. i am disgusting.), then took a cab home ($50 pesos or $4.50 CAD). now we're sitting in the shade with rum smoothies.
10 pm update:
i made black bean curry and baking powder biscuits for dinner :)
so we were just hanging out, drinking beers, when toby and chloe and sarah and heni and the dogs all showed up. we went to the grocery store around the corner and picked up some more beer and veggies, and they have invited us to a barbecue at the overland oasis tomorrow night. clearly we are going.
we have to get up earlyish to go to spanish class, but we don't have anything that needs to be done after that. we'll likely come back here and have a siesta, then head to the o.o. to get all the rigs situated. it might be interesting. apparently there are 2 rigs there already/will be tomorrow that will fit in the little space we parked in the other day, then the defiant, carpe viam and skyhorse all need to squeeze in. it might be tight, but it may also prove to be a fantastic feat in truculant tetris that will go down in history. not the sort of thing we'd want to miss, regardless.
after that, we're headed towards zipolite (we'll see if this happens saturday, but after a barbecue full of exciting new overlanders, well, who knows). we're super excited to be at a beach - the city is fun and nice, but some extra-hot weather, some swimming, some beachy bonfires... they sound really good about now. :)
ps - mads and andrew, WE HAVE A BOUCH!!!
8:45 am:
we slept through our alarm this morning and didn't wake up until 7:15. it was okay, because we just took a $40 peso ($3.50 CAD) cab instead. it was nice to take a cab anyway, since we decided that today would be laundry day. we had a few giant bags of laundry, which we've dropped off, and will be done tonight for $140 pesos ($12 CAD). not too bad!
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| pretty flowers near our school |
6 pm update:
well, spanish class was much better today. we had a good time, and conjugated some verbs, and i actually feel like i learned a lot. we're still planning to leave saturday morning for zipolite (thanks adrian for the suggestion - we asked our spanish teacher about it today and she said it was beautiful and cheap and a great place to camp!).
after school, we spent a bunch of time trying to load opensource maps onto gina, to no avail. luckily we've just arrived back at the oaxaca trailer park to find that chloe and toby are here now, so we'll see if they have any advice.
after our failed mapping adventure, we went to a little place called los quintoniles for a late lunch. it was well-reviewed in the lonely planet guide. anyway, it was alright, though it's advertised specifically as being vegetarian friendly, it only had one thing i could get, and i had to ask for it without cheese. regardless, it was good - i had a veggie sandwich and mike had a tlayuda (sp?) a giant flour tortilla with all sorts of meat and veggies and local cheese (which is weird and comes in ball-format. we bought some. it's like string cheese in appearance, i'll let you know how it tastes once i try some. update: mild, like those bococcini things). all together our meal was $60 pesos ($5 CAD), so i really can't complain.
after lunch, we went to the mercado (market) and bought avocados and bananas and potatoes (bags of each $10 pesos each, or 90 cents CAD), and cheese ($20 pesos, or about $1.80 CAD). i also was finally able to change all that useless canadian money i have into sweet, sweet pesos. the place we ate lunch didn't have beer, which we clearly needed, so we ended up hitting up a bar around the corner from the market for 2 beers each, which cost a whopping $100 pesos ($9 CAD) total.
 |
| at the bar. hair metal lion. |
we picked up our clean laundry (which they had somehow compacted to 1/3 it's original size, however after investigation, i have confirmed that nothing is missing. i have also confirmed that i have worn a total of 3 shirts on this trip so far. i am disgusting.), then took a cab home ($50 pesos or $4.50 CAD). now we're sitting in the shade with rum smoothies.
 |
| homework time |
10 pm update:
i made black bean curry and baking powder biscuits for dinner :)
so we were just hanging out, drinking beers, when toby and chloe and sarah and heni and the dogs all showed up. we went to the grocery store around the corner and picked up some more beer and veggies, and they have invited us to a barbecue at the overland oasis tomorrow night. clearly we are going.
we have to get up earlyish to go to spanish class, but we don't have anything that needs to be done after that. we'll likely come back here and have a siesta, then head to the o.o. to get all the rigs situated. it might be interesting. apparently there are 2 rigs there already/will be tomorrow that will fit in the little space we parked in the other day, then the defiant, carpe viam and skyhorse all need to squeeze in. it might be tight, but it may also prove to be a fantastic feat in truculant tetris that will go down in history. not the sort of thing we'd want to miss, regardless.
after that, we're headed towards zipolite (we'll see if this happens saturday, but after a barbecue full of exciting new overlanders, well, who knows). we're super excited to be at a beach - the city is fun and nice, but some extra-hot weather, some swimming, some beachy bonfires... they sound really good about now. :)
ps - mads and andrew, WE HAVE A BOUCH!!!
Thursday 6 February 2014
day 11
february 5, 2014
7 am:
we are up bright and early for school (!!!) we are going to leave here in about half an hour, and walk downtown to school. we didn't register yesterday, so we want to get there nice and early to get that done. we're currently having lattes with vanilla and nutmeg, and eating fruit for breakfast.
good morning oaxaca!!
8:30 am:
we're at our spanish school! we've signed up for just 3 days, today through friday. we figure that we can always do more next week if we want, but for now we'll just do a few days.
i forgot to mention that last night i figured out that gina can understand multiple GPS coordinate formats! i literally squealed and hugged mike. having incorrect GPS coordinates has been one of the most frustrating things on this trip so far, and honestly i feel like a bit of a derp for not figuring it out earlier. however, at least going forward we'll have better luck finding places (i hope).
since we just showed up this morning wanting to take classes, our teacher won't be here until ten, so we're just hanging around and using the free wifi until then ;)
6 pm update:
spanish class was kind of meh. we asked the teacher for a bunch of stuff that we specifically wanted to know about re traveling (things we might need in dealing with police, asking directions, customs, etc) , but after that she didn't seem to have much to teach us, which was confusing... i assumed there would be some sort of curriculum?? anyway, we're going to go back tomorrow and if we're still not pleased, we'll ask for a refund for friday and take off to the coast.
after class, we went and wandered around the market. it was really neat, and we found a fabric store with unbelievably cheap fabric (totally going back there tomorrow to buy some). we bought a big hunk of ginger for $5 pesos (about 45 cents CAD) and 2 onions for $5 pesos as well. we were going to get some local food to eat, but the experience in the food market was just too overwhelming/frustrating for my tried self. i remember this kind of behaviour from previous trips, but i'll never get past how RUDE i think it is when every place you walk past shoves a menu in your face and yells at you. even if i was considering stopping, that just totally puts me off. i started doing the obi-wan kenobi hand wave, and telling them that i'm not the tourist they're looking for.
eventually we found our way home, and had a cerveza and a snack here, then a bit of a siesta (after a shower i would describe as lukewarm - it certainly wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold either... however the shower was 100% flipflop territiry - you could not have paid me to put my bare anything on any part of that gross little tile box).
we're looking into camping south of here, but not finding much info. we might head north instead, as mike did make copies of a bunch of info on camping in the yucatan. we'll see.
7 am:
we are up bright and early for school (!!!) we are going to leave here in about half an hour, and walk downtown to school. we didn't register yesterday, so we want to get there nice and early to get that done. we're currently having lattes with vanilla and nutmeg, and eating fruit for breakfast.
good morning oaxaca!!
8:30 am:
we're at our spanish school! we've signed up for just 3 days, today through friday. we figure that we can always do more next week if we want, but for now we'll just do a few days.
i forgot to mention that last night i figured out that gina can understand multiple GPS coordinate formats! i literally squealed and hugged mike. having incorrect GPS coordinates has been one of the most frustrating things on this trip so far, and honestly i feel like a bit of a derp for not figuring it out earlier. however, at least going forward we'll have better luck finding places (i hope).
since we just showed up this morning wanting to take classes, our teacher won't be here until ten, so we're just hanging around and using the free wifi until then ;)
6 pm update:
spanish class was kind of meh. we asked the teacher for a bunch of stuff that we specifically wanted to know about re traveling (things we might need in dealing with police, asking directions, customs, etc) , but after that she didn't seem to have much to teach us, which was confusing... i assumed there would be some sort of curriculum?? anyway, we're going to go back tomorrow and if we're still not pleased, we'll ask for a refund for friday and take off to the coast.
after class, we went and wandered around the market. it was really neat, and we found a fabric store with unbelievably cheap fabric (totally going back there tomorrow to buy some). we bought a big hunk of ginger for $5 pesos (about 45 cents CAD) and 2 onions for $5 pesos as well. we were going to get some local food to eat, but the experience in the food market was just too overwhelming/frustrating for my tried self. i remember this kind of behaviour from previous trips, but i'll never get past how RUDE i think it is when every place you walk past shoves a menu in your face and yells at you. even if i was considering stopping, that just totally puts me off. i started doing the obi-wan kenobi hand wave, and telling them that i'm not the tourist they're looking for.
eventually we found our way home, and had a cerveza and a snack here, then a bit of a siesta (after a shower i would describe as lukewarm - it certainly wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold either... however the shower was 100% flipflop territiry - you could not have paid me to put my bare anything on any part of that gross little tile box).
we're looking into camping south of here, but not finding much info. we might head north instead, as mike did make copies of a bunch of info on camping in the yucatan. we'll see.
Wednesday 5 February 2014
day 10
february 4, 2014
5 pm:
so, we finally went into town today to try to find out about spanish classes. we drove downtown and parked, and walked to the nearest school. it sounds like nowhere is going to have a place we can park and camp - parking is quite a commodity here it would seem.
the guy we talked to at the school seemed really alarmed that we had left the defiant parked on the street, and said it was only a matter of time before it got broken into, and that he'd recommend moving it asap. eep!
so, we decided to find the oaxaca trailer park and park the defiant there, then venture out on foot. sigh. this whole GPS coordinate issue is becoming problematic. in the end, gina took us within a km of the place, and we found it based on a map that we had taken a picture of in a book that toby and chloe have. mind you, this was not until we'd spent about 3 hours driving in circles and backing out of dead-end streets (at one point gina tried to convince us to drive down a staircase. thanks, girl.)
so finally we arrived, but it was already 3 pm. we are about 3 km from downtown, so the plan is to leave the defiant here all week, and walk to school. as such, we needed provisions (beer, water, fruit, etc). we opted to take a cab, and leave the truck here, so we paid for 1 night, then went to the street corner to wave one down. it took a few minutes, but we got a cab with no issue. i told the guy we want to go to walmart. he didn't understand walmart. i was thinking "wtf, it's the same in spanish dude, WALMART". i said it a few times, his face did not register recognition. so i grabbed my dictionary, opened up a page and wrote "Wal-mart". he was all "OHHHH, WALMART!". derp. what was i not getting there?
anyway, we went to walmart, restocked our supplies and took a cab back. altogether the round trip cost us $150 pesos ($13 CAD). the cabbie on the way back spoke great english, and even though he got lost and honked like a maniac at everyone, he got us home and that's what matters.
we're currently drinking rum smoothies and planning to walk into town tonight to get the lay of the land, and maybe visit some more schools (if they are still open) and probably get some dinner.
we're parked next to "skyhorse", they are friends of toby and chloe. we haven't seen them yet, but their rig is wicked, i'll post a pic when i get wifi access. it's some sort of huge truck (fire truck maybe) in the front, with an ambulance back, and a cessna on the roof, and it's painted beautifully. mike is quite jealous. oh yeah, they also have a motorcycle strapped to the back. clearly. (!!!)
see their blog here
9 pm update:
so, we met the skyhorse folks, sarah and hani, they were nice and friendly and have 2 dogs (win!). hani built their rig himself, and said it took 3 years. craziness, considering we planned this trip for all of a month before coming!!
we left the trailer park too late to go see about schools, but we walked downtown and tried to find 2 vegetarian restaurants that our (15 year old) lonely planet guide said existed. of course, neither does anymore, but we saw a pretty old church, and walked through a pedestrian street where a few vendors were selling bags and jewellery and stuff.
we also went to a scotiabank, which they apparently have in mexico, and got out some pesos. i got the vague idea that the transaction will cost me about $10 CAD to take out $3000 pesos ($270ish CAD) which is not great, but not terrible either. it's better than walking around with thousands of dollars, anyway.
we ended up going out for sushi (big surprise), and it was really good. we got deep fried tofu (in a weird sauce that i thought at first was made of some stringy pork-like meat, but turned out to be ginger and onions), and tempura and edamame and two different veggie rolls. it was all really good, and with 3 beers and a tip was about $30. not something we'll do every day, but it was nice :)
then we walked back home. now we're enjoying some weird "bud light with lime" style beer that tastes like bitchpop and advertises that it has 33% less sodium (??). we're planning to get up early tomorrow and walk to town for spanish classes. but... plans are always fluid. ;P
5 pm:
so, we finally went into town today to try to find out about spanish classes. we drove downtown and parked, and walked to the nearest school. it sounds like nowhere is going to have a place we can park and camp - parking is quite a commodity here it would seem.
the guy we talked to at the school seemed really alarmed that we had left the defiant parked on the street, and said it was only a matter of time before it got broken into, and that he'd recommend moving it asap. eep!
so, we decided to find the oaxaca trailer park and park the defiant there, then venture out on foot. sigh. this whole GPS coordinate issue is becoming problematic. in the end, gina took us within a km of the place, and we found it based on a map that we had taken a picture of in a book that toby and chloe have. mind you, this was not until we'd spent about 3 hours driving in circles and backing out of dead-end streets (at one point gina tried to convince us to drive down a staircase. thanks, girl.)
 |
| the stairs |
 |
| the defiant, clearly not cut out for stairs! |
so finally we arrived, but it was already 3 pm. we are about 3 km from downtown, so the plan is to leave the defiant here all week, and walk to school. as such, we needed provisions (beer, water, fruit, etc). we opted to take a cab, and leave the truck here, so we paid for 1 night, then went to the street corner to wave one down. it took a few minutes, but we got a cab with no issue. i told the guy we want to go to walmart. he didn't understand walmart. i was thinking "wtf, it's the same in spanish dude, WALMART". i said it a few times, his face did not register recognition. so i grabbed my dictionary, opened up a page and wrote "Wal-mart". he was all "OHHHH, WALMART!". derp. what was i not getting there?
anyway, we went to walmart, restocked our supplies and took a cab back. altogether the round trip cost us $150 pesos ($13 CAD). the cabbie on the way back spoke great english, and even though he got lost and honked like a maniac at everyone, he got us home and that's what matters.
we're currently drinking rum smoothies and planning to walk into town tonight to get the lay of the land, and maybe visit some more schools (if they are still open) and probably get some dinner.
we're parked next to "skyhorse", they are friends of toby and chloe. we haven't seen them yet, but their rig is wicked, i'll post a pic when i get wifi access. it's some sort of huge truck (fire truck maybe) in the front, with an ambulance back, and a cessna on the roof, and it's painted beautifully. mike is quite jealous. oh yeah, they also have a motorcycle strapped to the back. clearly. (!!!)
 | |
| skyhorse |
9 pm update:
so, we met the skyhorse folks, sarah and hani, they were nice and friendly and have 2 dogs (win!). hani built their rig himself, and said it took 3 years. craziness, considering we planned this trip for all of a month before coming!!
we left the trailer park too late to go see about schools, but we walked downtown and tried to find 2 vegetarian restaurants that our (15 year old) lonely planet guide said existed. of course, neither does anymore, but we saw a pretty old church, and walked through a pedestrian street where a few vendors were selling bags and jewellery and stuff.
we also went to a scotiabank, which they apparently have in mexico, and got out some pesos. i got the vague idea that the transaction will cost me about $10 CAD to take out $3000 pesos ($270ish CAD) which is not great, but not terrible either. it's better than walking around with thousands of dollars, anyway.
we ended up going out for sushi (big surprise), and it was really good. we got deep fried tofu (in a weird sauce that i thought at first was made of some stringy pork-like meat, but turned out to be ginger and onions), and tempura and edamame and two different veggie rolls. it was all really good, and with 3 beers and a tip was about $30. not something we'll do every day, but it was nice :)
then we walked back home. now we're enjoying some weird "bud light with lime" style beer that tastes like bitchpop and advertises that it has 33% less sodium (??). we're planning to get up early tomorrow and walk to town for spanish classes. but... plans are always fluid. ;P
Sunday 2 February 2014
day 9
february 3, 2014
2 pm:
so, we were in such a rush to get here to oaxaca to get spanish lessons underway, that we totally forgot that WE'RE ON VACATION. derp. so anyway, as of last night we decided to take a day or two off. we can always figure out spanish lessons. it will work out. etc.
as such, we slept until 9 today (not even that late, but we didn't set an alarm), then got up and had coffee and smoothies. i did some yoga and mike caulked a bunch of stuff (broken side view mirror, improperly sealed camper bits, etc). we cleaned and organized the camper. i skyped with my mom. i've been uploading pictures to the blog like a madwoman, and i'm now officially all caught up.
we had sandwiches with avocado and hummus and goat cheese and onion, roasted red peppers, tomato and garlic for lunch. now mike's having a siesta, and i'm debating more yoga. in a bit, we'll go for a wander, then i'm making sushi for dinner.
it's a really hard life you guys. i hope you can appreciate how much we are suffering.
also, i want to tell you about the place we're staying - the overlander oasis.
this place is amazing. really perfect. it's small - i'd guess they could fit 3 rigs like ours, but it would be tight. it's run by a canadian couple, calvin and leanne, and their dog morena (who has a gloriously adorable underbite).
calvin and leanne's place is just breathtaking. they have an old bus they have converted into a camper, and they have taken parts of buildings that were here when they bought the place, and created an outdoor kitchen and living room (basically L-shaped walls, with their bus creating the third wall, and the fourth wall totally open to the patio). there is a little grassy yard, and a fire pit. they also have a little guesthouse that they rent out. there is a bathroom for overlanders as well, a very pretty little structure with a toilet and (HOT!!) shower.
there are lots of big trees, and a parking area for overlanders and their thing.
i really couldn't recommend this place more highly. the people are very nice, and the spot is perfect (lots of shade, plenty of sun, did i mention HOT SHOWERS?!?) and it was only $200 pesos a night, $250 if you want power, and i think they said $500 for the guesthouse.
in other news, my tablet has figured out i'm in mexico, and is defaulting everything to spanish now, which is kind of annoying. i can't figure out how to change it back. guess i just have to learn spanish.
11 pm update:
a really nice couple arrived at the overland oasis today. they are toby and chloe (and you can find them at carpe viem on facebook, though i don't think they blog much) and their adorable dog tia, and we spent most of the afternoon chatting with them and exchanging stories and information. they have been on the road a couple of months, i believe, and are headed to argentina. it's awesome and inspiring to meet people who are on these adventures too. they gave us so much good information and it was a lovely way to spend our evening!
tomorrow we're going to give them a lift into town, and go look at spanish schools. there is another campground here, oaxaca trailer park (which we had heard had closed, but which toby and chloe's friends "skyhorse" are staying at, so it would seem it's still open) - it's about a 20 minute walk from downtown, so would be a good place to stay while we take classes, if none of the schools have a space for us.
i took some pictures of the overland oasis today, and i'll try to upload them in the morning. this day of rest has been much-needed and amazing. we're so happy.
2 pm:
so, we were in such a rush to get here to oaxaca to get spanish lessons underway, that we totally forgot that WE'RE ON VACATION. derp. so anyway, as of last night we decided to take a day or two off. we can always figure out spanish lessons. it will work out. etc.
as such, we slept until 9 today (not even that late, but we didn't set an alarm), then got up and had coffee and smoothies. i did some yoga and mike caulked a bunch of stuff (broken side view mirror, improperly sealed camper bits, etc). we cleaned and organized the camper. i skyped with my mom. i've been uploading pictures to the blog like a madwoman, and i'm now officially all caught up.
we had sandwiches with avocado and hummus and goat cheese and onion, roasted red peppers, tomato and garlic for lunch. now mike's having a siesta, and i'm debating more yoga. in a bit, we'll go for a wander, then i'm making sushi for dinner.
it's a really hard life you guys. i hope you can appreciate how much we are suffering.
also, i want to tell you about the place we're staying - the overlander oasis.
 |
| the front gate |
 |
| the defiant in our camp spot |
 |
| calvin and leanne's bus and living space |
this place is amazing. really perfect. it's small - i'd guess they could fit 3 rigs like ours, but it would be tight. it's run by a canadian couple, calvin and leanne, and their dog morena (who has a gloriously adorable underbite).
 |
| morena |
 |
| the view from the defiant |
calvin and leanne's place is just breathtaking. they have an old bus they have converted into a camper, and they have taken parts of buildings that were here when they bought the place, and created an outdoor kitchen and living room (basically L-shaped walls, with their bus creating the third wall, and the fourth wall totally open to the patio). there is a little grassy yard, and a fire pit. they also have a little guesthouse that they rent out. there is a bathroom for overlanders as well, a very pretty little structure with a toilet and (HOT!!) shower.
there are lots of big trees, and a parking area for overlanders and their thing.
 |
| the bathroom |
 |
| back yard |
 | |
| calvin and leanne's patio |
i really couldn't recommend this place more highly. the people are very nice, and the spot is perfect (lots of shade, plenty of sun, did i mention HOT SHOWERS?!?) and it was only $200 pesos a night, $250 if you want power, and i think they said $500 for the guesthouse.
 |
| the guesthouse |
in other news, my tablet has figured out i'm in mexico, and is defaulting everything to spanish now, which is kind of annoying. i can't figure out how to change it back. guess i just have to learn spanish.
11 pm update:
a really nice couple arrived at the overland oasis today. they are toby and chloe (and you can find them at carpe viem on facebook, though i don't think they blog much) and their adorable dog tia, and we spent most of the afternoon chatting with them and exchanging stories and information. they have been on the road a couple of months, i believe, and are headed to argentina. it's awesome and inspiring to meet people who are on these adventures too. they gave us so much good information and it was a lovely way to spend our evening!
tomorrow we're going to give them a lift into town, and go look at spanish schools. there is another campground here, oaxaca trailer park (which we had heard had closed, but which toby and chloe's friends "skyhorse" are staying at, so it would seem it's still open) - it's about a 20 minute walk from downtown, so would be a good place to stay while we take classes, if none of the schools have a space for us.
i took some pictures of the overland oasis today, and i'll try to upload them in the morning. this day of rest has been much-needed and amazing. we're so happy.
day 8
day 8 - february 2
7 am:
we just got up, after about 6 hours of sleep. there must have been some sort of festival going on here, because there was crazy music half the night, and fireworks have not stopped popping in the distance yet. i'm sipping on a cup of pumpkin spice coffee we bought from cracker barrel in the states (good, but not as good as it sounds), and preparing for my first hot mexican shower. ohhh yeah. the guy who works here came by a few minutes ago, gesturing and assuring me that the shower was calliente, good to go! this is extra exciting because it's chilly enough out this morning that i can see my breath in the air.
after showers and breakfast, we're going to go check out the pyramids, then on to oaxaca. another day in paradise! we're super excited to get to oaxaca and put down roots for a week or so - mike is tired of driving, and has started mentioning his desire for the defiant to have autopilot. lol.
8 am update:
i looked it up, and calliente DOES mean hot. i am therefore at a loss to explain the frigid experience i've just had. my fingers and toes are like ice cubes. i don't want a smoothie anymore - we're making toast instead!
10 am update:
we just went and saw the great pyramid, the church of nuestra senora de los remedios, the museum, and the tunnels under the pyramid. it was pretty cool! we were not allowed to take pictures in the museum or church, however i still got some good ones! hopefully i'll be able to upload some this week, but we're just having smoothies and checking the internets (scrap that, couldn't get a connection), then heading to oaxaca!
i met a nice overlander named lee today in the trailer park - he was probably 45ish, and he and his wife terry have been travelling in mexico since october (!!!), and he was very impressed that we'd made it from toronto in a week. they are also headed to oaxaca today, and it sounds like the only place to camp there is the overlander oasis (the place we read about last night), so we'll be seeing them there!
it was really nice to have a conversation with someone else who spoke english, lol. lee said it was the end of some week-long festival, but he couldn't remember the name of it. this is why the music and the fireworks have been going non-stop. i didn't sleep as much as i'd have liked last night, however it was worth it to get to check facebook and email people i love and post to the blog :) the coffee this morning was pretty kickass, so i'm feeling alright.
1 pm update:
WE JUST PAID OUR FIRST BRIBE YOU GUYS!!
we were driving through puebla, and went through a yellow light that turned red as we were in the intersection, and a cop pulled us over. he wouldn't accept a copy of mike's licence, so i produced the original. he told us the fine was $1200 pesos ($100 CAD), and that he would have to take mike's licence as some kind of assurance, and we could pay the fine tomorrow, because the station is not open sundays. i said NONONO we are going to oaxaca, we will go now, pay by visa? nope. we'll write you a cheque? nope. write us a ticket and we will pay at the station in oaxaca? nope. i thought for sure he was going to arrest me when i literally reached out and TOOK mike's licence from his hand, but there was no way i was letting him have it. after many "no comprende"s, and much banter, i made it clear that under no circumstances were we going to stay in town another day OR let him walk away with the driver's licence. all of this took probably 25 minutes. finally, he suggested that we pay him the fine here, now. ah ha! (you are never supposed to be the one to OFFER a bribe, gotta wait for them to ask). i told him we had no pesos, but that we could give him $10 american - i told him it was that or VISA. and so he gladly took my $10 and left - i think we were more trouble than we were worth. MUHAHAHA.
we're on the road to oaxaca now, and gina keeps trying to lead us back to the toll highway (there IS a non-toll option, which we chose to take today), however we're basically at the same point we'd be anyway, after paying senor police corruption $10. ah well. we feel like we've REALLY had the mexican experience now!
3:30 pm update:
so, it seems gina may have had a point. after spending 5 hours on the road, we've made it about 120 km (and stopped at walmart for groceries and bribed a police officer). at this rate, we'll make it to oaxaca in 2015. so, we have swallowed our pride and are taking the toll road. the road today was a nice change - lots of small towns where people looked at me like they'd never seen a blond haired, blue eyed, dreadlocked chick in a tie-dye dress.
when i did the research for this trip and saw that people were camping no more than a few hundred kilometers away from their last spot, i assumed it was just people taking their time and chilling out. not so. it seems even thinking we'd get 350 km in a day without paying tolls was a lofty goal, never to be achieved. lesson learned.
while the road today was an interesting experience, it was also FULL of topes (turns out we've been saying/spelling it wrong - there's no r), which they apparently even use in construction zones. (i think it was a surprise construction tope that took out one of the chains holding the camper in place. eep. luckily mike brought lots of ratchet straps!)
we also had a bit of a scare when i noticed that one of the side panels on the camper had popped open - we had no idea how long it had been like that, but that's where the little crank lives that pops the camper up and down. we had a bit of a heart attack thinking that the crank had been left in, and we were without a way to pop our camper up and down!! luckily mike had left the crank INSIDE the camper (a good call, it would seem) and the popped open door was just a casualty of a nasty tope. (this just in, it's happened again. bungee-corded it shut - no problemo! :)
5:45 update:
we're almost to oaxaca! we have just driven one of the most beautiful stretches of road i have ever seen - from tehuacan to oaxaca. the tolls were about $25 or $30 altogether, but after this morning's slog it was totally worth it. and the views! oh man! we've been driving through the mountains all afternoon, and the roads have been great. twists and turns and unbelievable views at every glance. i've taken more pictures today than in the entire trip so far. i was just hanging the camera out the window and clicking away like a mad tourist.
a lot of mexico so far has reminded me of the okanagan, but there have been some beautiful forested stretches that bring the rockies and kootenays to mind.
on the crazy road we've been driving today, we saw, no word of a lie, a kid sleeping in a giant bucket strapped in the back of a pickup truck. we also saw a dead cow in the back of a pickup truck :| which reminded me that we saw 2 horses in the back of a pickup truck the other day, with a rope across the back in place of a tailgate. those horses must have the balance of mountain goats!!
we've also noticed that nobody here tows trailers - they will have pickup trucks with a 10 foot pile of turnips in the back, or an actual auxiliary structure built that makes it 20 feet tall piled with all manner of goods, but no trailers. strange!
7 pm update:
we are here! oh my god this place is beautiful and when i retire from overlanding myself i'm going to open a place like this. i'm going to try to upload some pictures tonight because their wifi is awesome (and the showers ACTUALLY HOT!!!!!1). i'll take some pictures of this place in the morning and upload them, but suffice it to say, this is my dream life. and mom and dad, you guys would love this. seriously.
7 am:
we just got up, after about 6 hours of sleep. there must have been some sort of festival going on here, because there was crazy music half the night, and fireworks have not stopped popping in the distance yet. i'm sipping on a cup of pumpkin spice coffee we bought from cracker barrel in the states (good, but not as good as it sounds), and preparing for my first hot mexican shower. ohhh yeah. the guy who works here came by a few minutes ago, gesturing and assuring me that the shower was calliente, good to go! this is extra exciting because it's chilly enough out this morning that i can see my breath in the air.
after showers and breakfast, we're going to go check out the pyramids, then on to oaxaca. another day in paradise! we're super excited to get to oaxaca and put down roots for a week or so - mike is tired of driving, and has started mentioning his desire for the defiant to have autopilot. lol.
 |
| our campsite at las americas |
i looked it up, and calliente DOES mean hot. i am therefore at a loss to explain the frigid experience i've just had. my fingers and toes are like ice cubes. i don't want a smoothie anymore - we're making toast instead!
 |
| creepy old merry-go-round at las americas |
10 am update:
we just went and saw the great pyramid, the church of nuestra senora de los remedios, the museum, and the tunnels under the pyramid. it was pretty cool! we were not allowed to take pictures in the museum or church, however i still got some good ones! hopefully i'll be able to upload some this week, but we're just having smoothies and checking the internets (scrap that, couldn't get a connection), then heading to oaxaca!
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| mike atop the great pyramid at the church of nuestra senora de los remedios |
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| some local random walking down the church stairs in a unique fashion |
it was really nice to have a conversation with someone else who spoke english, lol. lee said it was the end of some week-long festival, but he couldn't remember the name of it. this is why the music and the fireworks have been going non-stop. i didn't sleep as much as i'd have liked last night, however it was worth it to get to check facebook and email people i love and post to the blog :) the coffee this morning was pretty kickass, so i'm feeling alright.
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| part way up the pyramid, with chalula in the background |
1 pm update:
WE JUST PAID OUR FIRST BRIBE YOU GUYS!!
we were driving through puebla, and went through a yellow light that turned red as we were in the intersection, and a cop pulled us over. he wouldn't accept a copy of mike's licence, so i produced the original. he told us the fine was $1200 pesos ($100 CAD), and that he would have to take mike's licence as some kind of assurance, and we could pay the fine tomorrow, because the station is not open sundays. i said NONONO we are going to oaxaca, we will go now, pay by visa? nope. we'll write you a cheque? nope. write us a ticket and we will pay at the station in oaxaca? nope. i thought for sure he was going to arrest me when i literally reached out and TOOK mike's licence from his hand, but there was no way i was letting him have it. after many "no comprende"s, and much banter, i made it clear that under no circumstances were we going to stay in town another day OR let him walk away with the driver's licence. all of this took probably 25 minutes. finally, he suggested that we pay him the fine here, now. ah ha! (you are never supposed to be the one to OFFER a bribe, gotta wait for them to ask). i told him we had no pesos, but that we could give him $10 american - i told him it was that or VISA. and so he gladly took my $10 and left - i think we were more trouble than we were worth. MUHAHAHA.
we're on the road to oaxaca now, and gina keeps trying to lead us back to the toll highway (there IS a non-toll option, which we chose to take today), however we're basically at the same point we'd be anyway, after paying senor police corruption $10. ah well. we feel like we've REALLY had the mexican experience now!
3:30 pm update:
so, it seems gina may have had a point. after spending 5 hours on the road, we've made it about 120 km (and stopped at walmart for groceries and bribed a police officer). at this rate, we'll make it to oaxaca in 2015. so, we have swallowed our pride and are taking the toll road. the road today was a nice change - lots of small towns where people looked at me like they'd never seen a blond haired, blue eyed, dreadlocked chick in a tie-dye dress.
when i did the research for this trip and saw that people were camping no more than a few hundred kilometers away from their last spot, i assumed it was just people taking their time and chilling out. not so. it seems even thinking we'd get 350 km in a day without paying tolls was a lofty goal, never to be achieved. lesson learned.
while the road today was an interesting experience, it was also FULL of topes (turns out we've been saying/spelling it wrong - there's no r), which they apparently even use in construction zones. (i think it was a surprise construction tope that took out one of the chains holding the camper in place. eep. luckily mike brought lots of ratchet straps!)
we also had a bit of a scare when i noticed that one of the side panels on the camper had popped open - we had no idea how long it had been like that, but that's where the little crank lives that pops the camper up and down. we had a bit of a heart attack thinking that the crank had been left in, and we were without a way to pop our camper up and down!! luckily mike had left the crank INSIDE the camper (a good call, it would seem) and the popped open door was just a casualty of a nasty tope. (this just in, it's happened again. bungee-corded it shut - no problemo! :)
5:45 update:
we're almost to oaxaca! we have just driven one of the most beautiful stretches of road i have ever seen - from tehuacan to oaxaca. the tolls were about $25 or $30 altogether, but after this morning's slog it was totally worth it. and the views! oh man! we've been driving through the mountains all afternoon, and the roads have been great. twists and turns and unbelievable views at every glance. i've taken more pictures today than in the entire trip so far. i was just hanging the camera out the window and clicking away like a mad tourist.
a lot of mexico so far has reminded me of the okanagan, but there have been some beautiful forested stretches that bring the rockies and kootenays to mind.
on the crazy road we've been driving today, we saw, no word of a lie, a kid sleeping in a giant bucket strapped in the back of a pickup truck. we also saw a dead cow in the back of a pickup truck :| which reminded me that we saw 2 horses in the back of a pickup truck the other day, with a rope across the back in place of a tailgate. those horses must have the balance of mountain goats!!
we've also noticed that nobody here tows trailers - they will have pickup trucks with a 10 foot pile of turnips in the back, or an actual auxiliary structure built that makes it 20 feet tall piled with all manner of goods, but no trailers. strange!
7 pm update:
we are here! oh my god this place is beautiful and when i retire from overlanding myself i'm going to open a place like this. i'm going to try to upload some pictures tonight because their wifi is awesome (and the showers ACTUALLY HOT!!!!!1). i'll take some pictures of this place in the morning and upload them, but suffice it to say, this is my dream life. and mom and dad, you guys would love this. seriously.
Saturday 1 February 2014
day 7
day 7 - february 1, 2014
noon:
we slept until 10 am, it was amazing. i feel so much more ready to deal with life after such a good sleep. we had coffee and smoothies for breakfast, and tidied the camper up a bit.
we walked around the balnearos de gogorron before we left, and it was really spectacular - i wish we had about a week to spend here. maybe on the way back, anyway :) but for now we chose sleep over exploration, and it was the right choice. there are a bunch of pools (i saw at least 4, though 1 was closed for maintenance), and at least 4 water slides, one of which was HUGE. there were maybe 50 people there today (y'know those crazies who are out swimming in the winter. it was about 25 degrees when we woke up, and the temperature is still climbing), and of course i got ogled/whistled at by a group of men hanging out around the pool. this is pretty standard latin american attitude in my experience, so i just ignored it.
however, i was thinking about last night, and when we were trying to clarify where to camp with the security guard, he kept talking to mike, despite the fact that i clearly understood more of what he was saying, and was the one doing the talking. this obviously annoys me, because while i can handle being whistled at, i have a harder time with being ignored. really, the guy was nice, and we got what we needed, but it's interesting to see how subtly different it is from canada. and i suppose sometimes the same, however i don't know enough spanish to go on a feminist tirade at this guy, so i guess i'm more willing to accept that sort of behaviour here.
we're headed to a small town east of mexico city, we'll be camping tonight near the town of puebla. it appears to be a national park. gina has agreed to lead us there, and estimates it will take almost 7 hours. hopefully that's not the case, as we'll end up driving in the dark again... however sleep = totally worth it, so whatever. we'll live.
this has seriously been the adventure of a lifetime so far, and we're only a week into it! we are happy and healthy and having a blast. i hope i can get to a place with internet soon so that i can upload all these posts. i talked to my mom on the phone yesterday, but i'm sure everyone else is wondering, since i posted "headed to mexico" then dropped off the face of the earth. lol. don't worry friends, we are bueno!
update:
i just worked out our costs so far (this is ON the trip, not including stuff like vaccines, $200 trailer, pre-trip truck maintenence, etc). these are approximate and in CAD
tolls $71
gas $750
eating out $145 (but they don't seem to have starbucks here, so that will go way down from here on out!)
groceries $88
truck deposit to bring it into mexico $300
hotels $131 (two nights in the USA where it was too cold to camp)
camping $25
parking $.50!!
misc $400 (this includes random stuff like socks and lights for the trailer and an extra car battery, scanner/printer, etc)
insurance for mexico $112
phones $42
total $2064
this seems pretty reasonable, all things considered, and most of the big non-gas costs were in the states, and were one-time only costs. whereas the defiant costs about $175 to fill up with diesel in toronto, here it's just over $100, which is pretty damn sweet.
4 pm update:
still 200 km to go to our camping destination for tonight. however, since we got a solid sleep we're in WAY better shape today than we were yesterday. we're on the toll highway between queretaro and mexico city (only $140 pesos, not bad - actually got worse, there were tons more tolls) and by the end of the day will have done about 550 km today.
i have looked up fun things to do near puebla, and there is an "african lion safari" type thing where you can drive in to where all the animals are kept, which sounds cool. also, (and even more exciting, in my nerdy opinion) there is a zona arquelogica with pyramids (landing platforms for gou'uld ships?!?!) and a museum. you can hike to the top of the largest pyramid, and everything is free on sundays! i'm hoping we have enough time to spend the morning climbing pyramids and the afternoon driving to oaxaca.
we still have not been pulled over or asked for bribes, unless you consider obscenely expensive highway tolls bribery. i also paid a guy $3 pesos to use a bathroom yesterday. i'm not sure if it was legitimately his right to ask me to pay, however that's like 25 cents canadian, and i always have the "they probably need it more than i do" attitude about such things.
11 pm update:
what a day!! first off, it was not short - we literally just got settled into our campsite for the night and it's toooo late. where to begin.
we had our third encounter with the policia today. it was a bit nervewracking, but fine, really. they had a roadside checkpoint set up and waved us in. i was most worried because i was smoking a drum at the time, and was terrified they'd think it was a joint, so i was all sketchy hiding it. anyway, they asked for mike's driver's licence, and we gave them a photocopy. that wasn't good enough, so we retrieved the original from the camper. they said "s'ok michael" and sent us on our way. no bribes, no trouble.
next, we experienced mexico city. we decided not to stop there for lunch since we slept until 10 am and didn't leave gogorron until 11. thank god we didn't stop there, because even driving constantly it took us FOUR HOURS to get through the city. we paid probably $40 in tolls just around mexico city, and didn't even drive through the center or anything, but it was insane. we were literally in stop and go traffic for 4 hours, and it's a weekend! mike was amazed and delighted to see the people standing on the dotted lines selling cigarettes, snacks, stuffed toys, you name it.
mexico city is at 2240 meters above sea level, but after (finally) clearing the city, the highway climbed and climbed. it was dark by this point, sadly, because i think it would have been breathtaking in the daylight. we were climbing at about 55 m per km for at least half an hour (i'm guessing more), and topped out at 3200 m. the road was beautifully paved, and people were driving like maniacs - hard to blame them after 4 hours of gridlock.
we were aiming for popocatepetl (an active volcano!!) and iztaccihuatl national park, where mike found information about camping. personally, i think we came at it from the wrong way (down the highway to puebla, as opposed to the highway to cuautla), but gina told us that was the right way to go, and we trusted her judgement (which, it turns out, is not always good. she's a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes, although mostly helpful. i think she has some sort of deal with the mexican government to take us through every toll road in existence). anyway, we ended up doing a bit more after-dark offroading, and decided to turn back when we hit an impassible little road on the outskirts of huejotzingo. at this point it was already 9 pm, and we were doing "that thing" we've been told not to again - driving well after dark in strange areas. anyways, it was fine. we stopped at a pemax (mexican gas station) and looked at the camping information i had printed out for the trip. we found a place in nearby cholula called "trailer park las americas", which was promised to be friendly and safe.
well, it seems that GPS coordinates are not all made equal, and we have found a few times that gina doesn't understand/work in the same format as many other GPSs. regardless, we got totally lost and did a backalley tour of cholula. we almost busted somebody's sideview mirror off navigating the defiant down a narrow alley. when we passed "the place" with no las americas in sight, gina appeared to offer us an alternate way to get there... which turned out to be just her directing us in a huge circle back to the same place. argh. so, frustrated, at 10 pm, we pulled into a pemax to regroup. i was looking at web pages that i had saved as PDF
documents on my tablet, and found a listing for "las americanos" in cholula, but the GPS coordinates were at 96 degrees, which is super far away. i thought "maybe they put 96 instead of 98 - they have the same town, and almost the same name of the place." so we tried it. i am not a religious person, but i was on the verge of prayer. WE FOUND IT. they posted the GPS coordinates with a mistake but we bloody well found it. SIGH. OF. RELIEF. so now, we're here drinking gas station beers and wondering why there are fireworks going off around us.
mike is convinced he's developing a spidey-like tropes-sense to detect these awful, giant, concealed speedbumps. it's not that hard during the day, but at night those fuckers really sneak up on you. anyway, i have no reason to believe he's wrong about this, so i just hope it keeps up. we've had another round of tropes-based trouble... when we arrived here, the toaster and the kitchen table had both been banging about in the camper for hours. anyway, the table is propped back up and the toaster seems fine. at least the magic bullet wasn't damaged!!
we're planning on getting up bright and early tomorrow morning and going to shower and then explore the pyramids before heading to oaxaca (350 km). we just found a campsite called overlander oasis run by a canadian (!!!) couple just outside oaxaca. it sounds really promising.
we're learning why these trips take people so long - we've been a bit overambitious in our goals, and have learned from the experience. i'm glad we'll be in oaxaca tomorrow where we can NOT DRIVE for a week or so, but once we hit the road again, we're going to take it a heck of a lot easier - hopefully made even more manageable by our newly-learned spanish! (however, i have to say that i've been quite impressed with my ability so far to get us by. speaking enough spanish to explain our needs, but not enough to be hassled because people just think we're lost tourists - which we MAY be. it's kind of ideal...)
noon:
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| the most important part of the day! |
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| our campsite at the balnearos de gogorron |
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| wild (ish) life! |
we slept until 10 am, it was amazing. i feel so much more ready to deal with life after such a good sleep. we had coffee and smoothies for breakfast, and tidied the camper up a bit.
we walked around the balnearos de gogorron before we left, and it was really spectacular - i wish we had about a week to spend here. maybe on the way back, anyway :) but for now we chose sleep over exploration, and it was the right choice. there are a bunch of pools (i saw at least 4, though 1 was closed for maintenance), and at least 4 water slides, one of which was HUGE. there were maybe 50 people there today (y'know those crazies who are out swimming in the winter. it was about 25 degrees when we woke up, and the temperature is still climbing), and of course i got ogled/whistled at by a group of men hanging out around the pool. this is pretty standard latin american attitude in my experience, so i just ignored it.
however, i was thinking about last night, and when we were trying to clarify where to camp with the security guard, he kept talking to mike, despite the fact that i clearly understood more of what he was saying, and was the one doing the talking. this obviously annoys me, because while i can handle being whistled at, i have a harder time with being ignored. really, the guy was nice, and we got what we needed, but it's interesting to see how subtly different it is from canada. and i suppose sometimes the same, however i don't know enough spanish to go on a feminist tirade at this guy, so i guess i'm more willing to accept that sort of behaviour here.
 |
| i've seen plants like these before in cuba - i believe they live off the poisture in the air. can anyone verify? |
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| giant water slide, and a herd of sheep! |
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| at the balnearos |
we're headed to a small town east of mexico city, we'll be camping tonight near the town of puebla. it appears to be a national park. gina has agreed to lead us there, and estimates it will take almost 7 hours. hopefully that's not the case, as we'll end up driving in the dark again... however sleep = totally worth it, so whatever. we'll live.
 |
| villa de reyes, after leaving gogorron |
this has seriously been the adventure of a lifetime so far, and we're only a week into it! we are happy and healthy and having a blast. i hope i can get to a place with internet soon so that i can upload all these posts. i talked to my mom on the phone yesterday, but i'm sure everyone else is wondering, since i posted "headed to mexico" then dropped off the face of the earth. lol. don't worry friends, we are bueno!
update:
i just worked out our costs so far (this is ON the trip, not including stuff like vaccines, $200 trailer, pre-trip truck maintenence, etc). these are approximate and in CAD
tolls $71
gas $750
eating out $145 (but they don't seem to have starbucks here, so that will go way down from here on out!)
groceries $88
truck deposit to bring it into mexico $300
hotels $131 (two nights in the USA where it was too cold to camp)
camping $25
parking $.50!!
misc $400 (this includes random stuff like socks and lights for the trailer and an extra car battery, scanner/printer, etc)
insurance for mexico $112
phones $42
total $2064
this seems pretty reasonable, all things considered, and most of the big non-gas costs were in the states, and were one-time only costs. whereas the defiant costs about $175 to fill up with diesel in toronto, here it's just over $100, which is pretty damn sweet.
4 pm update:
still 200 km to go to our camping destination for tonight. however, since we got a solid sleep we're in WAY better shape today than we were yesterday. we're on the toll highway between queretaro and mexico city (only $140 pesos, not bad - actually got worse, there were tons more tolls) and by the end of the day will have done about 550 km today.
i have looked up fun things to do near puebla, and there is an "african lion safari" type thing where you can drive in to where all the animals are kept, which sounds cool. also, (and even more exciting, in my nerdy opinion) there is a zona arquelogica with pyramids (landing platforms for gou'uld ships?!?!) and a museum. you can hike to the top of the largest pyramid, and everything is free on sundays! i'm hoping we have enough time to spend the morning climbing pyramids and the afternoon driving to oaxaca.
we still have not been pulled over or asked for bribes, unless you consider obscenely expensive highway tolls bribery. i also paid a guy $3 pesos to use a bathroom yesterday. i'm not sure if it was legitimately his right to ask me to pay, however that's like 25 cents canadian, and i always have the "they probably need it more than i do" attitude about such things.
11 pm update:
what a day!! first off, it was not short - we literally just got settled into our campsite for the night and it's toooo late. where to begin.
we had our third encounter with the policia today. it was a bit nervewracking, but fine, really. they had a roadside checkpoint set up and waved us in. i was most worried because i was smoking a drum at the time, and was terrified they'd think it was a joint, so i was all sketchy hiding it. anyway, they asked for mike's driver's licence, and we gave them a photocopy. that wasn't good enough, so we retrieved the original from the camper. they said "s'ok michael" and sent us on our way. no bribes, no trouble.
next, we experienced mexico city. we decided not to stop there for lunch since we slept until 10 am and didn't leave gogorron until 11. thank god we didn't stop there, because even driving constantly it took us FOUR HOURS to get through the city. we paid probably $40 in tolls just around mexico city, and didn't even drive through the center or anything, but it was insane. we were literally in stop and go traffic for 4 hours, and it's a weekend! mike was amazed and delighted to see the people standing on the dotted lines selling cigarettes, snacks, stuffed toys, you name it.
 |
| outskirts of mexico city |
 |
| our first mexican traffic jam! |
mexico city is at 2240 meters above sea level, but after (finally) clearing the city, the highway climbed and climbed. it was dark by this point, sadly, because i think it would have been breathtaking in the daylight. we were climbing at about 55 m per km for at least half an hour (i'm guessing more), and topped out at 3200 m. the road was beautifully paved, and people were driving like maniacs - hard to blame them after 4 hours of gridlock.
we were aiming for popocatepetl (an active volcano!!) and iztaccihuatl national park, where mike found information about camping. personally, i think we came at it from the wrong way (down the highway to puebla, as opposed to the highway to cuautla), but gina told us that was the right way to go, and we trusted her judgement (which, it turns out, is not always good. she's a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes, although mostly helpful. i think she has some sort of deal with the mexican government to take us through every toll road in existence). anyway, we ended up doing a bit more after-dark offroading, and decided to turn back when we hit an impassible little road on the outskirts of huejotzingo. at this point it was already 9 pm, and we were doing "that thing" we've been told not to again - driving well after dark in strange areas. anyways, it was fine. we stopped at a pemax (mexican gas station) and looked at the camping information i had printed out for the trip. we found a place in nearby cholula called "trailer park las americas", which was promised to be friendly and safe.
well, it seems that GPS coordinates are not all made equal, and we have found a few times that gina doesn't understand/work in the same format as many other GPSs. regardless, we got totally lost and did a backalley tour of cholula. we almost busted somebody's sideview mirror off navigating the defiant down a narrow alley. when we passed "the place" with no las americas in sight, gina appeared to offer us an alternate way to get there... which turned out to be just her directing us in a huge circle back to the same place. argh. so, frustrated, at 10 pm, we pulled into a pemax to regroup. i was looking at web pages that i had saved as PDF
documents on my tablet, and found a listing for "las americanos" in cholula, but the GPS coordinates were at 96 degrees, which is super far away. i thought "maybe they put 96 instead of 98 - they have the same town, and almost the same name of the place." so we tried it. i am not a religious person, but i was on the verge of prayer. WE FOUND IT. they posted the GPS coordinates with a mistake but we bloody well found it. SIGH. OF. RELIEF. so now, we're here drinking gas station beers and wondering why there are fireworks going off around us.
mike is convinced he's developing a spidey-like tropes-sense to detect these awful, giant, concealed speedbumps. it's not that hard during the day, but at night those fuckers really sneak up on you. anyway, i have no reason to believe he's wrong about this, so i just hope it keeps up. we've had another round of tropes-based trouble... when we arrived here, the toaster and the kitchen table had both been banging about in the camper for hours. anyway, the table is propped back up and the toaster seems fine. at least the magic bullet wasn't damaged!!
 |
| thanks, tropes. |
we're planning on getting up bright and early tomorrow morning and going to shower and then explore the pyramids before heading to oaxaca (350 km). we just found a campsite called overlander oasis run by a canadian (!!!) couple just outside oaxaca. it sounds really promising.
we're learning why these trips take people so long - we've been a bit overambitious in our goals, and have learned from the experience. i'm glad we'll be in oaxaca tomorrow where we can NOT DRIVE for a week or so, but once we hit the road again, we're going to take it a heck of a lot easier - hopefully made even more manageable by our newly-learned spanish! (however, i have to say that i've been quite impressed with my ability so far to get us by. speaking enough spanish to explain our needs, but not enough to be hassled because people just think we're lost tourists - which we MAY be. it's kind of ideal...)
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