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.
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