Christmas Break: From Smog to Dust to Sand and Back Again (A Series of Updates from the State of Oaxaca)

This shall be a series of retroactive posts. I having a hard time typing it all up. If you are the few that receive email updates, I apologize for the onslaught.

12/23/09 - Oaxaca City Day 3 of the Voyage West:

So long ago I use to begin every movement with a writing. For now, time is passing with camera shots, watercolors, and conversations. I have let the art of chronicling slip away from me, but with yet another daydream: to start again.

This time, I am thinking about the brilliance of writing a travel article about Mexico and dogs. The task seems daunting, but perhaps to start small is the key. Maybe I start with an article just about Oaxaca City and the surrounding areas? Maybe just the coast and the dogs? Eventually it would be great to chronicle the whole thing: the truck, the dogs, the sites, the routes, etc.

Today was spent in the mountains. We loaded up the dogs and began a steep ascent into the sun scorched dessert. The hills and the valleys were all brown with thirst. As we crept through the small towns, we found our pothole covered road which went nowhere but up up up. We climbed the mountains for the better part of an hour. As we reached the summit of the mountain, we hooked around the crest and the thirsty dessert gave way to endless pure forest--lush and green and peppered with cactus.

Several towns in these highlands joined in a cooperative of ecotourism. We drove to Cuajimoloyas and hopped off at the town center. We packed up "The Whip" (thanks Joe for the insperado on my truck's new name) out front, paid the $50 pesos to the tourist center, and a local guide lead us to the trail head. At nearly 9000 ft, the ascent was slow, but the weather was perfect. Cool and sunny, the vistas extended in all directions. Bromiliads, moss, and licon dotted all aspects of the trail. The dogs zipped up and down the switch backs. We stopped for some water near the top. The dogs lapped it all up out of a ripped plastic bag.

The top of the mirador was adulterated with a power line tower, but if you turned your back and faced outward from the pinacle, all you saw was the sprawling exapanse of the Sierra Norte. Clear cut patches of forest dotted the hillsides along with the brick red tin roofs of the highland communities.

Strong gusts of wind met us as we sat cross legged on a rock jetting out into infinity. Our conversations meandered from life's true meaning to happiness at twenty-six years old. THe dogs found cracks and caves to explore and eventually found shade. We took a timed photo. My first attempt was a mistimed event.

We skipped down the hill and stopped in a comedor--who knows when the last time the abuelita running the joint cooked for someone. Although we were famished, the amount of time it took her to make a smoothie discouraged us from ordering anything further. The dogs laid in the grass in the courtyard. A small girl entered the store, and the dogs barked briefly; she looked horrified. As we continued to wait, I snacked on some chapulines (chili covered grasshoppers). Jamie tried one, and nearly puked. In small doses, I find them delightful, but if I rage too hard, they get a little rough. The flavor is great, the crunch okay, and the legs stuck in your teeth, are manigable. They have become a great driving snack. They are high in protein. I hate them and I love them--its magic in a bag.

We headed back, showered and siestad. We then made our way to La Noche de Los Rabanos (The Night of the Radishes). People swarmed the zocalo like locusts, all to catch a glimpse of the artist manipulated radishes which took shape in scenes as wide and varied as Carnival and the birth of Jesus. It was a spectacle, but one that was overwhelmingly crowded. We wound up vacating to a street side cafe for a few Mescals and cervezas. There was little relief from the fray, and we eventually took to a modified pub crawl on the side streets of Oaxaca City. I bought some sparklers from a little street kid. I burned one down, and the pictures were less than exciting, so we packed it in for the night.

Okay, so this is an update which is out of place, but I trust you will be able to follow.