Monthly Archives: April 2010

Oaxacacaca

oaxacacaOn with the story! From Mexico City we traveled to Oaxaca city which is the capital of the Oaxaca region of Mexico. We got a night bus. Not any old night bus, but a super luxury first class night bus. The chairs were about twice as wide as an airplane economy seat, and you can LIE DOWN(!) in it. Pretty damned awesome!!! (and incredibly cheap!) The roads were a bit windy, so it was hard to sleep, but we just lay there in such decadent library. Oh, megabus would you please take a leaf out of their book?

In Oaxaca, (pronounced Wahaka) we went to a market, had some traditional food: tamales and this weird ricey hot chocolate, while some guys played a marimba type thing. I also bought about half a kilo of beef jerky for like 50p or something, and devoured it at an alarming rate. I didn’t let myself buy any more.

The next day, we took a trip up a mountain to a spring, it was like a natural swimming pool up there, with an incredible view, practically all to ourselves. Then loads of people turned up so we left.

To get there we got a bus then a “collectivo” which was a sort of truck with a wendy house on the back that you get in, it was a bit like being in the army, but bumpier. Some locals jumped on the back for a free ride and stared at us a bit.

The next day, we went to some mountain villages. We met the mayor of one of the towns, he invited us in to the town hall, which was just a room with pictures of other mayors. He was very proud of it. He asked us all to write in his visitors book (I guess, to prove that people actually go there), I wrote something about the nice ducks that they had.

Then we walked into this old woman’s house and demanded that she make us lunch, or that’s how it appeared to me, I didn’t understand what was going on, the others just spoke spanish at her and we got our mexican pizza things – tlayudas.

After that we went to another village and went on some natural sight seeing tour, but there was no tour guide, so the tourism office put us in a car with this 14 year old who was supposed to show us stuff.

We had a wander in some caves with water in it, and he offered to take us through the dark cave river to the other side, but I didn’t want to get my shoes soaked, so we just went around to the other side, and jumped in the water there in our underwear. For about 3 seconds. It was freezing. Colder than freezing. My manhood became a smurfhood. That cold.

Next stop, the beach!!!

Mexico, round 1.

mexico round 1So, Mexico. I’ve actually been back for a while, but you know what I’m like.

Flight was pretty painless (and cheap: continental). Stayed in this weird hotel in Mexico City, faux marble entrance, it looked quite swish, then when we got to the upstairs where the rooms were, it was all bright orange and green walls, quite bizarre, but I liked it. The room had this weird swimming pool-type ceiling, as in, it looked like a very shallow upside down swimming pool.

Oh, I forgot to say, when I arrived, it was pissing it down. And freezing. Not what you’d like to expect having forked out £500 to escape London Winter.

Got to sample real Mexican food for the first time. Lots of eggs and cheese. Even cheese in soups. It’s also actually acceptable to put chilli sauce on anything (they had red sauce and green sauce). And lime. Lime on everything. Awesome!!!

So for the next few days we wandered round Mexico City, drinking cactus juice, went to some art galleries, was forced to go to some live music place with loads of old people dancing etc etc.

It was really European. It could almost have been Europe. I guess I didn’t really like that part of it, because I was trying to escape. One cool thing, though, was my first experience of Mexican seafood. And the first I heard of the myth of prawn beer. Prawn beer is basically when they put tomato juice, lime, salt and PRAWNS into a glass of beer and give it to you. I think you’re supposed to drink it.

I couldn’t find it anywhere, but there was a version called Michelada, which was just the beer, lime, salt and tomato juice. It was ok! I’m still here, aren’t I?

Eventually, the sun came out, and we went to see some pyramids (Teotihuacán). So I got burnt. Not terribly burnt, but enough to make me look like a tourist. That’s how I learnt the word for prawn (camarón). I was pretty pink.

The pyramids were ok, but I sometimes get a little disillusioned with ancient wonders (such as the previously mentioned terracotta warriors of Xian) It was nice to be in the sun.