Puebla / Oaxaca

I arrived in Puebla about a month ago. I have been anticipating meeting up with my friends Daniel and Pamela for some time. Dan and Pam had been touring the United States and Canada for over a year. I met them at the Overland Expo in Arizona two years ago, and hosted them in my home when they came through the state of Washington. They had just arrived back in to Mexico and were planning the next chapter of their life with hopes to go back to the United States and work at a restaurant in Houston. In the mean time they were my gracious host showing me around Puebla, and Cholula. They also were kind enough to take me to the famous Teotihuacan Pyramids in Mexico City.

I spent my time in Puebla getting to know the city and taking advantage on the time with some Spanish lessons while I awaited yet another package from the USA. Hopefully this will be the final package, as shipping has been very expensive and really cutting into my budget. Anyways, Spanish is HARD!!!! Mainly the verbs, which is what I worked on for two weeks until my head imploded. There seems to be two words for everything, and then is it female, or male, and then is past, present and future. So know all of this seems impossible. But, I think with some time and more lessons I should be okay. My vocabulary certainly has been expanding. I still relate to Maslows theory of Needs to learning a language. Food, and shelter, then security, then social, and so on. So for two weeks, every day, I went to my Spanish lesson.

Pamela and Daniel were working on obtaining their Visas for the USA and had to go to the Yucatan for interviews and stool samples. Not knowing whether they would get their Visas, we had made two plans. A) They get the Visas and we take a trip to Oaxaca, or B, we ride through Central America together. Well we ended up with option A. which is what we were all hoping for. So, off to Oaxaca we went, and from there I would venture off on my own once again.

Pam decided to skip Oaxaca which made this a “Boys weekend”. We rode to Oaxaca on our bikes and stayed at a Hostel that a friend recommended on Ioverlander. Now, this is the first Hostel I’ve actually stayed at, and I had this vision of people from all around the world gathering and socializing at the hostel. And even though the hostel was full, we hardly ever saw anyone. Maybe it was just the time of year, or the people staying there, but really, I was kind of disappointed.

My whole trip has really become about meeting people. Cool places are secondary. I’ve actually made decisions on places to go based off of meeting up with people. I’ve probably skipped some really cool geographical places because of this. When I should be getting on the road, I’ve decided to stay just a few more days because of the amazing people I’ve met.

Back to Oaxaca. Dan and I spend a few nights there. Oaxaca is famous for its Mescal. Mescal is variation of Tequila. Where Tequila, by law can only be made from the Blue Agave plant, Mescal can be made from about 30 different Agave plans and has a different distilling process. This leads to the smokey flavor in Mescal. Either way, to me, it’s a vile liquid that should be used to remove the rusted paint of the Titanic.

While in Oaxaca, Dan and I took a day trip out to see the Hierve el Agua, a warm spring that has built a massive calcium deposit over a several cliffs. It’s basically a big ass Stalactite. Once again, here in Mexico, there is no hand holding. There are no safety rails keeping you from falling several hundred feet to your death is you make the poor decision to get that “selfie” on the edge on a slippery calcium deposit.

It was time for Dan to get back to Puebla and prepare for his departure to Houston. And for me, it was time to head to the beach. This was actually my first time to a beach on the ocean here in Mexico. I’ve been in Mexico for four months now, and this was the first time I actually am going to the beach! The road to Puerto Escondido was amazing. There are several routes from Oaxaca to Escondido, and any one of them has more curves than a Jay-Lo convention. And although the road is only 200km from Oaxaca to Escondido, it took almost 6 hours to get there.

Fortunately for me, I got on Couch Surfing several days before, and managed to find a host near the beach. My host, Hecka, was actually out of town, but was kind enough and faithful enough to leave me keys to his house. Needless to say, people are awesome. I enjoyed a few days on the beach. The night I arrived, I must have walked about 8 miles along the beach, and found a yoga studio that I could do my practice at. The yoga studio was owned by a lovey lady who also owned the attached restaurant. Being that it was Super Bowl Sunday, I decided to join the crown in the restaurant and watch probably one of the most exciting Super Bowl games in history. And I’m not a football fan.

One thing that I can confirm about me, is that I am not a huge beach person. Growing up, I spent my summers at the beach in Massachusetts. My grandmother had a place at a trailer park, and I lived on the beach. But now, not so much. My pale Northwest complexion suits me fine, and keeps me looking young and healthy. So after just a few days of intense sun and sand I was ready for the mountains and more temperate climate. Back to Oaxaca and then back to Puebla for one last package pickup. Thanks to Mosko Moto, they were kind enough to send me some locking straps, a new t-shirt and hat.

From here I will be moving on to Chiapas. Everyone I’ve met in Mexico says the Chiapas is amazing. I think I am in for a treat! Until next time!