I´ve got two words for you:
Dodge. Ram.
Fuck Yea.
What a name for a car. I don´t know about you but it makes me want to run a blockade somewhere in one! These guys look like pocket battleship versions of Optimus Prime. Sweet!
Anyway they are everywhere in Mexico. The locals have 15-30 year old versions which seem to run forever, carting food, passengers and bulls around the country, on the bumpiest, most gravelly, sandiest, most pothole ridden roads I´ve ever seen, over long, long distances. We write off giant yank tanks in Australia as stupid excess but here in Mexico they make good, good sense*. They are big, tough, versatile and simple to fix when they break. The only alternative I´ve seen is the Toyota Hilux which is also a cool car. These trucks are fantastic. The army uses them to cart sections of troops around in the tray. I don´t have much experience in the matter but I´m sure Mexico is one of the only places where a truck full of guys with M16´s can stop in the middle of the road and take positions...only for the cars behind them to bang on their horns hoping they´ll get out of the way.
To envisage leaving Mexico City: Think of a vineyard, with rows and rows of organised, beautiful green vines, flowering far into the distance into the hills beyond. There is a haze over the vineyard because of the pollen produced by the flowers. Now, replace the vines with small, grey brick, tin roofed slums, stretching to the horizon, to the hills (and often, halfway up them) in the distance. Change the pollen haze to a dust cloud, brown/grey in colour and dry as a Richie Benauds sense of humour. That is the vista for 40 minutes as you leave Mexico City to the South. The majority of these people do it very tough. It made me realise how they can pack over 20m people into one city.
As I made my way from Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido I got on a camionetta (minivan) which took me through the mountains and some of the most fantastic natural scenery I´ve ever seen. The driver was a short, fat, moustachio´d man who stopped the van every 60 minutes so he could buy a lollipop, or taco, or chocolate, or red bull or something of that nature. He wasn´t that concerned about his health. So I knew, when I offered him a chocolate Oreo in the mountains between Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido, that he wasn´t going to say no! He drove six hours through curving mountain passes dodging other vehicles, potholes and fallen rocks, with one hand in a packet of chips and the other swapping between the steering wheel and his two way radio.
Prior to coming to Puerto Escondido I went hiking in the mountains around Oaxaca city. I ended up at a tiny pueblo (mountain village) called Calpulalpam. Getting there took about 5 hours even though it was only about 12km from Ixtlan because I was walking with a German I´d met in Mexico City. She was pretty cool, called Carina. Since I got here I´ve met 4 Germans. 2 were studying physics, one geophysics and one specialised in...mathematics. Das Deutsch are different, but I like them, they seem very open minded and happy to try new things. And they don´t muck around with Arts degrees either by the look of it.
We hiked to the top of this tiny peublo and found a small guest house, right at the top of the mountain.
Me in front of some dirt before we got to the guesthouse-it was green for some reason in real life hence the photo...
Visions of God!
From the viewing area of the guesthouse
Beam me up!
It was a tough getting to the top but the view down the valley once we got there was very special. It was easily one of the most beautiful things I´ve ever seen. The clouds which gathered towards dusk parted slowly and let the rays of the dying sun shine through, like ghostly spotlights on the steep forested valley below...and for a moment I understood why the people around here believe in God so strongly. I began to think of all the girls I´ve ever loved...
A (very) short time later I recalled I´d been walking all day so bought a six pack, found a resturaunt and enjoyed the view while downing some frijoles (black beans) hammered carne (meat) and pan (rolled bread) with a few extra tomato´s on the side. Delicious. Jokes aside, it´s easy to become reflective when faced with the real beauty of nature.
For a hard earned thirst
*Apologies to AC/DC
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