The Road to Oaxaca - According to David

One of the very enjoyable aspects of travel in Mexico is the wide variety of climate and scenery options available. After spending two weeks at the beach we chose to head inland to the mountains on Monday. So we spent
6 1/2 hours winding through pine valleys as we headed for the state capital of Oaxaca City.

These roads are some of the most challenging you can ever drive on. Sometimes I wished I had our Honda Civic as we had to slow right down in the Ford Escape to negoiate the many 90 degree turns. Then again some of the pot holes and speed bumps would kill the poor Civic. Good thing we
were driving the Escape, as half way though our trip we had a very unexpected detour.

We had just fuelled up in Miahuatlan when we crested a hill on highway 175 and see that traffic is all backed up. I get out of the truck and walk up to the front of the line of stopped cars, trucks and buses to be greeted by a large group of angry looking men with clubs and machetes. I ask what the problem is and they tell me that they are closing down the only road to Oaxaca in protest of the state government. So here we are stuck in the middle of nowhere.

I start talking to some of the other drivers and find out that a local rancher is willing to take us via the local dirt and washed out river bed roads to a route around the manifestation. So here we go, a rag tag group of truck drivers and gringos including a couple from BC in their 1997 Dodge Caravan winding through dirt roads, riverbeds and through a small river as we all follow this rancher in his old Nissan pick up with the biggest cow I had ever seen in it. It was surreal. As I see us getting further and further into the middle of nowhere the thought crosses my mind that this guy could be leading us out of town to rob the whole group of us.

Scenes of deliverance flashing through our minds we come upon this little village in you guessed it the middle of nowhere in which the whole town has turned up to watch a basketball game. As we drive by the dirt path that acts as the main street the whole town looks at this rag tag group driving through and wonders who the hell we are? This could only happen in Mexico. Finally the rancher leaves our group for home and says just keep going straight and you will rejoin the highway and we did. We stopped at the side of the road with John and Mary from BC as they let their dog and cat out for a pee and just laughed at what we had just done.Chole did not join the pee break as she does not trust cats on foreign soil even if they claim to be Canadian.

We found a great little colonial hotel which allowed dogs and we have been enjoying the sights of our new home. Today we went and saw a park with the world's biggest redwood trees. One is 14 metres in diameter and is over 2000 years old. I think this is the most awesome thing I have ever seen in my life. You sit in the shade of this great tree and take in the sounds of the birds and feel the cool breezes and and be thankful to just be here.