Roast at the coast!

State of Oaxaca

Puerto Escondido and environs

3-March-2016

After 3 weeks on the road we finally found a beach!

5 hours through the mountains of Oaxaca landed us in the hippie throwback town of Puerto Escondido.

Carol found a German innkeeper Swimmbot mit Wellen (not his real name) who had a nice place (MozartVillaS), We got a room  and we ate a few barracuda fish tacos, drank some mescal and Called it a night.

Bright and early this morning we got a coffee and fired off down the highway about 20 kilometers to Laguna Manialtepec. It was pretty amazing boat ride we took with CapitanAugustin.

The pictures speak for themselves.

Bile that cabbage down, Jose .

State of Oaxaca 

East of Mitla

01-March-2016

Hierve el Agua.

Literally boil the water in Spanish.

Upwelling springs carrying calcium carbonate deposited over thousands of years create a pretty spectacular set of "petrified waterfalls" east of Oaxaca city.

The water was approximately ambient temperature. There was no boiling of any kind.

Some ancient canals carved by people in the rocks thousands of years ago.

Good place to not be in a zone

Semi-obligatory cute burro photo

On his white horse mescalito.....

State of Oaxaca 

01-March-2016

If somebody is going to name a road the Mescal Trail then somebody or something is going to go down it.

The Cobra gunship was up to the challenge.

There are dozens of mescal makers along the trail which is really much more of a paved highway.

Here is the one we pulled into.

The maguey pinas are first cooked to convert complex carbohydrate to fermentable  sugar

Big stone wheel crushes the cooked maguey

Local "Mescal Hotty" stirs the mash. It now spontaneously ferments for 4 or 5 days

Ella Es MUY caliente !!!

Then double distillation in the still

Pine charred oak barrels for 4 years or more.

Me and my new best friend

The finished products. Note the empty jug at left. If you take it by the jug (2 or 5 gallon) you can get it for about half price. I opted for bottles.

Viva Benito Juarez!

Ciudad de Oaxaca 

Pueblo Benito Juarez 

State of Oaxaca 

29-February -2016

An early lunch at the mercado central and we pointed the gunship east out of town.

Dodging the growing teacher strike road blockades popping up as we left, we made our break successful only because of a young motorcyclist willing to lead us through back roads until we were free. The word hero is oft-overused these days. That never to be seen again Samaritan will forever be remembered just like a good hero sandwich. Maybe even a gyro.

The road to Benito Juarez is not for the timid but it's not terrible. Unpaved mostly dirt from 3000 feet up to over 9000 in About 12 miles. Many switchbacks,narrow places and, of all things, not a single guard rail the entire time. Lots of deep gorges to fall into but the gunship held fast. The ride back down was a bit more work

Benito Juarez itself is the jumping off spot for hikers and Trekkers wanting the full-on Oaxacan highlands experience. Guides will take you hiking from village to village for 3-7 day treks. Sounds pretty cool but Carol and I opted for a couple hours hiking up toward the top of the mountain.

After the 12 mile low gear,brake testing slide back down the hill (only partially in the dark) we slept the night in the gunship at a pretty new RV park outside of Oaxaca. 

The guy running the place is named Del and he is a real decent sort. 

If you are in the area and need a place for your rig, check out www.oaxacacamground.wordpress.com or just google Oaxaca campground

Photos for the day 

I like the night life.... I like to boogie

Ciudad de Oaxaca 

State of Oaxaca

28-February -2016