Travels of the Bay family and the Yoda Van

Once we left Xpu-Ha we had a lot of driving ahead of us to get off the Yucatan.  Our next major stop was the city of Oaxaca located in the state of Oaxaca, which was about 1500 kilometers away.  The morning we left Xpu-Ha we set the alarm clock for 5:00 AM and were on the road by 6:00 AM.  We were hoping to get a couple of hours of driving in before the kids woke up.  Our plan was to drive all day long and get as far as we possibly could.  Instead of having an entire week where all we did was spend in the car we decided to spend 2 or 3 killer days in the car and get the long drive over with as fast as possible. 

The first day we made it over 600 kilometers.  We stopped at town of Isla Iguadas which is on the Gulf coast of Mexico.  Once we got to Gulf Coast the land turned into grassy marshes and there were lots of military checkpoints and police controls.  We speculate that a lot of drugs might come in this way.  The campsite was right on the beach.  We had a nice dinner, a bottle of wine and went to bed early.  The next day we got up at the same time and we on the road by 6:00 AM again.  That day we made it all the way to Tuxtepec (another 600+ km driving day), which put us around 225 km from Oaxaca. 

Early in the morning we stopped to get gas and were victims of the stupid gringo rip-off trick some of the attendants play at gas stations.  It goes like this: We pull up to the gas station, give the attendant our key and ask him to fill up it.  We asked a question about directions and the other attendants start coming over and talk to us.  The guy takes the nozzle out of gas tank and shows me the total 60 Pesos.  I look at him, tell him “Oh no.  We wanted it full, not just 60 pesos.”  He points to the total again and sets it back to zero.  I did happen to notice that it said 60 pesos, but it also said 0 liters.  I thought it was funny but didn’t really register what he was doing.  He puts the nozzle back in the tank and lets it fill up all the way.  In the end he wanted 235 pesos for the full tank of gas, plus 60 for the first amount he supposedly filled first.  But really what happened was when he first started filling, he waited until we started talking, stopped filling, and just acted like he was topping it off to the amount of 60 pesos.  (He probably only really filled a liter or two.)  Then he set the pump to 60 pesos and made sure we saw the amount.  It only really occurred to me what had happened after we paid and were on our way.  I was so pissed when I realized what had happened.  Normally we are careful and watch the attendants because we have heard lots of stories about this kind of thing.  We let our guard down for a second and that was what happened.  When Justin was here we had Matthias to talk to the attendants, Justin to watch the pump and guy filling up the tank and me to watch the kids.  I just can’t wait for someone to try it again with us.  I’m going to give the next guy who tries this with us a big piece of my mind!

The last stretch of road was only 225 km, but it took us about 6 hours.  We started near sea level, drove up to over 9000 feet, down to about 5000, up to about 8000 and then finally back to around 5500 feet, the altitude of Oaxaca.  It was a twisty curvy 2-lane mountain road.  At times the drive was absolutely beautiful.  It did put the Yoda Van to the test once again.  We were glad to be there and decided to stay in Oaxaca for the next 3 nights.

Oaxaca was nice, although I think in the end Matthias could have done without a stop there.  It is very nice city, but he wasn’t all that impressed with it.  We spent one day walking around town and went to the dual-language story time at the Oaxaca library.  It was great for William and Julian and we seek out these kinds of activities for the kids in every larger town we visit.  After walking around the center of town we went to the market and had a great cheap lunch of mole negro, chilquiles and tlayudas.  I thought the vendors in Acapulco were pushy.  While we were eating in this market we were never left alone for more than 15 seconds at a time by people selling bookmarks, clay turtles and everything else you could imagine.  The next day we went back to the center of town.  It was Dia del Nino and there were supposed to be lots of activities for kids.  Unfortunately we didn’t find so much other than a puppet show, a couple of people handing out candy, and a bunch of easels set up for kids to paint.  Even though our experiences weren’t all that different from those in other cities, we still were able to enjoy Oaxaca in very child-friendly ways and soak up a bit of life in the center of town.

One funny thing was the bus rides.  The bus rides themselves weren’t all that eventful, but the amount they charged was.  We had 4 different bus rides and each time it cost a different amount.  The first time we paid 12 pesos, the next time we paid 9, then 11 and finally 7.  It turns out the real price is 3.50 per person, and children are supposed to pay.  I can see charging us 7, because kids often don’t pay in Mexico, but what about the other 3 amounts?  Who knows?  That’s just Mexico.

The highlight for me was definitely our lunches.  The food the first day in the market was so delicious (except for the tlayuda) and also cheap.  The second day we went back to a smoky hall in the market where they were selling meat off the grill.  The hall was lined with tapered stands of meat and sausages.  At one end there were tables for people to sit.  You ordered meet from one person, drinks from another, tortillas from another and condiments (grilled onions, guacamole, salsa and avocados) from yet another vendor.  I don’t know of anyplace in the states where I can get food like this in that way.  Most of it was a bit on the salty side but the experience alone was satisfying enough.

When we left Oaxaca we had one more early morning departure.  This time we got up at 5:00 AM and were on the road by 5:45.  Our goal was either Puebla or Cuernavaca.  We stopped in a town outside of Puebla, called Cholula where there is large church built on top of the tallest ancient pyramid in the western hemisphere.  We made it all the way to the Cuernavaca area where we found a great campsite in the middle of a water park.  We went swimming that afternoon and threw some meat on the grill back at our campsite.  There is one of the suspension bridges that we had to cross to get to the pool.  It was very rickety and a few of the boards were missing here and there.  I was a little scared while walking on it, but then I am afraid of heights and walking over an unstable bridge over a river really makes me uneasy.  Then I thought “Well, there are so many families here and lots of kids, they wouldn’t have this bridge here if it wasn’t safe.”  But then I stopped and though, wait a minute, this is Mexico.  “Look after yourself and your offspring” is a better motto to have here.  Who knows if this bridge is safe, this is Mexico!  Ahh Mexico.  I love it!

This entry was posted on Monday, May 7th, 2007 at 2:39 pm and is filed under Mexico-Guatemala. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.