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Published: March 21st 2012
Well, my feet may never be the same...I've counted about five blisters...but we had a fantastic time on the hikes. I do
now know that my comfortable walking shoes are
not good for hiking....
We left very early on Staurday morning, taking a taxi to the second class bus station, headed for Cuajimoloyas, and the start of the first day's hike. We arrived at 9:00, filled out a form, met our guide and chatted a bit with an English and a Dutch girl who were doing the same hike. Cuajimoloyas is at 10,000 feet (Oaxaca is already at 5000 feet) and is a pretty little village on ridge. Our first guide was only 15 and very shy, so we didn't get much information unless we asked. None of the guides speak English...
The first third of the 6 hour hike was very pleasant...downhill, but mostly on dirt roads and forest paths. After changing guides (each goes half way to the next village with you, and then passes you off to a guide that lives in the next village), we headed down a very steep, slippery, and recently dug trail for hours....This second guide was a substitute for the regular
guide, and didn't talk much either. He was older; about 24. After a few hours of unpleasant slipping and sliding, we came to a road and (since I begged) took that instead of the trail to a trout farm, where we rested and ate lunch (packed for us ahead of time). We met up with the girls there and were glad they had found the trail hard too!
From the trout farm (probably at around 7000 feet) we climbed up steeply to the tiny village of Latuvi (8000 feet), where we would spend the night. The eco-tour program run by the villages includes wonderful cabanas with private rooms (with bathrooms and hot showers) for about $37/night. We had dinner across the road, chatted with fellow travelers, and then tried to sleep (no sound proofing between the rooms and some very "active" neighbors...).
The next day we headed out around 9:00am, with a very informative guide who showed us many plants along the way, including orchids and medicinal plants. The second day's hike descended back to the valley (a bit less steeply) and then followed a pre-hispanic trade road up the river (the road orginally went all the way
to Veracruz on the Gulf). At times, the paving stones were visible. Our last guide, Agostin, was the best, and is a weaver when he isn't guiding. He told us that in years past, before the roads were built to these mountain towns, people would walk for two weeks to get to Oaxaca to sell their wares and buy supplies. Some kids still walk 3-4 kilometers to school each day.
We reached our destination, the village of Amitlan, just as a thunderstorm hit. We were settled in our room before the rains really came down! After a dinner of local dishes, and a hot chocolate (made with water...delicious...), I headed off for a temazcal. I had arranged this on the advice of the woman in the eco-tour office in Oaxaca, without really knowing what it was, except that it was some kind of traditional spa treatment. Our guide drove me to the location, where I was greeted by an older woman, who walked me to an outbuilding, where she showed me a fire burning in small oven outside a low roofed extension of the building. We then went inside (remember, only Spanish is being spoken....) and she showed me
Bromeliads
They are all over the trees....they die after blossoming.the inside of the low building...a small space I would crawl into, naked, and have (what I was beginning to understand) a steam bath! We chatted while the fire heated the oven, and I showed her pictures of my mother to explain why I looked so young (in her estimation). Mom, she thought you must have had surgery!
Next I disrobed, crawled in, and was given a bunch of greens to use to fan the stream she made by throwing hot herbal water into the oven (now cleared of embers and ash). The boiling steam came jetting out, and I fanned it to make it disperse. After some time in the steam cave, she handed me a flannel blanket to wrap myself in, and I crawled out and lay on a comforter on the dirt floor, where she gave me a massage (sort of). I then went back into the steam for another session, then crawled out, rested, got dressed, and headed home with Agostin. Quite a wonderful experience!
No one else was staying in the cabanas in Amitlan....our room was beautiful, with a view of the mountains and valleys. It had a great fireplace too. The whole
View towards our first destination: Latuvi
The town is along the ridge, across the valley. village was quiet with almost no traffic. Agostino's mother cooked for us. We visited his home the next day, and met his wife (who comes from the weaving village of Teotitlan del Valle and taught Agostin how to weave) and got to try weaving! Everyone was very friendly, and many stopped to speak to us when we arrived.
All the villages have lost much of their population to Mexico City and the US. Agostin wants to go to the States to make more money....it is sad to think of people having to leave such a beautiful place....
We took a collectivo (this time a truck) to the next town and then a collectivo taxi down the mountains to Oaxaca (very fast, sometimes tires squealing on the turns, no seatbelts...) where we spent the night and then left for the coast on Tuesday (on the car sickness provoking mountain roads....we have dramamine...)!
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vivek
non-member comment
life science
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