Week Five

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Sierra Norte

This weekend we took a hiking trip to Sierra Norte, the mountain range just east of Oaxaca City. The area has recently become a popular site for ecotourism which has helped to bolster the community and create jobs.

Anyways, as far as the trip goes, it was an adventure. Really, any attempt at planning a trip in Mexico is an adventure, so who am I kidding in thinking this was any different? We started out (fairly) early Friday morning for the 2nd class bus station. After leaving the quiant, almost touristy, streets of the center, we saw a different side of Oaxaca. When we finally found our way into the massive station, we found the ticket gate and bought seats for the trip. Being the well prepared girl I am, I figured it would be a great idea to use the bathroom before the 2 hour bus ride. Poor choice. I have never seen a more disgusting bathroom. Of course there was no toilet paper or seat (common in nasty mexican bathrooms) but these also had the added bonus of no functioning stall doors or flush. The lack of flush had two major consequences: 1. an unbearable stench 2. giant buckets of water on the floor that one could manually "flush" the toilet with. It was an experience to say the least.

Anyways, after that horrifying minute and a half, the rest of the trip out went off quite swimmingly. By the early afternoon we made it into the mountains, where we walked 4km into Benito Juarez. The difference between the valley and the mountains was insane. Instead of a desert, the area was think pine forests. Smog and dust in the city were replaced with some of the cleanest, most earthy smelling air I have ever breathed. Once we got to the pueblo, we stopped in the ecotourism center to figure out hikes for the weekend and where we'd stay. The guide recomended that we check out the mirador, or look out point, only a 15-20 minute walk away. Little did we know, this was the begininng of a long weekend of converting into Mexican time and distance. For example, with our weak lungs not used to the thin air, said 15 minute walk was much closer to an hour. But it was well worth it. The views from the mirador were spectacular. You could see Teotitlan del Valle and other villages below as well as all the farming villages on the mountain slopes. If climing to the top wasn't enough vertigo for you, there was this absolutely terrifying, but very cool suspension bridge between two of the peaks.

After it started to rain a bit and get really windy and cold, we decided it was probably a good idea to get back to Benito Juarez before we froze our asses off so we headed back down the mountain. Still early in the day and not ready to be done hiking, we asked the guide what the hike to La Neveria, the next town over was like. He told us that if we took the road, it would be fast and easy (Mexican time).

Feeling ambitious, we started out seeing a sign "La Neveria 6k". Brilliant! We all thought, hardly more than the walk into Benito Juarez. About 2k into the trip we saw another sign for La Neveria. But, as it were, unreliable Mexican time also translates into distance- this sign read "La Neveria 8k". This was new- I had never walked towards a place but got further away. Despite this misleading signage, we made it to La Neveria just in time for dinner and a meeting with guide to get our cabaña.

After a cabin sleepover complete with makeshift smores (we didn't have chocolate, used ritz instead of graham crackers and some of the marshmallows were strawberry flavored), we woke up to a delicious breakfast in the site's comedor. Most of the village is agricultural so all the food was unbelieveably fresh, even the tortillas were made from scratch. After breakfast we started out on our final hike of the trip- to the cascada. We thought we were out of breath and intense and tough kids on the hike to the mirador, but we were seriously mistaken. The guide that took us was, clearly, more used to the environment than us, huffing and puffing every time we had to go up hill. Regardless, the hike and the waterfall were absolutely beautiful.

Despite a long wait, for a bus that never came, the trip back to Oaxaca in the camioneta (back of a pick up truck that doubles as a "taxi") was smooth, in the figurative sense. All in all, such a beautiful trip- I hope to go back some time very soon.

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Photos

Mirador
The suspension bridge, lookout tower and shelter at the Mirador

Cabaña
The cabaña we stayed in in la Neveria.

La Cascada
On Saturday morning we took a hike with the guide to la cascada, a waterfall nearby.