Blogs from Oaxaca, Mexico, North America - page 13

Many interesting things in town today. My first outing was to the local beach, came in the back way to avoid the the waiters. Hung out for an hour on my new yellow beach towel, watched the waves come and go. Got all hot and sweaty within the first 10 minutes. It was 96 today, and the ocean temperature is 83. The saltwater is good for my skin, seems like it makes my fingernails grow faster. I've heard that if you are standing on the beach, you can see for 12 miles to where the earth curves away on the horizon. The boats look pretty small out that far. I was on my way back to the apartment when I heard a man call my name, "Ricardo!" It was Carlos, a waiter I met yesterday. I ... read more

Last Night Sunday night, went for a walk down to one of the cash machines. The machine hummed for a few seconds, and then said transaction is compl ete.It gave me my card back, no cash, and charged me $7.47 for the transaction. I went back on Monday morning, spoke to the manager but he spoke no English. Oh well. Later that day they posted a credit to my account. I hired a driver this morning to take me to get a piece of glass cut, buy some paint brushes and 5 gallons of water. Feeling good, warm and no rain. I'm in town, on the edge of a 50,000 population metropolis. There are four towns, two touristy, one middle class, and an old colonial town a few blocks from the beach called La Crucecita, where ... read more

So here is my first blog about Mexico which does NOT contain my adventures in Mexico City! I finally managed to say goodbye to it and took a comfortable, albeit long, 6-hour bus journey to the incredible city of Oaxaca (pronounced wah-hah-kah), in the state of the same name. I arrived in the evening on the 17th November, and it did not take me long to fall in love with the place. A seemingly endless number of galleries, churches and random art exhibitions await in the city, each showing incredible works and/or architecture. However, while my first couple of mornings and afternoons were spent exploring the aforementioned cultural sights, my first couple of evenings were spent in front of the TV! I shall explain why before I am judged too harshly... The hostel which I was ... read more

After my little detour up to Tijuana, I managed to just make the ferry over to the mainland, meeting up with about eight other bikers who were slightly better organized than myself and had been waiting patiently to board the ferry for a couple hours. After straping the bike down, we headed up to the kitchen for some beers and dinner. One guy from Britain, Andy, had run into the same Tourist Visa as me, but had managed to bribe an official in Cabo with $50 rather than flying all the way back to Tijuana. He let me share his room though (I didn´t even have a seat cause I was so late for the ferry) for free, so we´re making the $500 back bit by bit. 18 hours later we arrived in Mazatlan, did a ... read more

Day of the Dead After visiting markets and seeing all the preparations for Day of the Dead, I was ready to experience it for myself. The primary festivities kicked off on the night of October 31st, where thousands of people made their way to Xoxocotlan cemetery about five miles south of the Oaxaca city center. Day of the Dead takes place over two days. On November 1st it is said that the spirits of the children return until the evening of November 1, after which the spirits of the adults return until the afternoon of November 2nd. There are variances depending on location and many small towns celebrate after November 2nd. In the Catholic religion these two days coincide with All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2). Day of the ... read more