Author: scbates

The wind swirled, the leaves danced and the English Channel erupted onto the beaches of Brighton last night. I know because here in Heathers lovely little flat the windows rattled and the rain hammered. Sounds not unfamiliar for someone from the West Coast of Canada, and just like at home they make for a cozy comfy feeling as you drift off to sleep.

Debbie Huddlestan thank you for having such a warm and welcoming daughter. Heather greeted me at her flat in Hove, had a whole slew of things for us to do and was gracious and fun just like her mother. We cried a few tears in her mother’s memory but we also had some good laughs and we forged a friendship that will last for years to come.

Heather, who was once a student of mine, has been very adventurous. A little girl from Port Hardy, British Columbia, Canada, population 5000, she crossed the North Atlantic and has made the UK her home. With a good job and her own flat and a gang of great friends she has built a life for herself full of interesting places and events. I’m so proud of her and I know her mother would be too.

While Heather was still at work on my second day in Hove I was invited to her friends home in Brighton to accompany them to a record shop extravaganza. YES a record shop, as in all vinyl! Alison’s flat was gloriously English. Street level, very narrow hallway leads to office and bathroom and the rest of the space is taken up by very narrow stairs leading up to bedrooms and down to kitchen and sitting room. Of course the building is hundreds of years old and who ever thought some fool would want to wrangle a queen size up the inches wide stairs of a row home. Down the stairs is the kitchen and living area with a beautiful little garden patio for summer. Inside a low ceiling and a gas fire and typically English fittings we returned from the Record store bash for a delicious lamb dinner and plenty of Prosecco.

Brighton itself is home to a famous Pavillion that combines French and Chinese architecture from the 1800s resulting in what became known as Chinoisierie. A synergy of styles, colour and form where the sum of the parts is greater than the hole. I didn’t visit this time as my time with Heather was short and we had lots of other things to do. After a great walk we met up with the “girls” at a 16th pub for bangers and mash, good comfort food for a dark November afternoon.

Sunday lunch is impossible to escape, nor would you want to. Heather and I found a great place after another long walk on the Hove Promenade and settled into roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and all the trimmings. All slathered in a delicious gravy and washed down with a pint.

Goodbyes said and promises to stay in touch with Heather and my new friends from Brighton, I am now on the Hove to London Victoria Station train where I will stop up at a rented flat for the next six nights.

Around Oaxaca City

A Day Trip

Tule Tree

Beautiful Countryside…Blue Skies and Mescal Making

 Mitla…. Archeological Zona

Oaxacan Cuisine – Moles, Soups, Stews

  

Hierve el Agua – Petrified Waterfalls

Spectacular vistas, mineral pools for cooling off and natural rock formations created by springs leaving deposits of minerals that overtime have created formations that resemble cascadas (waterfalls).

Windows of Oaxaca

Oaxaca is magical; markets, museums, and plenty of colonial architecture surrounded by beautiful countryside. Five days in Oaxaca flew by and there was so much to do each day and of course we didn’t get to all the places we hoped to. Between visiting museums wandering the streets and people watching in the Zocalo and various coffee bars and restaurants, we fell in love with Oaxaca and I hope to return for a longer period of time. Nevertheless we squeezed in the main sights starting with the museums.

Museo de Las Culturas de Oaxaca

This is by far the best museum in Oaxaca and takes you right through the history and cultures of Oaxaca state from pre-Hispanic times.  The museum itself is housed in an old monastery attached to the Templo de Santo Domingo.



Model of the Monastery and the Templo

Botanical Gardens

The Streets of Oaxaca 

Traditional Needle Work Meets Contemporary Stylin

Alena and I



Dancing in the Zocalo Every Wednesday

Textile Museum

Although this museum has a sparse collection what it does have showcases the famous weaving and patterns that Oaxaca is noted for.

Markets Abound

There are many outdoor markets in Oaxaca that sell everything from artisanal crafts, to locally grown produce and natural medicines. Sadly the markets that I remember from the 1970’s are gone and the locally made goods have been replaced by made in China type daily wares and household good, but the markets are still fun to visit and spend time people watching and sampling local cuisine from the food stalls.

Zocalo and Cathedral 

De Los Pintores Oaxaquenos

Puerto Escondido to Hualtulco and Back – “There Will Be Roosters”

Hotels and Homestays – Solo & Together

Puerto Escondido




Hotel Santa Fe





Beach Art



Cacti on the Beach



Town of Puerto Escondido




Town of Puerto Escondido

From my hotel on Zicatela beach I could walk in either direction into PE Centro or further down the beach to smaller communities on the outskirts of town. The sand is hot and deep and sloped and can make for a challenging walk as I found out when I twisted my foot and ended up with a minor sprain that took a few weeks to heal.

Fish Boat

Locals Enjoy a Swim

More Statuary

Pelicanos

PE Sea Wall

Sea Wall Graffiti

Sea Wall View

Catching Supper

San Angelita Beach

Playa Manzanillo

Small, Medium or Large Senora?

After a long walk there is nothing like a fresh coconut water especially if you get to chose the size you want. Locals of course love the beach too and you get to watch families play together in the waves, enjoy long lunches of local seafood and nap under palms or umbrellas as time stands still for them and their always present families.

Alena with Rangel’s Parents

One of the highlights of my time on the Oaxaca Coast was meeting up with my friend Alena from Progreso and our stay at the home of my friend’s parents. I met my friend Rangel a year ago in Campeche and we have stayed in touch. He is originally from the town of Santa Maria Tonemeca on the Oaxacan Coast and his parents and brother still live there, his parents in a family compound which also houses his grandparents and various aunts, uncles and cousins and his brother and wife in a house in the heart of Santa Maria Tonemeca.

La Cocina de Esperanza

Outdoor Dining

Esperanza’s Outdoor Horno (Oven)

Rangel’s Brother Romeo with Brisa

Brisa with her Mother, Carmelita

Mazunte Beach

Mazunte Beach

Alena Drinks Coffee

Boat Tour from San Augustinillo

Surrounded by Dolphins

Dolphins at Play

Rugged Shores and Big Waves

Man and His Best Friend Paddle Boarding

Sunset at Ventanilla

Lodge at Ventanilla

Boats at Rest

The Last of El Sol

Zipolite Beach

Hualtulco

After our home visit with Rangel’s family we said our fond farewells and headed to Hualtulco where we spent two nights. Hualtulco is one of those ready made places for big, exclusive and all-inclusive hotels. The town that stood in the path of the development of resorts and hotels was relocated a few miles away from the area, so that the hotels could access the best of the beaches for their guests.  We stayed in the Hotel Zona in a smaller and cheaper hotel and enjoyed a fun dinner out where we garnered an invitation for dinner in the “real town of Hualtulco” the following evening.

Our new friend Erik met us in front to the appointed restaurant, his favorite pizza place, a hang out for the towns trendy set. Erik was very entertaining and shared a lot about his life in Hualtulco and the history of his family. He hasn’t had it easy but was passionate about his life and especially his family and surfing. 

After our brief stay in Hualtulco it was time to return the car to the airport, where we hopped on a bus and headed back to Puerto Escondido and Semana Santa.

Hualtulco

Semana Santa Fun Hualtulco

Colourful Mexicanas

Beach Treats Hualtulco

Riding the Banana in Hualtulco

Return to Puerto Escondido

The bus from Hualtulco to Puerto Escondido is a short beautiful ride along the coast and in no time we were ensconced in our new digs. We had planned a week in the Bungalow we rented but because of my foot injury we spent two weeks so I could rest it and exercise it properly and bring it back to walk-ability.

Not a bad decision at all as the high walled bungalow and its surrounding gardens that hid a secluded pool were just what the doctor ordered. We were able to shop and prepare our own meals and as we were the only people staying in the bungalows we had free run of the place, taking advantage for late night star gazing swims.



Beautiful Garden in Front of Our Bungalow



Bungalow for Two

Can You Find Alena?

Of course we didn’t spent all of our time swinging in the hammock or lazing around the pool. We wandered up to el Centro a few times to the market and enjoyed more local cuisine, spent a few days on the two beaches just north of Puerto Escondido (Manzanillo and Puerto Angelito).

A spectacular outing was taking the bus north to Rio Grande where we crossed the highway to catch a taxi to Zicatela.

Once in Zicatela we hired a boat to take us around the Laguna de Chacahua. The Laguna is a bird and wildlife sanctuary and we saw egrets, eagles, herons, storks and many other species. We stopped for lunch in the small community of Chacahua where we walked over to see a crocodile rehab centre where they also had turtles and iguanas etc. It was a long day before we got back to Puerto Escondido but the wildlife, birds, scenery and boat ride more than made up for the long haul.

Boating Through Chacahua Laguna Parque Nacional

Blue Heron Blending In

Mangrove Roots with Muscles

Stork

Fishing the Laguna

Town of Chacahua

Boys on the Beach

Finding the Cool

I Said There Would be Roosters

Old Guy

Young Crocs Hatched, Grown, Waiting for Release

Abuela Crocodile

Even an Iguana Needs Rehab!

Town of Chacahua on Both Sides of Lagoon

Life on the Lagoon

A month on the Oaxaca Coast flew by and was marked by long sunny days of beaching, swimming, visiting with friends, tasting local cuisine, the crowing of roosters, turning sixty four and savouring the life of a Mexican Coast. But as they say all good things must end, and so, we boarded a passenger van bound for Oaxaca City, six long hours from the lovely Oaxacan coast.

Dirty, dangerous and crowded?
Don’t be fooled by what you hear about Mexico City. Sure it has 29 or so million people, if you include the bedroom communities, but it is probably THE world capital of this decade! A bargain compared to other world capitals, hotels can be found for well under 100.00CD a night and if you limit your shopping and eat where the locals eat you can have a great stay even on a budget. Like all mega cities, there is crime, but even a solo woman can remain safe given the usual common sense precautions.

At the top of the list of things to do in Mexico City is a visit to Chapultapec Park.
Like other world capitals, you can visit an urban oasis but this grand park comes with a half dozen museums of world class statue. Inside the park, you can soak up the history of the ancient and modern worlds and enjoy a sophisticated multicultural community with shades of Europe, all in the heart of Latin America.

Hop On Hop Off Bus – Great to see a lot in a short period of time.
The hop on Hop off bus is a great way to spend a second day, especially if you are a solo traveller. The convenience of having an English narrated bus tour that passes the main locations of interest saves a lot of time and energy in a city big and as tangled as Mexico City. The double decker maneuvers the historic center of old Mexico City, winding around the Zocolo and heading towards Revolution square along wider avenues before it plunges bravely into the narrow tree-lined streets of the famous neighbourhoods of Candesa, xxxx and the Zona Rosa. Here in these neighbourhoods which have been largely occupied by bohemian artists writers and musicians, you can see evidence of a European style coffee culture, with plenty of small boutique hotels, colourful murals, galleries restaurants, cafes and nightclubs.

SF

Day three is a good day to stretch your wings and explore outside of the city core and experience the suburban neighbourhoods. The best way to travel long distances and cover ground between the core and the suburbs is on the underground Metro. It’s relatively easy to find your way once you’ve conquered the system maps and can differentiate between the multiple lines. In general, Mexico City riders look like their counterparts the world over, mostly bored, tired and distant.

Y

Visiting the Casa Azul, where Frida Kahlo and Diego Riviera resided is some distance from Centro Mexico City, but was easy on the metro, even though it was fourteen very long stops from my Hotel in the Colonia Santa Jose. Frida is the focus in the Casa Azul, although there are elements of Diego as well, but you leave feeling that you have gotten to know Frida more intimately by seeing where she lived, worked and entertained.

Just around the corner is the house where Leon Trotsky took refuge only to be assassinated by his enemies from the USSR. Not much to look at in his house but still you leave knowing how he lived and continued to write his political views even after he was expelled from the Ukraine. For those who visit both houses you will learn that Frida and Leo had a love affair that lasted some time before he died.

In 1974 I made my first trip to Mexico. I took out my first bank loan, booked two weekends off work and headed south. My first stop was Mexico City, the largest city in the world at that time, now the third largest. I stayed in a posh neighborhood close to Chupultapec Park and the Museum of Anthropology, (a favorite course at the time) I visited, taking copious notes and photos before taking the train to Oaxaca where I was lucky to visit the ruins of Monte Alban, Mitla and Yogul. I bought woven baskets, a huipel, a special blanket and other hand made items from the native market in Oaxaca. For years these treasures were part of my home decor but over time they slowly evaporated and gave way to other tastes.
As an innocent abroad, the train ride from Mexico City to Oaxaca is forever etched in my memory. My traveling companion and I had been advised to purchase 1st class tickets but when we found our way to the train station, and eventually the train, we were unable to identify a car, both by look or by lettering that was 1st class. We ended up in a 2nd class coach and only through firm assertiveness of the part of two older women were we able to claim our seats. The train took all day, all night and most of the next day, stopping and starting for interminable amounts of time in the middle of nowhere. I remember the aisles packed with standees, a squat toilet with no light in the back of the car, vendors boarding the train selling food and feeling protected from a drunk man by the Tia’s who sat across from us.
Returning to Mexico City by plane from Oaxaca, a friend that I had made on my way through had a party for me, roses and wine and took me out to dinner at the top of the Latin America building, then the tallest building in the latin america. Today Mexico City is very different and the Latino Americano building looks old and dowdy, dwarfed by modern skyscrapers. The old quarter and the Zocalo with the cathedral and government buildings are largely the same, but of course the restaurants have moved in and the square is more likely to be used for entertainment than military purposes. The train is long gone and freeways and expressways slice through the city. Mexico city has taken on a decidedly European flair and the barrios have that village within a village feeling of Barcelona or even New York. We stayed very close to the Plaza de la Revolucion in the Hotel Corinto. Small rooms but a roof top pool and a pricetag of $38.00 CD which you would not find in either of the aforementioned places, making Mexico City a bargain.

We quickly oriented ourselves and Tom, the food sniffer, found several good restaurants and cafes where we could loiter over coffee and watch the events of the neighborhood unfold. Across from our favorite restaurant we watched when a bus load recruits from the country arrived and joined the camp of Indigenous protestors who have a permanent demonstration in the park, ironically in the shadow of the monument to the Revolution that freed Mexico from Spain. We were only a few blocks from the Mexican Senate as well which explained the heavy police presence in the neighborhood.

Two days was only enough to know that a return visit is in the cards. I think two weeks and one could feel that they were seeing everything there is to see at a leisurely pace. A city of 13 million people can’t be all good but it is certainly less dangerous for travellers than it has been in the past. There are signs that prosperity has come to the city with the glistening office towers, the development of the barrios and the flourishing businesses. A unique feature of commerce in Mexico City is that stores are grouped together by type so you will find streets of household goods, streets of electronics etc.. Apparently this is modelled after Mayan cities from ancient times.