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[at-l] Re: Trip Report #6 - Week #3 (so far)



OK, folks....another great installment.  I'm starting a sign-up sheet, "Road 
Trip to Mexico."  Who's signin' up?

Trailmixup

<< 
 OAXACA (´wa-ha-ca´), MEXICO
 (Not so long as the last one from Mexico City)
 
 So what do you do when you`ve had 16 straight days of rain, there`s
 a hurricane sitting off the coast, and the trrops are getting
 restless? Treat them to some food, of course--in this case, dried
 bugs followed by rose-flavored ice cream. (We had fewer comments
 about the crunchy insects than the ice cream, which several participants
 described as tasting like hand lotion. Our default position if
 the hurricane comes inland is a supply run to a liquor store.)
 
 We got a way-too-early start on our six-hour bus ride to Oaxaca.
 I curled up on my co-director and slept until the day turned
 bright. (I asked him to wake me for spectacular scenery. Both
 Steve and the geography complied.) First it was two volcanoes,
 then the highest peak in Mexico--snow-capped, of course. Then
 the mountainous terrain turned to desert, with cactus trees unlike
 any I`d ever seen in Arizona. In between it all were vertigo-inducing
 gorges that appeared to drop off to China. ´Ooh...aah!´ We sounded
 like the crowd at the Fourth of July fireworks.
 
 TUesday we visited Monte Alban, yet another prehispanic archeological
 site. These places tend to be overrun with vendors who will try
 to sell you just about anything. `Almost free fo you, my friend.`
 At Teotihuacan we joked about running the vendor gauntlet between
 the pyramids. In comparison, Monte Alban seemed relatively quiet--until
 it was time to leave. As I rounded the corner to start down the
 hill, I saw a wall of Indian women at the first step, their extended
 arms loaded with two dollar necklaces. Impenetrable and impossible
 to avoid. `No, gracias. No, gracias. No, gracias...` The foolish
 few who tried to placate them with a purchase were immediately
 assaulted with matching earrings and bracelets. The mob followed
 up all the way to our vehicles; some even tried to crawl in to
 make one last sale.
 
 (BTW, the vendors and performers also work the subway cars. It
 became sport for us. After suckers, breakfast cereal, metric
 conversion tables, and shoelaces, we began betting what would
 be next. I went out on a limb and said feminine hygiene products.
 I lost. It was the hiker staple, duct tape.)
 
 My banged-up leg is a pretty scarey sight. On the other hand,
 I`m one of the last hold-outs agains Montezuma. And I definately
 prefer a green and purple peeled leg.
 
 Give Me Chocolate
 patv@falcon.cc.ukans.edu
  >>
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