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[at-l] Re: Trip Report #6 - Week #3 (so far)
- Subject: [at-l] Re: Trip Report #6 - Week #3 (so far)
- From: Trailmixup@aol.com
- Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2000 20:46:14 EDT
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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