Weblog: Mexico Day 7: Juchitan to San Augustinillo
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Slowly, slowly, I'll get this whole trip written about. Since I forgot to mention it in the previous log, after arriving in Juchitan, Ed and I walked around town a bit and had some dinner. After that, I went to the lively Zocalo to people watch, and to read. I think this town has the prettiest girls I saw in Mexico. I love the Zocalos in the colonial Mexican towns and cities, because they are such a focal point for the social life of the city, and Juchitan's was my favorite. Young and old all congregate in the evening. It's something that American and Canadian cities really lack.
In San Cristobal, I'd picked up One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I'd started reading it a few years back, but hadn't gotten far. When I was packing for this trip, I even considered bringing it along, but decided not to. Still, when I was in Chiapas it seemed like the appropriate book to read. Every place I go, I try to associate a book with it that echoes the place as well al myself. For India, that was Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie, and for southern Mexico, it's One Hundred Years of Solitude. I'm guessing lots of other people had the same idea while there, since the small English-language book store in town had several copies (one of which they were happy to sell me for an exhorbitant price).
Another thing I forgot to mention about San Cristobal is that we wandered around some of the markets. Ed and I picked up those stereotypical mexican-style sweaters. If I'd had infinite luggage capacity, I think I could have bought a hundred carpets. I love colourful carpets and rugs, and this place had a wonderful selection.
Anyhow, back to Juchitan. After going to a local store and picking up some milk and cereal for breakfast, we set off to the north-west. Our first stop was in Tehuantepec, the location of the Motocarros Unisex geocache. Neat little town, but I was not successful in finding the cache. There seemed to be a path heading along the river straight to the cache. The first ill omen was a guy with a machete standig along the trail, but I'd seen enough machetes in the last few days that we walked by him. About 50 metres from the cache, we stopped because there appeared to be a man bathing himself directly ahead of us. Deciding not to invade his privacy, we turned back and continued along our way.
The drive was a long, hot, beautiful, and uneventful drive along the coast. Our destination was a string of villages along the coast with some very basic tourist infrastructure that Ed had been to before. The first of these villages was Puerto Angel, and I had the best Coca-Cola of my life. I was hot and tired, and this stand along the road had their bottles of Coke chilled perfectly, just beginning to freeze. I will never forget that ultimate refreshment experience. Soooo goood.
We continued along through a couple more villages and eventually thought we were in Mazunte, where Ed had stayed last time he was in the area. We more-or-less randomly picked a decent looking place by the beach to stay. We rented hammocks for the night for 20 pesos each (about $3), had some beers, wandered along the beach, bodysurfed in the waves with some Europeans (Ed wisely stopped well before getting sunburned, but I was enjoying myself too much) and relaxed. The place was practically deserted, with only a few other tourists in the town. It turns out we were actually in San Augustinillo.
It took a little bit of getting used to sleeping in a hammock, and I woke up a few times at night, but sleeping outdoors in just a T-shirt and shorts, with the roar of the waves 10 metres away is something I hope I experience again. As it got later in the night, I was starting to get a bit chilly and covered myself with a towel.
Posted on Fri, 11 Oct 2020
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