The next morning we were up by 7am to get some breakfast and start our hike, with our new guide, down the mountain and off to the village of Lachatao. We were to follow the trail known as the Camino Real. Basically a foot path along a stream.
There were a bunch of trees that lined the path, like the one above, growing sideways, helping to keep the cattle and such from walking off a cliff.
We made it to the halfway point
The other guide was not around so we waited a bit more. Finally, since the current guide would not let us go one without him, he agreed to accompany us until we saw the new one. About five minutes up the trail he popped out from behind a tree, and it became quite apparent based on the pungent odor that he was just taking a shit. I deferred on the handshake and we kept moving.
Finally reaching the outskirts of the village, it was obvious that this was a quite larger settlement than Latuvi.
We reached the lodging and found it in good working order similar to the one from the night before
We were not to stay the night though, rather hoping to catch a bus to a larger town and then back to Oaxaca. The manager of this lodge said the pickup to take us on to the larger city would be along in an hour or so. I laid down in the grass and fell asleep. My fellow traveler was a bit more adamant about getting a ride sooner, but I know that we were on Mexican time and I would be happy to get back to Oaxaca while it was still light.
Eventually we climbed into the back of a pickup
The pickup dropped us off with a cab driver, which was not really part of the plan, but as long as I was getting back I did not care too much. We made it back around sunset and I showered up at my friend's hotel as I had already checked out of my place.
We met for a drink back at the main plaza and then she went off to meet some friends that were coming in for the weekend.
It is a funny thing. Travelling solo all this time and then suddenly travelling with someone for a couple days straight. When she left I felt kinda lost and alone. I thought; maybe I can travel with other people? Am I getting mature? I don't know if I would go that far but maybe I will give it a shot in the future. Soon enough I slipped back into my old ways and went off to check out a restaurant I read about that specializes in 'slow' and local food
I bought this new Word Lens app for my iphone
It allows you to hold up the camera to Spanish text and it translates on the fly without actually taking the picture. The only problem was that the writing was not written that clearly so it came up with some odd interpretations.
I ordered a steak with a chocolate/cream cheese Mole sauce.
After dinner I made my way over to the bus station where I was due to catch a 7 hr bus ride on a treacherous mountain road down to the beach down of Zipolte.
It was supposed to be a passenger van like shown above but it ended up being a broken down school bus. I watched in fear for a while as we made are way through the winding roads but could not take it for long and went in a pharmacological comma.
Until Tomorrow
Darren
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