Week With Kate

Note: I was being lazy and ripped this blog post from an e-mail Kate sent to her parents on what we have been up to and our plans for the next couple of days. Pictures will be coming shortly.

“We arrived safely in Oaxaca this morning at 6am after a long bus ride through the mountains. Neither of us were very rested, but we decided to continue the day as planned. We dropped our bags at the hostel and ate breakfast there, although we weren’t allowed to check in until 1:00. We decided to go for a hike today and managed to be in the bus on the way to our hike by 9:00, and arrived there at 10. Sadly the picturesque area has been closed since the water along the hiking path has been so heavily polluted (it also happens to be the water source for the town).

So, we were back to square one, it was 10 am, and we were in the middle of nowhere. We hopped back on a bus toward town and discussed where we should get off. I finally talked Sam into visiting another archaeological site (Monte Alban). I think that it may actually have been prettier than Teotihuacan. There were fewer tourists, less venders, and it rested on top of a beautiful mountain. Did I mention, that since we didn’t hike earlier, we decided to hike up this mountain? The guidebook said it was ok if you had enough water and were an experienced hiker. It was worth the 4km hike uphill to see the breathtaking views of the city below, and the view of Monte Alban slowly rising above you. We spent the afternoon at the site and hiked back to the bus stop. We returned to the main square and ate dinner in the market ($3 for a huge serving of mole enchiladas).

Since I was living off 3 hours of sleep and had managed to have the truly Mexican experience of a stomach bug, I just napped for the last hour or two. Sam is currently planning the rest of the trip… and I am being super unhelpful.

We will be staying in the same hostel tomorrow night (Hostal Pochon). Tomorrow, we are going to try another hike into the mountains (hopefully with more success). The hike is called Hierve el Agua. I think it will take most of the day, so we will head to the market for dinner and have an early night.

On Friday, we are taking a bus to Puerto Escondido and staying until Saturday night. We will take a night bus back to Acapulco and I will fly out Sunday afternoon.”