IHANA.COM big trip - diary - October 2001

Puebla cathedral...

...confirmation time

Puebla zocalo

Saturday 13 - Sunday 15 October

The robbery of the lights and the mirrors made us realise that even in the seemingly safe area of Condesa, DF was still a bad place to leave wicked landies lying around. So Tom and his doris, Magaly, left on a one week trip to the beach. First stop, after negotiating the nightmare traffic of DF, was Puebla. This is a colonial city and is also home to the main VW car factory. Things were back to normal once we left DF, people were more open and friendly again. We parked the landy in an estacionmento and slept in the rooftent after a good night of live music and cheap drinks.

Driving south towards Oaxaca, we spent the night camped in some fields. We talked all morning talking to various men who worked in the surrounding area. The guy with the donkey was off to collect oregano, the guy on the bike was farming garlic.

We got to Oaxaca predictably late. Searching for a camp site near Monte Alban was difficult as there were fields and little shacks everywhere. After a hopeful track ended in a collection of huts Magaly decided to ask if we could camp beside them. It took her a fair bit of talking and convincing the inhabitants that we weren't robbers or baby snatchers. Things were more relaxed in the morning, the woman had been collecting grasshoppers which she reckons are great when fried but didn't offer us any, fortunately.