the long and winding road

We went from Oaxaca city to Puerto escondido today via the short route, which takes 7 hours to traverse a distance of approximately 306 km.

The first hour of the trip is getting out of Oaxaca.  The next some desert highway that is similar to new mexico as a landscape.

Then to the mountains. This was 6 hours of being flung back and forth across the bus on winding mountain roads more twisted than a Gordian knot.

I took  1.50 gravel to survive the journey without quite frankly Ralphing, all over the bus or losing my cool at sheer cliff drops.

not many sheer cliffs but the motion sickness brought on by being on a flat roller coaster for 5 hours caused the poor 8 year old in the back to start puking all over and crying.

Her  mother was angry and asked the driver to slow down. She was Mexican as were all souls on the 8 person van. Except Two tursitas.

He laughed. ,malo?  I gave the mother a gravel. Driver was good for a while mostly because the  road became so fogged in you couldn't see a foot in front on the hairpin mountain road.

We stopped for 45 minutes at a small village in the mountains for comida and a rest stop. It was now tropical heat as we approached the coast. The passengers ordered glorious bowls of vegetable pork soup and tamales.

As in other places I've travelled, I must look like I come from the moon. Blond, blue eyes, very fair skin, tattoos and looking far more like a man in dress than a woman.

people stare and awkwardly look away. But then stare again.

gringos go to mexico to take photos of things different, colourful and strange.

last year in guatemala a kid asked if he could take a photo of me and I obliged. I guess now I am in his cabinet of curiosities.