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  • Day 18

    Days 18 to 21: Mazunte

    February 23, 2019 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    I arrive on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca state. The roads are too narrow and twisting for full-size buses but there's a regular minibus service. Because of the winding road, some of my companions, medical students at New Jersey who stayed up till 3 this morning, are decidedly queasy. I wouldn't swap their condition for mine, Mexican flu or Mexicold as it is. Also the minibus is cramped; if this were a prison, 6 hours of knee-to-chin seating would have me confessing to anything within minutes.

    No matter: my lodgings are run by a delightful Italian couple. Marco speaks English; Roberta only Spanish (apart from Italian) but they both like my public school accent. A French couple have just arrived from the Yucatan and weren't very impressed; I hope it hasn't changed too much since my visit 2 years ago.

    Oh well; the beaches of Mazunte and San Agustinillo are pleasant enough. Unusually, the Pacific actually IS Pacific here and it's good for swimming. I get a "girl from Ipanema" photo and one showing an itinerant beach vendor, a thankless job in this 30C heat. And---pure joy---cacti! These specimens can reach 20 feet and are a reminder that the dry season in much of Mexico is long.

    Mazunte is a town of a few hundred inhabitants. Beach supply shops mingle with general stores (abarrotes). Access to one of them is via steps leading over a wall; there must be flooding threats sometimes. The VW beetle picture shows how supplies---tortillas here---are transferred. Mazunte's chilled out vibe attracts all manner of beads, beards and braids. Hangouts have names like Dharma and Siddhartha and I wonder why people into alternative cultures don't seek out some indigenous Mexican ones. After an unsuccessful first evening chewing on an "artesanal" (craft) beef sandwich, I breakfast the next morning at the nearby Cafecito. It's an unassuming, almost apologetic place that's much more than a cafe. The huevos rancheros fill me until dinner and the bistec milanesa napolitana, while steeped in mozzarella, has a Mexican twist with spicy tomatoey sauce and if necessary would last 24 hours. Including a couple of beers for £5. I'm not likely to lose weight here!
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