Sunday, February 20, 2011 — Off to Oaxaca, a spectacular trip

Sunday we boarded our bus with considerable security precautions being practiced. Many were patted down, each piece of luggage was looked at and I had to open many little compartments before being waved on. The bus was brand new looking, with a toilet at the rear of the bus and generally very comfortable. It took some time to actually exit this gigantic city but there are always things to see and compare. Eventually we were outside of the city and passing all kinds of interesting agricultural sites as well as one or two of the much written about habitats built for people who were formerly squatting illegally or living in three sided lean-to's. They definitely looked comfortable and designed with appealing windows. Well attended gardens showed much evidence of group pride.

It didn't seem like a long time before we were entering classic foothills. The pine trees in Mexico all seem to have long beautiful needles. Soon we reached views of volcanoes, big and small. Skip would definitely have gone wild looking a some of these vistas. Eventually we were actually in the midst of those mountains that had just seemed so far away. Deep gorges became the rule and looking down over the cliffs is something I only indulged in occasionally. There were clever passing lanes where the road split off to our right and we drove for a few minutes on a double one way situation. Sometimes these passing situations were almost as scary to be on as watching cars trying to pass on the standard "slight view" situations. But we made it! Before I knew it we were heading into the outskirts of a mountainous city. The traffic grew heavier and heavier and then I learned about the strange criss-crossing lane directions that I understand is used in other places. But I had never seen it before, so it was fun to watch it all happen. Suddenly, at a stop light, the north sided traffic lanes would cross over to the left side of a center divider. Knowledgeable people have told me that this system has actually improved the safe movement of traffic.

After we arrived at the clean, modern bus station, some of us went straight to the ticket counter to buy our return ticket for February 26 to return to Mexico City for two nights. The other half of us went to the bano and that was when things began to fall apart. Some thought we ticket buyers had just disappeared, (probably in a taxi they thought) and when we had tickets in hand and turned to find the others ....... they weren't there. Yael went up the stairs, paid the requisite fee and searched the restroom with no success. We finally had to decide that the others had gone, so off we went. Turns out the other group, who were sitting in the comfortable courtyard of the hotel, had not heard anything about our getting tickets and, seeing us nowhere, decided that we must be gone already. That was only the beginning of confusion hill. Two of our rooms had been rented out due to some confusion about the confirmation and our date of arrival. As a result, half the group was forced to move on to another hotel. I'm due to walk to the textile museum now, so I'll return to you later. Our tapestry exhibit reception with discussions begins in an hour. If this causes some questions, it is actually Tuesday and I am trying to catch up on this journal. Chao.