Maggie was packed and loaded and we bid farewell to Jess, Luis and Gaia, and Will and Beth. It felt strange to be on the road again, but it wasn’t long before it was time for a beach stop to cool down. The beautiful Mazunte provided us with clear waters and waves that were of a reasonable size to swim in. We spent about an hour cooling off before facing the hot-box of a car with no air conditioning in 38 degree heat. We drove on without the door tops, letting the warm breeze attempt to cool our wet skin. We turned off the coast and began to climb the mountain. We wound our way up through small villages and could feel the temperature drop with each mile. Soon enough we were beginning to feel cold. It was strange. The road was misty and whilst it was still a pleasant 20 degrees or so, you would swear it was near freezing. We arrived in the mountain town of San Jose deal Pacifico and I looked like a right fool in my shorts and singlet. Being the top of a mountain, a flat camping spot was nigh on impossible so I made some enquiries for some indoor accommodation, in my very rudimentary Spanish (being able to sing ‘Let It Go’ in Spanish was not proving to be useful). We found a little cabin tucked behind a restaurant that was suitable to our needs and budget, and quickly donned our winter clothes! It’s amazing how quickly you acclimatise – 15 degrees felt freezing! We ate dinner and watched the tourists all trying to outdo each other on their hippiness. San Jose is well known for its magic mushrooms. Whilst they aren’t exactly legal, they aren’t entirely illegal either and tourists venture up the mountain to do their own mushroom hunting. Us, we were too cold so retired to our wooden cabin to snuggle under the covers. The morning was chilly and the view from our little window was exquisite. We drank coffee in the fresh mountain air and were amazed at how different the climate was. We headed down the mountain and whilst the temperature rose, it was still significantly cooler on this side of the Southern Sierra Mountains. We headed into Oaxaca city on our way to a little place called Overland Oasis. Unfortunately, we drove too far into the city and were hit with detours due to the teacher strikes, but I’ll save that story for another day. Eventually we arrived in the little town of Santa Maria del Tule and discovered just why this place is called ‘Overland Oasis’.
