A little about Playa Zipolite, The Beach of the Dead . . .

Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca, Southern Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. A little bit about my favorite little get-away on this small world of ours.

Zipolite, a sweaty 30-minute walk west from Puerto Angel, brings you to Playa Zipolite and another world. The feeling here is 1970's - Led Zep, Marley, and scruffy gringos.

A long, long time ago, Zipolite beach was usually visited by the Zapotecans...who made it a magical place. They came to visit Zipolite to meditate, or just to rest.

Recently, this beach has begun to receive day-trippers from Puerto Angel and Puerto Escondido, giving it a more TOURISTY feel than before.

Most people come here for the novelty of the nude beach, yoga, turtles, seafood, surf, meditation, vegetarians, discos, party, to get burnt by the sun, or to see how long they can stretch their skinny budget.

I post WWW Oaxaca, Mexico, Zipolite and areas nearby information. Also general budget, backpacker, surfer, off the beaten path, Mexico and beyond, information.

REMEMBER: Everyone is welcome at Zipolite.

ivan

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

SUNDAY, 24 JUNE 2012 Taxco, and Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido, MEXICO Ahhhh, the little charming city of Taxco outside the big city of Mexico. I love it already!

sherrijosbecauseicanworldtour.blogspot.comhttp://sherrijosbecauseicanworldtour.blogspot.com/2012/06/taxco-and-oaxaca-to-puerto-escondido.html

Taxco, and Oaxaca to Puerto Escondido, MEXICO

Ahhhh, the little charming city of

Taxco

outside the big city of Mexico. I love it already!

It was only about 180 km to ride here from

Mexico

City, but as you can imagine, the traffic took forever to navigate out of the city. The traffic carried on until I was well away from the city. So 180 km seems like it is just outside Mexico City for me.

I'm looking forward to one night here. Not longer.. I am feeling very behind and wanting to make tracks now through Mexico. But I would put Taxco up there as a worthy place to visit.

First job on the agenda is to find a place to sleep tonight! I can then park the bike and explore...

I was excited to come here for the silver. Once I investigated, silver USED to be mined here; however, the mines have since dried up. It was a bummer to learn that most silver for sale in Taxco didn't come from around here. Kind of put me off even looking at it. The town does have a rich history though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TaxcoThe locals suggest I head up the hill and say G'day to Jesus. Quite a trade off! ;-)

I went up the hill and the first thing I saw this little girl playing near the cops with big guns. Sort of made me smile.

But what really made me smile was meeting her. A little ball of energy! She just started talking and talking and TALKING to me in Spanish like she had known me forever.. too cute!!

Then she thought she'd share her used Yakult bottle with me.

Her brother Miguel came around and told me her name is Hiromi. A Japanese name her mother loves.
What an awesome big brother!!

I enjoyed my time so much with these two, I totally forgot about Jesus.

Miguel took this photo. And guess what! I can wear my new t-shirt without worrying that somebody else doesn't already have it on!!

It just doesn't phase me that I've been hanging around these guys with the big guns. They've been really nice and pointing out sites in the town below. I've been around the big guns since I arrived Mexico and they have just become part of the norm.

A quick view to Taxco, and I am starving! Need to get back down the hill for dinner.

Now this morning, I've got the tricky job of navigating my way to

Oaxaca

through the back roads.

Hasta luego Taxco!

Yes!!! I'm in the country again.. no smog, freedom from traffic.... Hallelujah!!!!!

And an opportunity for more street food in some little town along the way. So good!

These men started off telling me to move away from their 5 star hotel front door. After I told them I just needed to stop for a minute to read the corner streets signs. I explained I was lost and wondered if they knew where the 1 star Hostel was, they didn't. However, they pulled in everybody they could ask to help me figure it out. Once they felt confident of the location, they not only called the people for me, but drew a very detailed map. How nice are these men!! They were not going to let me go until they felt I totally understood.

I found the place with no troubles after that, and I found a lovely large KTM!!

I met the KTM rider, Anders straight away in the hostel. He was on the way out the door for the night to meet another guy, and invited me to come along once I settled in.

Nick on the left is from Canada on a Kawasaki KLR, Anders is from Denmark on KTM 990. And plenty of Mexican beer. Super fun night out in Oaxaca!!! Thanks for the photo Nick!!!
The next morning I quickly followed Anders advice to check out the ruins around Oaxaca, Monte Alban. Thought to be one of the oldest cities in Mesoamerica. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Alb%C3%A1n
I'd love to check them out thoroughly, but it became really clear that I didn't want to be away from the bike and all my gear that long. I was hounded by locals to buy stuff from the moment I arrived. If I had wanted to hang around Oaxaca longer, I would have left my gear and/or the bike locked up in town in the garage.

Views from Monte Alban, the white mountain, above Oaxaca (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This isn't going to work today. Besides, I'm really happy with the ruins I have just visited at Tula, Teotihuacan and Mexico City. So I gave in to my worries for the bike and got on the road to Puerto Escondido.