Tepid springs and simmering plains
Hierve el Agua, Oaxaca
For the first time in months, I'm cold. There's a chill in my fingers that go down to my boots. Just yesterday, in the low, simmering plains of Oaxaca State, Tim and I watched Dolly's thermometer climb to 102. Tonight, I'm sitting on the porch of Posada 5 in San Cristobal de las Casas, unable to get warm. My sweater, my boots, my socks and jeans--they don't do a thing.
The rainy season has hit. On our long drive down from Oaxaca, we took what we thought would be a brief detour to dip into the "hot" springs at Hierve el Agua, over the mountain from Mitla. The road was dirt switchbacks and cheese-grater rough. Supposedly only 18 kilometers, it took 45 minutes. The pools were tepid, but gorgeous--strange mineral sculptures built into a hillside, overlooking a valley. We were alone and the scene surreal: the sky was like dusk in the middle of the day, rain came diagonally across the corn fields, the darkened mountains were ominous and the water opaque and ice-blue, like glacier pools.
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Isthmus de Tehauntepec, Oaxaca
Somewhere along Hwy 190 south, Dolly blew a fuse. With the fuse went power windows, windshield wipers, radio and warning lights. Then, as we cruised into Tehauntepec, just as it was getting dark, a storm hit. Water poured through our open window. Our windshield was a flood plain. There was nothing to do but park under a tree and wait. Finally, the rain let up and we found an over-priced room for the night with reasonable secure parking. The next morning we spent two hours in the 102 degree heat of the low, hot lowlands of the Oaxacan isthmus, waiting for a junkyard mechanic to figure out the cause of our troubles. Thirty dollars later, we were on the road to Chiapas, windows down, music blaring.
Freda Moon
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Reader Comments (4)
Hay guys. I hear a big storm is coming your way. I hope you stay dry. I made it home and all is well. Be safe and have fuuuun
jonh
dear scooter roo & tim, too:
I'd like too blow up that van.
Seriously, Dolly should be way better to you two
lovebirds....way to many trips to the mechanic...
easy for me to say...
actually, the Mazda needed a new axel & front breaks
last week....this driveway is not much better than
a Mexican dirt road.....
Gypsy is already waiting on the bed for her grandmother.
Love you both,
Your homeslice.
Wow.
Just checked my last comment.
I spelled brakes - breaks...
I used the wrong to - too...
maybe I really am finally losing my mind...
my spelling has always been one of my better features...
Old Willum says to be sure to go to Agua Azul.
It has amazing pools of water in a river.
the water has calcium dams that flow down to another
pool...beautiful swimming...
He thinks it is between San Cristobol & Palengue...
really famous....look on map or for postcards of it.
He has been there twice.
Very special place.