Mexico – Day 2: Oaxaca welcomes us

Today is a travel day again. After a mixed night (a bit better for me, a bit worse for my partner), we are heading to San José del Pacífico, a small town in the cloud forests of the mountains around Oaxaca.

Fun fact: this is already the second San José we have been to, because the capital of Costa Rica is called that as well.

The journey went astonishingly smoothly and, especially towards the end, was pretty spectacular.

But one thing at a time.

We booked the Uber in advance, then got to the airport three hours early. Once there we wandered around cluelessly for a while because we weren't sure where we had to go. After that we withdrew a lot of cash, because there are no ATMs where we are going. And then onto the plane. We didn't see much on that flight because we were sitting right by a door. On the plus side, we had a lot of legroom.

At the airport we were picked up by the owner of the apartment and driven to San José. Over the three hour drive we talked to him a lot (he had also lived in Europe for a few months to learn the language, since he had studied mechanical engineering and wanted to work there).

We also made a lunch stop with him. He showed us a spot where he likes to eat himself, one that was recently even mentioned by Michelin. Not a star, but still a good sign for solid regional cooking.

The restaurant was absurdly beautifully decorated and genuinely delicious.

And it is simply incredibly practical to have someone with you that you can ask about everything. It proves the point again: you only really discover a country through direct contact with its people.

At some point we arrived in San José. I had really been looking forward to this. Not only because of the altitude, the cloud forests and the view of the mountains are one of the HIGHlights of the trip for me. Genuinely moving. And a completely different aspect from what people usually picture when they think of Mexico.

The town is super sweet, and you can tell that tourism only appeared here in the last few years. I haven't seen a single tourist so far. But our host said they mostly come at the weekend.

This evening we had a temazcal ceremony straight away. It is a local sauna ritual. Although, it is almost more a ceremony than a ritual.

Our host put us in touch with his neighbour for it. He runs them regularly, including for outsiders.

And they did it so beautifully. We got the full ritual of their grandparents and ancestors. After being cleansed with copal smoke, you crawl into a clay hut. Glowing stones are already lying in a hollow in the floor.

Then follow four sauna rounds of 20 minutes each. During the short breaks the hut is aired out, and each time a bucket with a different hot herbal infusion is brought in. In between there is a scrub or something to drink.

Each round also has a different meaning. That was really important to him. He even explained via phone translation which element was up next.

I am a genuinely committed sauna-goer, but by the fourth round, combined with the altitude, I had to breathe very deeply.

But it was worth it. Afterwards you really do feel cleansed. And honestly a bit reborn.

Two hours later we are back in our room, and the first thing I did was light a fire.

Very romantic up here in the mountains.

A few other observations from the road:

There really are an enormous number of police, soldiers and national guard around. What I find interesting is how they are all transported in open-air tubs, that is, on pick-ups with a bench in the back. There is an example of the military among the pictures.

(The military keeps a very tight grip here because of the drug traffic from Colombia to the US.)

Another observation: everything here is much, much more colourful than at home. The houses are just painted incredibly beautifully. I think we are missing colour where I come from.

Something else that really stands out is the aggressive speed bumps on the roads, called reductores here. There is a picture of one below.