she said, goodbye. Too many times before.
Well, my trip out here to Huatulco seems to be coming to a close and I can´t think of a better way of spending four days. I am kinda worried about the trip back though... and to let you (dear reader) know why, let me outline just exactly how we got here.
First of all, a little history of this area of mexico. This is the state of Oaxaca, one of the most beautiful regions of the Mexican republic. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most violent. There has allways been dissent from the populus of the south towards the federal government. Chiapas is a case that has recieved moderate coverage from interenational press. Also, it is worth noting that Guatemala and Belize where once part of Mexico, before their independance.
The bottom line for me is that they are regions that are not only poor, but prepared to take a stand. It doesn´t mean that I´m unsafe in this little touristic haven that I´m in. It does, however, mean that the trip INTO Huatulco is not without peril. Let´s just say that hijackings in the middle of the winding mountain roads are not uncommon.
So the bus that we are taking has some safety precautions. All passangers are frisked and their onboard baggage is thoroughly checked. Supposedly, the trip is supposed to take the most direct route, so that there is no stopping anywhere. And there is a highway patrol escort through the dangerous parts.
Yet my experience went something like this. Evidently, there is a direct route to when we wait for the escort. But we had to wait some 2 hours for it to arrive, at which time we are sitting ducks for all sorts of nasties, of which stealing all our possesions would be the desired outcome.
Furthermore, once outside of the escort, the bus driver has an interesting little side business. There are many locals of the area that live quite far away from the towns in which they work. So they pay a little to the bus driver, and he let´s them on. This is as far as I can tell illegal, but who is going to say anything against it? And if we did, what would they do? So after this stringent searches for ME to get on the bus, any fool can get on later with SF knows what sort of nasties.
On top of all this, the busdriver drove all together faster than I would have liked, specially on sloping mountian roads. But enough whinging, I´ll just bear it, and hope that I can sleep through most of the trip. That would do me just fine.
First of all, a little history of this area of mexico. This is the state of Oaxaca, one of the most beautiful regions of the Mexican republic. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most violent. There has allways been dissent from the populus of the south towards the federal government. Chiapas is a case that has recieved moderate coverage from interenational press. Also, it is worth noting that Guatemala and Belize where once part of Mexico, before their independance.
The bottom line for me is that they are regions that are not only poor, but prepared to take a stand. It doesn´t mean that I´m unsafe in this little touristic haven that I´m in. It does, however, mean that the trip INTO Huatulco is not without peril. Let´s just say that hijackings in the middle of the winding mountain roads are not uncommon.
So the bus that we are taking has some safety precautions. All passangers are frisked and their onboard baggage is thoroughly checked. Supposedly, the trip is supposed to take the most direct route, so that there is no stopping anywhere. And there is a highway patrol escort through the dangerous parts.
Yet my experience went something like this. Evidently, there is a direct route to when we wait for the escort. But we had to wait some 2 hours for it to arrive, at which time we are sitting ducks for all sorts of nasties, of which stealing all our possesions would be the desired outcome.
Furthermore, once outside of the escort, the bus driver has an interesting little side business. There are many locals of the area that live quite far away from the towns in which they work. So they pay a little to the bus driver, and he let´s them on. This is as far as I can tell illegal, but who is going to say anything against it? And if we did, what would they do? So after this stringent searches for ME to get on the bus, any fool can get on later with SF knows what sort of nasties.
On top of all this, the busdriver drove all together faster than I would have liked, specially on sloping mountian roads. But enough whinging, I´ll just bear it, and hope that I can sleep through most of the trip. That would do me just fine.