The road back...

Whew!  The drive back from Pinotepa Nacional was remarkable.  It is really hard to describe how many different types of countrysides and climates I drove through.  From beach to coastal plain, through dry foothills, ever climbing into huge, green lush forests, then pine scented expanses, over the mountains and finally into the valleys that lead back to the city. 

The trip back is almost 400 k, and google says it can be done in five hours.  ¡Ja!  More like nine, but I made it in seven.  My car has a tendency to run hot, so I was a bit concerned as the road has some serious climbs, but I was well stocked with extra coolant, so it was onward and upward.  I came down the coast until just before Rio Grande and then cut an hour or so off by not going all the way down to Puerto Escondido. 

This way is not as heavily used and I can see why, but it is still kind of a miracle that it even exists.  It is certainly one hell of a construction project.  There are stretches of really rough road and at times there is only half a road as the other half has fallen off the mountain.  There are switchbacks after switchbacks, fallen rocks and landslides, but wow, what a way to see the county.  The villages one encounters are far apart and few in number.  I could only imagine what it was like to live there.  And driving was fun, passing lumber trucks and slow moving buses on hairpin curves.  It's that or else go five kph.  Periodically I would follow something like this.

I had been planning this trip for a couple of years and had it plotted out pretty carefully and well, it all worked like a charm.  Traveled light, but with the right cameras and equipment.  As I say, I was worried about the car and I think I put about 1000k on it, but it worked like a charm.  At one point, while climbing up the mountains, I started smelling antifreeze, but the car was not overheating.  It gave me a little adrenaline buzz and made me worry a bit, but I kept on going.  No harm, no foul.  When I got back to the house, I discovered that the extra bottle of coolant I had in the trunk had leaked and that had been nothing to fret about.   Must have been all those topes that snuck up on me.

Of course, I had an audio book to listen to and an ipod full of music, so that aspect of the trip was sublime.  At one point, after leaving the heat and humidity behind and getting into the cool clear air of the high mountains, the car, in second gear, climbing without a problem, James Taylor came on singing, "How sweet it is"  and I just burst out smiling.  Amen, to that.

Also, too, my Tomtom GPS actually did an amazing job on these roads.  I would be in the middle of absolute nowhere and it would say, "Take a sharp right" and the road would have a hairpin turn.  The unit never missed a beat.

I came back with lots of photos and video and even more "moments" - like, Is this really happening?  Is this my life?  Oh, and I bought this bag in San Juan Colorado.  It is the classic color and style of the pozahuancas which are so prominent int the area.  I will use it with pride even thought I think it is for women only.  They said the bag took a month to make.

 Much more in the coming days.  Live freely, mis amig@s.