Minus a few belongings after our ordeal in Ocosingo/Palenque Will and I were once again back on the road! The next stop on our much shortened list of stops in Mexico was at the famous foodie town of Oaxaca where we would be staying inside the safe haven of Overlanding Oasis. We just had to get to there without a GPS via Villahermosa which would take two days of driving. Our first day of travel went smoothly as we raced along the Autopista (highway), only mildly alarmed at the huge distances between the highway exists if we were to make a wrong turn but luckily we didn’t. That night we stayed in what our friends the Overland Birds dubbed a ‘Love Motel’ which requires a whole new paragraph for it’s explanation.
A ‘Love Motel’ is a specially built Motel for taking you know who’s to do you know what, however they suit low clearance overlanders like us perfectly. You drive up to the reception window, much like a fast food restaurant, pay for the number of hours you would like the room for or ask for the full night, get given your garage door remote and drive on in. You then pull into your own private garage and head upstairs to your room which will have some interesting features like the full glass shower in the room, sturdy looking benches and more than just shampoo in the bathroom or the Simpsons on TV. Lets just say its not the kind of place you stay with your grandparents but it did feel very clean better than many other places we have stayed for more than $35nz per night. Also if you would like to get some food you just place your order from the menu over the phone and it arrives in the spiny thing by the entrance door. No need to see anyone you grab your food pop your money in and spin it around for the guy to take. The food we had was cheep and delicious. Overall these ‘Love Motels’ are an excellent and secure option if you can fit in the garage but steer clear of the seedy looking ones.
The next morning we left the Autopista and headed inland towards Oaxaca but about two hours away from our destination we met a long line of traffic stopped at yet another road block. I felt a little anxious but everyone was very friendly and we didn’t get anywhere near the actual people protesting as we soon learnt that the road was totally blocked and would be indefinitely. So we decided to talk to the police about a different route. They showed us a way on the map that looked good in theory and we estimated another three or four hours driving. It was three hours into the drive that we realised we were less than half way as the tight turns on the narrow road meant we could hardly get above 40km/h. Finally at 11pm that evening after first trying to find a cheap motel so we wouldn’t have to wake them up we arrived at Calvin and Lee Ann’s Overlanding Oasis. They owned a cute little pice of land with enough space for three or four vehicles as well as a self contained Casita. Calvin and Lee Ann were Canadians who after several trips down to Mexico in their huge 1950’s bus decided to call Oaxaca home four years ago. They still sleep in the bus which is parked up under a big indoor-outdoor roof that also contains a kitchen, lounge bathroom and fully equipped workshop.
We stayed at Overlanding Oasis for five nights and spent the first few days filling out our insurance claim form, re vacuuming the car, doing washing and then filling out the online part of our USA ten year multiple entry Visa applications. On day three after Will finally put in our new second hand front driveshaft we were treated to a lovely Canadian Thanksgiving dinner with Calvin and Lee Ann. Two girls from the Czech Republic who were staying in the Casita and a few locals completed the table. Lee Ann did an amazing job of the cooking especially as she had to substitute many of the usual ingredients as you can’t buy them in Mexico. We also tried our first ever pumpkin pie Mexican style and it was delicious. She even had to improvise with the “whole” Turkey when the lady turned up with it cut into about 100 pieces. By day four it was well and truly time for me to buy some new clothes so Will and I spent the day walking around town shopping and tasting the endless local street food. I came home with three pairs of pants, two tops and a jacket; my best buy being an $8nz pair of jeans!
On the evening before we left Overlanding Oasis I spontaneously asked super handyman Calvin if he knew anything about electrical systems as our front spotlights hadn’t been working since we tried to get them fixed way back in Bolivia. As darkness fell he offered to take a look and after much investigation he discovered our simple problem was that the wires were touching the metal inside the light casing and causing them to short out, with a bit of repair work they were soon sorted. We were glad to have our spotlights working as we left the Oasis in the dark at 5am on the 10th of October. This was in order to get to our next stop Mexico city in one day and leave plenty of time for our 4pm finger printing for our Visa applications. Read all about the fun we had in Mexico city with the Rangel family in the next blog.
Rochelle & Will
On the evening before we left Overlanding Oasis I spontaneously asked super handyman Calvin if he knew anything about electrical systems as our front spotlights hadn’t been working since we tried to get them fixed way back in Bolivia. As darkness fell he offered to take a look and after much investigation he discovered our simple problem was that the wires were touching the metal inside the light casing and causing them to short out, with a bit of repair work they were soon sorted. We were glad to have our spotlights working as we left the Oasis in the dark at 5am on the 10th of October. This was in order to get to our next stop Mexico city in one day and leave plenty of time for our 4pm finger printing for our Visa applications. Read all about the fun we had in Mexico city with the Rangel family in the next blog.
Rochelle & Will