Fog and Cabins

The past week has been pretty crazy - big cities, hurricanes, flat tires, and even when I've taken two days in a city (like Orizaba and Oaxaca), I was busy all day with activities and tours.

So I decided it was time to just relax a bit. I plotted a course to finally make my way back to the coast after my inland detour, and after spending the morning finding parts for the motorcycle, I headed off in the afternoon.

I made my way across the plains south of the city, cruising through a couple of towns before I hit the base of the mountains that separate Oaxaca from the coast. From far away, it looked like the clouds were swallowing up the tops of the mountains. From close up... they were. The first third of the ride was fun, clear roads, but the last two-thirds was on roads that had clearly just gotten a significant amount of rain through a heavy, heavy fog.

As I approached the town, I saw a person in the road through the foggy haze... as I got closer, I realized it was a white man with dreadlocks standing in the middle of the road juggling. This was the general vibe of San Jose, I learned. Import a few Venice Beach Bums to a foggy mountain town, and you'll get the idea.

I stopped in a coffeeshop to get some internet and figure out where I wanted to stay, and found that the general recommendation was a set of cabins just outside the city, but still within walking distance. After a bit more relaxing in the shop (and enjoying the people-watching quite a bit) I rode over there, got myself a key, and found some parking under a little roof on the edge of the parking lot. About the time that I got all of my things hauled down the hill and into the little room, it started to rain... hard.

Well, I'm not making the short walk back to town in the rain, I guess. So I checked out the room a bit, but found that the only lighting in the cabin was a very, very dim bulb above the bed. With no internet in the room, and not being able to work the TV for some reason, I grabbed my phone and pulled up one of the books I'd downloaded.

Within an hour it was dark outside, still pouring, and starting to get pretty cold... so I ended up drifting off to sleep under the heavy, warm comforter around 8pm. I woke up once in the night with a bit of restless leg and some ankle pain, but otherwise slept straight through.. to 8am. Guess I needed some rest after a few crazy nights in Oaxaca.

I got out of bed and pulled open the curtains to find this spectacular view:

Not a bad way to wake up.

After a very nice, hot shower (it was still a bit chilly), I packed up my things and headed back to the lodge. Grabbed a continental breakfast, and then ended up getting back on the bike to head back down the other side of the mountain. I'd been planning on staying longer, but with the fog, the cold, and the fact that I had somehow gotten low on cash (in a town with no ATM's), I decided a few relaxing days on the beach were in order.