From Oaxaca City to Puerto Angel - The Coastal Mountains
Posted by SurfMexico Editor

September 12, 2000 - Mountain road to Puerto Angel
(Continued from the Oaxaca, Monte Alban, Tule, Tetitlan del Valle and Mitla entry.)

Today we were to leave Oaxaca City for the coast, but first, we had to visit the Santo Domingo Church and ex-Monastery that now houses the Santo Domingo Cultural Center - and impressive Museum - on Alcalá Street. Walking Alcalá street itself is a treat for the eyes. Lined with old colonial-style buildings, the walls with their wrought-iron balconies, arched doorways and niches provide the pedestrian with a textured, architectural kaleidoscope. Alcalá also is host to the city's Museum of Contemporary Art and the Graphic Arts Institute.

The Church of Santo Domingo is the most splendid of Oaxaca's 27 churches, with its imposing exterior and majestic, gilded interior. its construction was begun in the mid-1500's but it was not completed until about 1670. Its Chapel of the Rosary, resplendent with gold leaf and baroque carvings and reliefs, was added in the early 1700's.

Part of the Santo Domingo complex is the Ex-Monastery, housing the Regional Museum since 1972. The massive building with its cloister and staircase is the repository of artifacts from Oaxaca's many archeological sites, including the incredible display of the treasures from Monte Alban's Tomb 7 discovered by archaeologist Alfonso Caso, as well as exhibits of colonial relics and the typical dress and utensils of the state's distinct ethnic groups. The museum's grounds are currently undergoing modification, and its extensive cactus gardens can be viewed only from the Museum's balconies and windows.

Exiting the Museum at about 11:30 a.m., we found ourselves on Highway 176 and leaving Oaxaca toward Coyotepec, Ocotlan, Miahuatlan and the coastal mountains by 12:15. Our first stop along this road was San Bartolo Coyotepec, specializing in the production of Oaxaca's unique black pottery. Here we wandered through several small potters' shops admiring the enormous range of vases, lamps, ashtrays, bowls, and figurines fashioned out of the clay. On sale also were colorful, hand-painted and fantastic wooden figures that originally are from San Martin Tilcajete only a few kilometers up the road from Coyotepec.

Carrying on toward the coast, we turned off into the small village of Santo Tomás Jalieza, where the women weave belts, placemats and long table runners on belt looms attached on one end to a tree or post and on the other around their waists. In Jalieza we stopped to watch the women and make a few purchases of the bright-colored and sturdy strips of woven cloth in their small textile-market cooperative. Beside the market was a small street stand where we ordered tlayudas de quesillo y tasajo: large, thin, crisped tortillas smeared with black beans and topped with shredded cabbage, avocado, cheese, meat and hot sauce.

Driving a few kilometers ahead through Ocotlán, known for its large weekly market and embroidered dresses, we saw that one of the main forms of public transportation in the town were horse-drawn, two-wheeled carts that looked a bit like rickshaws and that seated two or three people quite comfortably.

Between Ocotlán and the next large town, Miahuatlán, we curved through small , rolling hills and were stopped occasionally by road crews who were repairing certain stretches of the highway which was, in general, in not very good shape. Heavy clouds loomed on the horizon and a light rain fell periodically along the route. At Miahuatlán we were forced to take a detour around part of town, again because of road construction, and found ourselves on a short but extremely packed, pitted and potholed road that felt like it was comprised of 2,000 small, jitter-producing traffic bumps.

Past Miahuatlán we were quickly brought into the proximity of the mountains which we would have to scale in order the reach the coast. The foothills were swathed in cloud, and we suspected that the next 150 kilometers to the Pacific would turn out to be a very long road. We were warned of this on the first climb up above the valley stretching behind us toward Oaxaca when we passed a sign proclaiming "Danger of slides and washouts - Next 100 Kms." It was about 4 p.m. when we began our curvy ascent into pine-covered hills and thick forest. Small wooden houses would appear occasionally perched on hills near the highway.

As we moved into the fog and mist, there was a wonderful smell of wood smoke in the air. We could not see what was below us nor hardly what was only a few meters away. Fortunately, traffic on this road is minimal, so we really didn't have to worry too often about passing slow trucks. There were two or three areas where mud and fallen trees littered the highway, but most of the route, though winding and narrow, was entirely passable. Despite the general lack of visibility, the scenery along this route was fantastic - an oriental painting appeared around every curve and over every rise.

It drizzled on and off as tiny settlements like "Agua del Sol" (Water of the Sun) wafted by in the mist. Drenched and forlorn sheep peered at us from the roadside as we drove slowly by. Passing through the town of San José del Pacífico, the fog began to disperse and, even though the cloud cover was still low and the rain continued to fall softly on and off, visibility was greatly restored and we were able to see the valleys and gorges below, the lush giant ferns, wildflowers and a profusion of both clear and mud-laden waterfalls lining the roadside with moss-covered trees looming in the distance.

At Rayo de Porfirio the coastal valleys suddenly stretched out below us as we began the final descent on the western side of the mountains. The road was lined with dense, jungly vegetation and banana plants. Near the bottom, a family of 5 or 6 Coatamundi, long tails curling up over their backs, scampered across the road in front of us and disappeared into the undergrowth.

We arrived at Pochutla, near the junction to coastal highway 200 and the turnoff into Puerto Angel, at about 7:15 pm. It had taken us just over 3 hours to make our way 150 kms. over the mountains. Some of Pochutla's streets were blocked off and we had a difficult time finding our way from one side of the town to the other to hook back up to the road to Puerto Angel.

From Highway 200 down to Puerto Angel's bay, the road, once more, was in excellent shape. We came into town, stopped for a quick beer on the beach and found ourselves a hotel room at Hotel Villa del Angel on the bluff overlooking the bay. Taking the hotel owners' suggestion, we dined at Villa Florencia in the village, and then took ourselves to bed in preparation for the morrow.

And when the morrow comes, we'll be on our way south to Huatulco for a quick visit of this new resorts' bays and attractions, and then will take off north along highway 200 once again to the surf at Puerto Escondido.