From the mountains to the sea

I'm slowly arriving in the life of a traveler. You always get to talk to interesting people and I feel much more relaxed. What I'm learning more and more is that I don't have to see everything. You can't see all the highlights of a city or country if you only stay a few days. And understanding that is worth so much, it takes the pressure off of rushing back and forth and just relax. If you pick one or two small things every day, that's absolutely enough.

Of course, January 21, 2024 was another beautiful but quite cold day. At around 10 a.m. I started a short hike and was accompanied by a dog. The street dogs always accompany you in San José del Pacífico, but the fact that he ran around with me for a whole hour surprised me a little. He even moved through strange territories and had to deal with the most violent barking. But when I turned around at some point and went back to the hostel, he didn't come with me🥲. I'd be interested to know what he did then... I didn't do much after the hike, at least until 7 p.m. Because I had booked a Temazcal ceremony.

Of course I was there on time and since the other participants weren't, I sat around for half an hour. In the "garden" of a family that lives in the middle of the forest and couldn't speak English. Well, around 7:20 p.m. we were complete and went to the “sweat lodge”. This is a 1.30m high and 2m wide mud hut, with a hole in the middle for hot stones. There was a bench around the hole where we sat down and herbal water was poured over the hot stones to heat up the hut properly. After a few infusions, the leader began singing and drumming. Because of the darkness, everything that affected the other senses was taken very seriously. The steam that wafted from feet to head. The drum that vibrated in your head and the singing that gave you goosebumps despite the heat. The herbs added a healing aspect to the whole thing and freed the body of all baggage. The whole thing took place over 4 rounds, which represent the 4 elements of water, fire, air and earth. After the sauna there was an ice bath that made me really happy and satisfied. A very violent experience.

The next day (01/22/24) started quite early because I went to the beach. So a colectivo to Pochutla (approx. 3 hours) and then another colectivo to Puerto Escondido (approx. 1.5 hours). And then suddenly I was at the sea at 30°C. The hostel is great, pool, hammocks, outdoor kitchen and air conditioning in the room, tip top. After a short visit to Playa Principal, I went to the first large supermarket since my tour. First get breakfast and dinner. At sunset I was at Playa Carizalillo, a very small but really beautiful beach, surrounded by rocks and only accessible via 100+ steps.

Yesterday (01/23/24) I headed to the market for my beloved oatmeal. The Mercado Benito Juárez is organized in the opposite way to the markets in Oaxaca, there is fish here, there is fruit and there is hot food, that's how it has to be😂. I just got some fruit there and looked at the stands. When I got back to the hostel, I spotted the Canadian woman I had talked to the night before and we decided to set off together. Since she was flying home a few hours ago, she wanted to buy a souvenir, which turned out to be more difficult than expected. First we were too early and the shops weren't open yet, so we went to the beach with a coconut and decided to try again afterwards. Unfortunately unsuccessful (I deliberately left out the 10 shops we visited🙃), so she had to get on the plane without a bracelet but with coconut meat😂.

I then visited 2 small beaches, Playa Manzanillo and Puerto Angelito. Quite pretty but there are stones hidden everywhere in the sea where you can really scratch your little toe. On the way back I decided to book a dolphin tour. So a boat trip where you can hopefully see dolphins and possibly even whales. Thought done and booked the tour for tomorrow (today). Start is at 07:00 and I should be picked up at 06:50. After that, not much happened.

Today (01/24/24) I woke up at 7:25...wait wasn't there something? Exactly my dolphin tour and I idiot simply overslept! First of all I apologize to the company, after all they wanted to pick me up at the hostel and I didn't come and now I'll try to do it another day... hopefully it works.

So nothing to do with watching dolphins and after a swim in the pool I headed to Playa Bacocho. I lay there and wrote this blog. That also went wrong because it wasn't saved and I have to write it for the second time in the hostel...It doesn't matter😁