Bedknobs and Broomsticks

From Oaxaca we took a detour from the tourist trail and stopped 3000m above sea level in the mountain village of San Jose Del Pacifico. Here Team Europe found themselves inhabiting a cosy witch's attic. The witch was an old lady with flowing grey braids and a weathered face who enjoyed conversing with her garden. Luckily for us she was a white witch who kept her powers only for special occasions such as fixing our broken toilet.

The witch's lounge

Her house was something special to behold, filled with voodoo dolls hanging from the ceilings, the walls covered from top to bottom with psychadelic art work, and the piece-de-resistance, her very own black cat. It was a very chilled out place with incredible scenery. The house was set in the hills above the clouds and from our attic window, one minute mountains were visible as far as the eye could see, and the next we were completely enshrouded in mist.

Very Mexican ponchos

We spent a couple of days relaxing and soaking up the atmosphere whilst having some very unique conversations (mostly started by Aly), involving cheese and the social strata of English dialogue. Having had enough of the cold, we headed down the mountains to the beach.

The minibus taking us to the coast grew increasingly sweaty as we approached Puerto Angel. Peeling off our dampened clothes we ran straight to the sea to cool off. Not much happened on our one night in Puerto Angel, although we did have an amazing fish dinner prepared single-handedly by a small Mexican lady in a tiny kitchen, (the meal was so good we ignored the presence of a rogue skunk loitering near the kitchen.)

Team Europe in Puerto Escondido

Our quiet bedtime reading was livened up by the loud intrusion of Rasmus and Joel, two very drunk Danish boys. They had managed to get completely legless in the quietest spot on the coast and provided some priceless bedtime entertainment before the English boys came to the rescue and sent them home.

Rasmus and Joel

We hopped a few hours up the coast to Puerto Escondido, a slightly more lively beachside town. It was here that we saw our first

Aly with barracuda

evidence of the corrupt Mexican police in action. Whilst walking down the street with an Israeli guy we had just that night befriended, a police van pulled up and demanded he get in as he was drinking a bottle of Corona. There was little we could do as he was whisked away but bumping into him a few hours later, we learnt that he had paid them off with 400 pesos (about 20 quid). Murph and Colly had got away scott-free despite the fact that they themselves were clutching tequila sunrises at the time! The boys went on a fishing excursion whilst we enjoyed some beach time. They returned home triumphantly bearing their catches of barracuda and tuna which they then proceeded to disembowel all over the communal kitchen, much to some guests' disgust. Tasted damn good though! Our last night in Puerto Escondido marked an emotional farewell for Team Europe. It had been a whirlwind romance, but all good things must come to an end so we wiped away those tears as we boarded the overnight bus to San Cristobal.

Pretty church

San Cristobal was to be our final stop in western Mexico and proved to be a charming little town in the hills of the Chiapas District. We spent a day visiting some of the many pretty churches and exploring the quaint cobbled streets. We visited San Juan Chamula, a traditional Mayan settlement. Our visit coincided with a religious festival and so we witnessed fireworks and a procession in the square. Their church is extremely unique, pine needles and candles covering the floor provide the heat necessary for worship and bottles of coca-cola are consumed for their energy. Their religion is based on Catholicism introduced by the Spanish but also includes elements of their traditional shamanist-animist practices. The second part of the tour took us to the house of a family where we watched an old lady prepare us fresh tortillas with goats cheese and squash powder. Tay had a wonderful suprise when Murph got down on one knee and proposed to her whilst sporting traditional Mayan wedding costume.

The proposal

They are planning a June wedding. Love was in the air as we celebrated Valentine's Day with a candlelit dinner for four, where Erin proved to be an old romantic as she presented the rest of the girls with wonderful heart-shaped lollies. Aah!

Bedknobs and Broomsticks

Puerto Escondido, Mexico