Monday, January 17, 2011

Day 12 – Oaxaca to Tapachula - Friday November 19, 2010


We had a pleasant Oaxacan breakfast at our classy 1600 convent converted to a hotel. The various tamales were my favorite.

Our exit from Oaxaca was relatively uneventful leading to another wonderful drive – from the central highlands to the coast. The cactus at various altitudes were other worldly. We regret rushing through.

Our gastronomic adventure finally took us to a perfect road side mariscos “restaurant”. The antejotes included small boiled shrimps; the taste of the local oysters was new to me – light, mild and fresh. The lightly fried robalo entero (brill) for each of us was perfect. Add 3 Coronas and the bill: $20 and we were big spenders.

The Mexicans have been very friendly and protective of us. For example, in Tapacula, we arrived at night and stopped to look at the map – as if that would work for anything but getting us close. A family stopped next to us to see if they could assist—the husband must have felt that we would not readily follow directions so he led us with his car. A Bel Air cap was my grateful but unexpected regalo. Another fellow actually left his shop and girlfriend to drive us to a recommended Argentine/Italian restaurant so we wouldn’t get lost at night. He is partly of Chinese descent. Walter, the Argentine owner/chef served us a delicious Argentine + Italian meal, visited heartily with us & even told us how his 15 day stay at Tapachula on his way to a job in Costa Rica led to meeting his now wife and that love has kept him here. I had to call the Grill Room at Bel Air to talk to one of the staff. I got Rudolfo to regale him with our fun.

Then, free internet at our el cheapo hotel – it will be rumored that James Bond slept here incognito!



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