Riley @lavidaderiley - Tumblr Blog

skulls and bowls, oh my!

#sma #photos

my favorite color scheme

#photos #sma

just hanging out

#photos #sma #church

#sma #photos

Last week in SMA, last week of the red yellow orange walls

#sma #photos

the last supper

#sma #photos #italians

sad i didn’t come to the Mercado de Artesanal earlier

#photos #oaxaca #market

half eaten food

#food #photos #sma #oaxaca

#drinks #sma #photos

San Jose Del Pacifico

While on the bus to San Jose Del Pacifico, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. From my research I was aware that it was a backpacking hotspot and the capital of mushroom tourism in Mexico, which had me both interested and cautious. I was worried that it would be some kind of tourist trap, and maybe it was in some ways, but it was also much more than that.

I have never stayed in a hostel until arriving at La Cumbre. It was one of the coolest experiences ever; I’ve never seen that many british people in one place. It was also culturally interesting because their were lots of Israeli travelers there. One Israeli women even mistook Zane for someone else and began speaking hebrew to him.

On Day 1 Zane and I got in and just wanted to relax and soak up the vibe of the hostel. The hostel sold mushrooms at the front desk but they were all out by the time we had arrived; we would have to wait til tomorrow. We walked to our first room which had a “jungle theme” and by that i mean a bamboo ceiling with walls painted in a jungle design as well as a normal panda and a red panda. The normal panda was a little creepy, but we didn’t stay in there for long.

Day 2 we decided we wanted to try a Temezcal which is a Mesoamerican, prehispanic indigenous low heat sweat lodge that binds the 4 elements together in ceremony. As we waited at the front desk for our ride to the Temezcal, we were told they needed to move us to a different room because it had been reserved for someone else. We met a man from LA named Taki who would partake in the Temezcal with us. We then both hopped on the back of a dirt bike and shuttled over to the sweat lodge.

The experience was definitely unique and traditional in a wonderful way. The gist is you and your group enter a small adobe dome that has a pit for hot rocks in the middle. You create the steam for the Temezcal by dipping a bundle of herbs into a tea mixture and taping it into the rocks. The ceremony is done completely in the dark and lasts about 45-60 mins. The herbs helped with my breathing a lot, and I enjoyed the experience.

The rest of the day we spent hanging out with Taki and tripping on shrooms. Taki is the type of guy you laugh with and at; a typical LA dweller who is body conscious and always “on”. He’s also a very well traveled and educated guy, but is funny to be around. When we were tripping he got a call about his dog Christa, which he took at the top level of the hostel within ear shot of everyone. An Australian couple who was also tripping were laughing their asses off listening to him because they didn’t realize the call was about his dog due to the deceptive name. That day a group of absolutely fucked up British kids complemented my glasses as well.

Day 3 we continued hanging out with Taki and went on a hike where we found another more authentic Temezcal experience. Taki was a junkie for the sweat lodge. I was hesitant but ended up participating and liked it a lot better the second time around. By the time that was all said and done it was about 4 o clock and we decided to eat another round of mushrooms, which for me weren’t as crazy as the first time. I met a guy from New York named David who was super cool. It started to pour rain at the hostel so we all ended up chilling inside the hostel for the rest of the night.

Day 4 was our day to leave. The australians Jules and Alex gave us a ride back with them to Oaxaca and we had a lovely ride, and will be going to drinks with them later today. I can’t really rave more about my experience in the Mexican mountains, I met so many cool people and loved the change of pace. City life is great, but you can’t beat a view like in San Jose Del Pacifico.

#Oaxaca #blog #sanjosedelpacifico