Getting Around

I am home in Fulton safe and sound. I plan to do several posts to review the experience over the next few weeks. This post will focus on getting around in Oaxaca state.

In Puerto Escondido, I traveled mostly by walking. I quickly learned that I had to be very attentive of the pavement as steps of any size may occur anywhere. I marvel that I had so many close calls and came away without a bad strained ankle or something. When the distance was too great (about one mile is my limit) I would avail myself of the wide variety of choices for public transport. There were 'private' taxis and one could get anywhere in Puerto for less than five dollars. I only did that when I had luggage. Usually, I would take a camioneta (small pick up truck) which has been converted to public transport by adding benches and a canvas roof over the back. There were also collectivos (collective taxis) and buses. All were licensed, agreed on fees and ran on established routes like spokes -to neighborhoods and to nearby villages- from the main market downtown. They all cost 4 or5 pesos per ride (less than 50 cents.) The routes were not obvious. My host family and staff at clinics were quite helpful in helping me understand the ins and out of public transport here.

One collectivo driver told me that he paid 400 pesos for a tank of gas, and used 240 pesos worth of gasoline in a day. This makes the cost of gasoline higher than in the US. He was driving a sub compact car and collecting 4 pesos from each rider. At best, he would have five passengers, and he often would, but not consistently. He needed to have sixty riders before he had paid for the day's gasoline. He must have other expenses (rental/depreciation of the vehicle.) I wonder how many days he makes a profit/income. The Mexican government has a monopoly on gasoline, all sold by their company, PEMEX.

When I went down to the main road near my house, I would not have to wait more than 5 minutes before a collectivo and a camioneta came a long to take me on my way. It really worked quite well. The drivers and other passengers were polite, helpful and clean. I didn't see anyone arguing or upset with anything that happened. If someone needed help with a heavy load or due to infirmity, there was usually more than one person offering assistance. Sometimes the driver would determine that he couldn't take any more passengers, but the passengers would encourage the driver to stop. Everyone seemed so generous and helpful.

When leaving Puerto Escondido for weekend adventures, I took first class or second class buses or suburbans (vans that seat about 15 people with air conditioning.) In every form of bus, once we were in rural areas, the vehicle would stop if there was room in the vehicle. These short term riders paid the driver directly, and the driver came up with the fee, apparently off the top of his head at the end of their trip. The riders never argued and paid the requested amount, usually between two and six dollars. I noticed that most of the windshields on these buses or vans had cracks running through them. One first class bus had a speedometer and one other dial that didn't work. They all got me to where I wanted to go. I usually paid about ten dollars for these trips.

In populated areas, along highways there were frequent speed bumps causing most to slow down to less than 5 MPH for a moment. The drivers seemed uncannily aware of pot holes and slowing down when entering an area with more pedestrians. This would be the advantage of driving the same route multiple times everyday. There were also the occasional Mexican Army checkpoints on the coastal north-south road. One had to stop, but I never saw the military checking a vehicle. It occured to me that it would be less expensive to have five soldiers at one check point than to have them cruising the highways, as they would not need vehicles.

Safety awareness is on a whole different level. Will those windshields with cracks just break? None did. Even when rarely available, no one used seat belts. I only saw several helmets on scooter and motorcycle riders. The Federal Dept of Health has identified the three main reasons for death in Mexico as: diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. They are proud to have gotten infectious disease off of the top three list, and rightly so. I wonder where accidental death and disability ranks? Construction workers didn't use hard hats and usually had sandals on their feet. Many house holds had a water tank in their patio. They were often open to air, made of concrete and about the size of two or three bathtubs. Don't children crawl into these? I was told no, but I don't understand why this doesn't happen.

Flying in and out of Oaxaca City, including going through customs was no trouble at all. On my return, I changed planes in Houston. I arrived in Houston on July 7 around noon. Houston airport had just been closed down for several hours due to a thunder storm. My plane landed in Corpus Christi, TX waiting for the weather to clear. Everyone was hurried and worried and trying to make up time they lost. Wait lines were long. Waiting rooms were full, but there were seats for everyone. On the train between terminals, there were six US Army men. They were all speaking Spanish to each other, and good Spanish, much better than mine. I could easily hear what they were saying; they were just talking about their lives and friends. I thought, this is why I need to learn better Spanish: even the US Military relaxes in Spanish. Four of them had on uniforms with names and they were Hispanic surnames. I thought what appropriate welcome to back to the USA: People upset and inpatient because nature had caused a delay of up to twelve hours in their lives and a strong sign that Spanish will continue to be a part of US life.