Arcane Candy

Sunday, October 15, 2017
Oaxaca City to Mexico City, Mexico

OCC and ADO buses at the Terminal Central Autobuses de Norte in Mexico City, Mexico.

At 12:00 noon today, I checked out of the Casa Angel and caught a taxi cab over to the ADO bus terminal, where I was to board a rig bound for Mexico City. Around 1:30 pm, we piled ourselves and our luggage into the bus and hit the road. On the way out of town, we ascended a curvy mountain road that offered a splendid view of Oaxaca City. About two hours into the seven-hour trip, we passed through a series of green canyons walled by mountains crowned with sunlit sheer rock faces near the top. If this unspoiled place is not a national park, it sure should be. It looked so stunning, my eyes started to well up with tears.

After four hours, we pulled into the parking lot of a small restaurant, but for some strange reason only three or four people got off the bus, got food to go, and re-boarded. I was bummed, because I wanted to eat some real food. Instead, all I could get was some stale plantain chips from a seller standing right by the bus. We finally rolled into Mexico City around 8:30 pm, an hour late. After scarfing down a foot long veggie sandwich at Subway, I stood in line to buy a ticket for a taxi cab and, after waiting in another line, boarded one a short while later.

Waiting for a taxi cab at the Terminal Central Autobuses de Norte in Mexico City, Mexico.

The driver was super nice, but could not find the hostel I wanted to stay in, the Casa de San Ildefonso, to save my life. The fact that it was located on a pedestrian street must have been what threw him off. Even though the driver had a smart phone with a maps app attached to his dashboard, and he was being guided over the phone by a lady from the hostel, he still drove around in circles and up and down the same streets for close to an hour. He even backed up really slowly down a whole block, and another time backed up into an intersection with the police right behind us. I couldn’t believe it when they just drove on by. After this point, I was really tired and started to get exasperated.

Finally, at one intersection, we got out of the taxi cab and walked down a pedestrian street. Since, it was 11:00 pm and the whole town looked desolate, save for a very few souls ambling around, I started walking very fast. Nearing the end of the street, I saw a shifty-looking character and turned around to avoid him. The taxi cab driver asked him where the Casa de San Ildefonso was and, surprisingly, he knew and took us there! (We had walked right past it.) I gave him a tip. Never judge a book by its cover!

I saw the shifty guy near this statue (shown the next day) at the corner of San Ildefonso and Calle del Carmen in Mexico City, Mexico.

Words and photos ©2017 Arcane Candy.

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