Over the Mountains

A shy little boy at the highest point of our trip.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to go all the way over the mountains to the north of the city of Oaxaca. I had been into these mountains many times. There are several Covenant churches in these mountains (including the church in Yaganiza where I attended a New Testament dedication a while ago) but I had never been all the way OVER these mountains to the other side.

I accompanied some friends who were going to Tuxtepec on the other side. Tuxtepec, while being the second largest city in the state of Oaxaca is not very well known. Just about the only thing in the city of Tuxtepec is a huge Corona beer factory. Other than that, it is just a sprawling city with lots of pollution.

However...the ride to Tuxtepec is gorgeous! We left the city of Oaxaca and climbed into the mountains. So far things looked very familiar to me--pine forests, beautiful views, fresh mountain air, etc. Then we reached the top. We encountered the little fellow in the photo above. He wouldn't come out from behind the barrel.
This small rest stop was the only thing around for miles and was used as a restaurant, a bus stop and just a general all purpose store. We paid our 3 pesos to use the bathroom which had one of the most beautiful views from any bathroom that we had ever used! After purchasing our Coca Colas and snacks for the ride down the other side of the mountain, we took off.
What a difference! Instead of pine forests and corn, there were palm trees, banana trees, pineapple plants and sugar came. It was like we had arrived in a different world. The temperature which had been about 50 degrees at the highest point, soon went up to 85 degrees. We could feel the humidity in the air. We were very close to the state of Veracruz which is on the ocean.
Once in Tuxtepec we met these children. The girls are wearing traditional dress. It was a good trip and now I know what is over the mountains that I see every day from the city of Oaxaca.