Let’s Go to the Beach! Jazzy concert

Tomorrow morning, slightly before noon, we take a bus to the Oaxacan shoreline; the Pacific Ocean. The best Mexican buses are incredible bargains. They are very comfortable and this trip will cost almost exactly $20 apiece. Our initial destination is Puerto Escondido, translation, the Hidden Port. That we are taking the bus is  a testimonial to modern engineering. A mere twelve months ago the trip from Oaxaca city to Puerto Escondido took 9+ hours. Today, on the newly completed highway that traverses the mighty Sierra Nevada Mountains takes 3 hours, though it can be more if your bus gets stuck in construction of barriers to prevent landslides along the road. The road was more than 15 years in the making.

We will spend one night in Puerto Escondido a town of 45, 000 people, then move along the coast to  Mazunte.  Mazunte has a population of less than a thousand people. It is known for being the most laid back of Oaxaca’s beach towns, but is has several very nice lodging opportunities and good fresh seafood. The Sierra Madres tower above both places in close proximity. Our objective is to get out of town and take it easy. which should be easily accomplished.

I will be providing lots of photos over the next few days.

This afternoon we went to a Latin jazz pop concert. A trio performed, vocalist, guitarist and bassist. The music was diverse and quite good.  There was a lot of Oaxacan and Cuban music, Bossa Nova and some very unique interpretations of U.S. pop. The most interesting pop to jazz interpretation was a rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Dance Me to the End of Love.

The music was quite enjoyable and it was great to see a few familiar faces and talk to a few people we hadn’t yet met. We are in the mezcal capital of Mexico, but until this afternoon I had yet to sample the wares on this trip to Mexico. The mezcal we tried was fiery and smoky. I liked it more than Sheila. The shot was preparation for a decision we made this week to take a mezcal factory tour. Guess that will give us something to do when we return from the coast. The trio is pictured below. Next Sunday is rock and roll week at the same venue, and the singer and bass player are in that band also.