Mexico Easter 2003 - Part 6: Long drive to Ocosingo

9th April 2003 - 8 hour drive and the “totally new” Ranchos Esmeralda, Ocosingo

We awoke into a nice morning and went off on a long van journey after breakfast and loading. I bought 3 tacos off a village food stand by a gas station (on Vanessa’s advice!). Most thought I was brave, but I was hungry and there wasn’t much hard food in the little shops and I have a fairly strong stomach. It was raining very heavy now and a horse slipped and slithered on the highway, trying to get out of the way of a truck. I felt sorry for the poor fellow, but it finally made it out of the road on its smooth hooves. At Puente San Jorge there was another army checkpoint. On this long drive, the pilgrim soul in me was beat drumming to the feasts of deserted Mexico, all the ramshackle cars and overloaded pickups and Volkswagen Combis (which are manufactured in Mexico).

And we continued, stopping occasionally at towns, the roads getting twistier and windier and the going slower. We were ascending, the mosquitoes were decreasing, so I was happy we finally reached Ocosingo. We were originally going to stay at Rancho Esmeralda away from Ocosingo (beautiful place/horse riding). Sybren also worked here for 6 months. But here’s the story - the American who owned the ranch (Glenn) was thrown out by some Indians who took over the ranch. They run their own government some places, and it seems the Mexican Army is also scared of them. It is a tribal kind of relationship that will probably never end. The Indians seem to want a share of every peso made from their lands. So Glenn was driven out and moved down to Ocosingo (he send Sybren an email yesterday) into a converted mansion in town where we were the first guests to occupy the place. There were no beds or nothing (the matresses were getting shoved through the door AS we entered), but gawd almighty by the sombreros of the revolutionaries, the old mansion was bloody marvellous.

Massive rooms, a temperature finally bearable, no mosquitoes, an awesome buffet we feasted on with joy. It was quite simply a lovely night in an authentically ramshackle hotel with great character. As there were no sheets/curtains we used our bags and other stuff and helped cover windows. Obviously, Glenn would be peeved off about being thrown out of his ranch (which took over 13000 tourists in its time) after 10 years+ developing it.

Tomorrow, I’m going horse riding for a few hours. But now I’m letting rip some Sol cervezas on the balcony in a drizzling Ocosingo, feeling as fresh as the day I was born. Mexican bands and Santana are loud, the night is a child, what’s more - my friends are as happy as me.