Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

I snapped this from the back seat of a wild Oaxacan cab ride. My sister and I traveled to the famed heart of Mexico, where we stayed in a colorful bed and breakfast. The owner's mother was reportedly a medicine woman. We signed up for the temazcal (traditional Mexican sweat lodge) at her house. Crawling inside the tiny temazcal (somewhat like a Portuguese bread oven), we let Dona Mariana swat us with native herbs. Our anxieties melted away as we sat sweating in complete darkness. Dona drenched us in rosewater--to symbolize our rebirth--then gave us both soul-soothing massages. On the way back to the hotel our taxi driver sped through passageways barely big enough for a horse cart. His rosary swung like a pendulum as he hopped curbs and dodged kids, dogs, and tamale trucks. For a change, my sister and I were too blissed out to worry.