Down A Deep Rabbit Hole

After the disappointment of Huatulco, not completely unexpected let me add, we drove on with our eye on a place we had read about previously on the iOverlander app. Apparently there was a place to park a van on the beach in Bahia San Agústin, an indentation 45 minutes north of Huatulco. We continued up the highway and passed a Pemex which we figured we could use as a back up sleeping spot if the campground didn't work out. We turned left toward the beach exactly as signposted to San Agustin. 

"8 miles," Layne said from the navigator's seat. 

"And thirty minutes to get there?" I asked, incredulity in my voice. 

"That's what Google maps says," she told me once again. Hmmm. Eight miles in half an hour means they expect us to keep up an average speed of sixteen whole miles an hour? This didn't sound great.

It wasn't great, far from it.

The first quarter mile was dirt, rough washboard and even included a tope to slow us down further. The sun was setting and if there was no campground on the beach, or if it was full or some other catastrophe we might be driving back up here in the dark. We had absolutely no idea what we were heading into so naturally we pressed on, very very slowly. 

"How far?" I'd ask Layne periodically and she would reply with some minutely reduced fraction of miles covered of the eight miles total we had to cover to arrive.

It was actually quite scenic and had I not been so tired and so ready to arrive it might have been quite charming. The washboard was tooth rattling and there was enough traffic blasting by it was not safe to cross to the left to avoid the worst patches. After quarter of mile we met some cement pavement. Nice. I perked up, this needn't be so bad. Until we hit more dirt weaving down hill and uphill and corkscrewing in a most alarming manner. 

Infuriatingly there were several stretches of cement paved road but they were plunked down in front of the few homes and through the one small village we passed. The roughest, steepest bits were left as dirt to be torn up by madly racing vehicles. In rainy season this apology for a road would be impossible in our big fat Promaster. So it was we jounced and jostled as we made our way deeper and deeper toward perdition half wishing it were rainy season and we could call this madness off.

For our rather leisurely rate of progress topes just felt like insults heaped on injury. We had to slow down even more to cope with the infernal never ending speed bumps. We felt like the fillings in our teeth were being jolted loose by this ghastly abomination of a road. I am not cut out to be an off roader, in case there were any doubt. I don't mind a fire road or a  not brilliant dirt road if there is a destination to see but driving in rough conditions for the fun of it is about as interesting to me as playing in snow, or cutting off my finger with a chainsaw.

For the local public transport it was just another day at work and my inner musing contemplating armageddon and mayhem would have struck them as excessively melodramatic had they been able to look inside my head. As  it was Layne smiled and waved at passersby and I kept my eyes glued to the least obnoxious track through the talcum powder.

Was it worth it? Well, after Franz, owner of Don Tacos (named for his dog) welcomed us laughing and remarking what a terrible road it is, we backed into his smallest of campgrounds and found yourselves next to a fearsome four wheel drive lifted Ford Econoline beast from Colorado which probably eats roads like this for a breakfast appetizer.

We parked our poofy overweight apology for a mobile mattress and took stock. I was rather pleased with Gannet 2 which had digested the road with no complaint, far less than had I, and arrived in. perfect working order and ready to leave at the drop of a hat. Beach?

Check. Swimming?

Absolutely. Hanging out?

Of course.

We would figure out how to get back up out of this hole later. Meanwhile we would wallow at Don Taco's and remind ourselves why beaches are a good place to stop for a few days and rest.

I think it was worth the hassle to get here.