We started at the village of Benito Juarez in the south, and 3 days later have arrived nearly 1000m lower at Amatlán, following forest trails and an ancient trading route through a canyon. With butterflies, brightly coloured birds and lizards for company, this was a very pleasant hike.

Our first night was spent in the tiny village of La Nevería, named after the snow and ice that sometimes halt the growing of crops, which is the main livelihood in the region. But the cold didn't bother us too much because our cabin had a fireplace in the bedroom that was filled with wood, and lit at bedtime. This was the same story on our second night in Latuvi, where our cabin also had a terrace with a hammock and far-reaching views to the valleys below.

These villages, collectively known as Pueblos Mancomunados are populated by native people who speak the Zapoteco language. They used to earn their living from cutting down trees, but this is a beautiful area with a huge variety of microclimates, so the otherworldly cloudforests have now been preserved by a logging ban, and the economy is boosted instead by visitors like us who hire local people as guides and eat the locally grown food. They are fairly self-sufficient in the villages, but also grow fl-owers and weave clothing to sell on the markets in Oaxaca.