Ollie, Shay and a Hippie from London went on a pilgrimage deep into the Oaxacan Mountains. Our quest was to find out more about the spiritual practises of the Mazatec Indians in Hauatla de Jimenez and also to have a break from the rainy season's unbearable coastal heat by escaping up to the cool mountains. The journey was very windy and slow, above the clouds, at over 2800 meters above sea level.
　
It was the 'Hippie', Richard that we met in Mazunte who got us onto the idea. When we first met him he seemed like an interesting guy, a bit wacko but that just made him more interesting. We had our suspicions that it could go wrong when we witnessed a little of his opinionated/two faced side before we left the beach paradise, but forever optimistic, we believed we could handle it for 10 days or so. It ended up being a never-ending endurance of patience and control to accept his anti-social habits. There is a good reason why he has travelled alone so far.
　
Hippies and Celebrities in the Mountains
　
Richard told us in the 60's there where thousands of hippies and music celebrities that did the pilgrimage journey to Hauatla for spiritual purposes; the Beatles, Bob Dylan, Donovan, Timothy Leary and Albert Hoffman to name a few.

Hauatla is an isolated Mazatec Indian village hidden on steep slopes of Mexico's Sierra Madre del Sur. In the 1950's, when Hauatla was still about as remote as a place can be, two westerners R Gordon Wasson, vice president of JP Morgan and Co, and Allan Richardson, a New York fashion photographer, made their way to the village. It took them 10 hours just to make the 38 mile journey from the bottom of the mountain to the top. They wanted to know more about the Mazatec spiritual and curative practises so they met with Maria Sabina, the local currandera, and participated in an all night ceremony which centres on ingesting sacred mushrooms called teonanacatl (flesh of the gods). Wasson published his experiences in Life magazine in 1957, propelling Hauatla into the spotlight and making Maria Sabina a cult figure. In the years that followed, Maria Sabina received a long procession of the era's most important rock 'n' roll musicians, writers, poets and counter-culture personalities. They all took part in the sacred night ceremony at her home in El Fortin, at the top of the mountain just outside town. Legend has it that during the velada, Sabina warned John Lennon that she saw a vision of a gun pointed at him. Maria Sabina died in 1985, but today her grandson, Filogonio, has taken on his grand-mothers shaman heritage.

A Chess Playing Witch 'High' in the Mountains
　
From Mazunte, where our quest began, we were soon climbing up toward the clouds to our first destination San Jose Del Pacifico, 2800 meters above sea level. Up there the air was cool, a comfortable 10 to 18 degrees Celsius. There were even patches of hail/snow lining the mountain road. The air felt clean and fresh, smelling distinctly of Norwegian pine forests. We arrived just before nightfall and drove straight to Casa de Catalina. Catalina is a Spanish 'witch' who rents out rooms in her wacky home. Richard had stayed there on his last visit and recommended we do the same. The witch apparently has healing abilities which we both found intriguing. That is until she told Shay she knew a cure for her freckles. She is also a chain smoking chess fanatic. She was excited at the prospect of a new challenge when she found out Ollie could play but he was quick to make his excuses in fear of a curse if he beat her.
　
It was quiet when we arrived, with only one other French guy staying there, we were optimistic we would get to have a room of our own. Unfortunately, within hours of our arrival, group after group kept turning up, an array of very alternative walks of life, until every bed was taken up, even the mattress which was under our bed (we got one hell of a shock when we woke up to find someone groping around under our bed in the middle of the night). The next day we decided to sleep in the camper as we're a little to old for the comings and goings of hostel type accommodation. We spent the next two days wandering through the forest and being at one with nature. Ollie felt right at home as it reminded him so much of Norway. On our third night we treated ourselves to a little wooden cabin perched high on the side of a mountain. From there we could watch the mist as it swirled up and around us from the comfort of our bed, it was a magnificent sight.

Going to Pot
　
On arrival in San Jose del Pacifico, the hippie had promptly gone out and brought himself a large stock of cannabis to last him the journey, despite warnings from Ollie that he did not want any drugs in the car while we are on the road (due to the military check-points where they are specifically on the look-out for drugs and/or weapons). Ollie reiterated his rule and told him he would either have to smoke it up in San Jose or bin it if he wanted to continue in the truck with us. We could tell he was not impressed and hinted that Ollie was over-reacting and the Military never check anyway (we knew this was not true as we had already been searched on a number of occasions). Just before our departure from San Jose, Ollie made himself clear once again. He begrudgingly agreed to this but we had our suspicions that he didn't actually get rid of it. Short of giving him a cavity search, there was nothing we could do; we had to believe he'd respected our rules. As if to prove our point, we were pulled over by the next Military check-point and they put the drug dogs into our camper to sniff it out. Luckily for Richard they didn't search him directly as we're sure they would have found something. We bet he was s***ting himself!
　
After San Jose, and Ollie's insistence of Richard getting rid of his pot, we started to see a different side to him. All of a sudden there were sarcastic comments directed at us and a lot of sulking. The stories about his punk past, now transitioned into hippie phase, and his non-stop lectures about himself and about punk music with dates, time lines and artists names, which were originally interesting when we first heard them, were starting to get old and boring. He was opinionated, and often tried to tell Ollie how to drive the truck. He would encourage him to overtake on blind corners then getting huffy and frustrated when Ollie wasn't prepared to do it. We began to realise that our difference in personalities was going to create problems and wanted a way to release ourselves from him. Deep down we knew he hadn't actually done anything wrong. It was just the way he was.
　
Birthday Celebrations and Tantrums
　
We kept the conflicts at bay and powered on to Oaxaca City, the capital of Oaxaca. After a long day of driving we made our way around the congested, narrow cobbled streets and found somewhere to park. We were keen to just find a hostel and get ourselves settled but Richard had other plans, we were soon to find out that he likes to check out every hotel and hostel in the town and he also likes to check every room in every hotel in the town. For a self professed 'free-spirited hippie' he sure is picky with rooms and restaurants, but he doesn't like to pay extra for luxury. After 3 hours of walking in muggy heat we finally found one that he liked, and it just happened to be right next to where we originally parked the truck! That night we had arranged to meet Shannon, who we'd met in Mazunte, as it was her birthday and she was on her own. We didn't know if she'd received our email but we told her we would wait at the Zocalo (town square) until 8.15pm. Luckily all worked out as planned and we had a great dinner at a fancy restaurant called La Biznaga and then cocktails around the corner at Café la Borga. During the evening we had noticed that Richard had gone very quiet and subdued, even a bit sulky, and we were to later find out, by his own admission, that he was jealous of the attention we gave Shannon on her birthday as for once he was not centre of attention (he is 47 years old!).
　
The next day we decided to ditch Richard for a few hours and took to the streets of Oaxaca with Shannon. Hangovers aside, we had a great day perusing the markets and eating carne (meat) tacos, all freshly prepared in front of us. Oaxaca is a beautiful colonial city with brightly coloured, interesting buildings and plentiful artisan and craft markets. That night there was the decision for a cheap but cheerful meal close to our accommodations, but of course we ended up walking for about two hours in the rain until we found something that suited Richard!

Healing on Top of the World
　
The drive to Haualta de Jimenez was another endless climb around hairpin bends high up within the mountains. Six hours later we squeezed the camper through Hauatla's narrow and congested streets and wound our way to the top of the village to El Fortin, where Maria Sabina once lived. Her family still live there, they tend a small grocery shop and rent out rustic rooms to tourists, but their main income comes from the ancient Mazatec spiritual/healing ceremonies that were made famous by Maria Sabina many years ago. Filogonio, Maria's grandson, now performs a 'westernised' version in a little shack made of corrugated iron, with a dirt floor and a alter full of Catholic icons and candle lights. Although not as popular as they were in the 60's, Filogonio seems to still receive a steady flow of Mexicans and foreigners.
　
We parked and lived in our camper in front of the shop, while Richard took a room in the family's compound. Filogonio's family was very friendly and hospitable and we especially bonded with his wife, daughter and 2 year old darling grand-daughter despite the language barrier (there was a lot of hand gestures in an effort to get the point across which they all found very amusing). They were very curious about our camper and loved to come and visit us.

We didn't see any celebrities, nor any hippies (except the one we brought), however, on our second day a Mexican lady arrived with her sons, she looked pale and had to be supported when walking. We were excited by the prospect of actually being around while a healing ceremony was performed and kept making excuses to wander past the ceremony room that evening (how we would have loved to have been flies on the wall). We don't know if she got the cure that she needed but she sure looked a lot happier and less sick the next day.
　
The best part about Hauatla was the fantastic mountain and forest walks. It was hard work with an altitude of above 2500 meters but the views were breathtaking. From the top of the mountain you had a 360 degree panorama of Hauatla and other little mountain villages in the valleys below. One evening we decided to hike up at midnight on a full moon and we sat on a ridge where there is a sacred cross and looked down on the world below us. It was a surreal experience.

The hippie continued to be a test on our patience. At first Ollie was ready to tell him to take a hike, but Shay convinced him to give him a second chance. Then a few days later Shay had had a gut full of his bad attitude, and this time it was Ollie who calmed her down and reminded her that she only had to hold out a few more days. After five days in Hauatla enough was enough. We decided that we had to get to San Cristobal, our promised drop-off zone for Richard, as soon as possible. It was now a race against time to get there before things turned nasty.