Whenever I return home from a courier trip, the first question my friends and family ask is, "How was your trip -- what were you carrying?" Usually I can only guess at what's in the shipment, but on a recent trip to Mexico City, I found out exactly what was in those parcels World Courier had given me to carry.

This was my second courier trip to Mexico, but my first flight with World Courier. They offer a good deal to IAATC members; I flew out of New York on Delta for $100 roundtrip, including frequent flyer miles. Couriers on this run can choose their own return since there are no duties on the flight back.

Travelers going through customs in Mexico City encounter a "green light, red light" system that randomly determines who gets his baggage inspected. I got the red light, so my soft-side luggage and the two parcels I carried for World Courier were all liable for inspection.

After searching through my luggage, the customs official asked, "What's in the box?" I had to tell her -- with a smile -- that I really didn't know. "What's in those padded envelopes you have?" she asked. Once again I replied that I didn't know. I explained that I was a courier, showed her my letter of instruction from New York and pointed out that every day on this flight there was a different courier bearing a time-sensitive delivery. I suggested that she may want to speak with one of World's agents who was waiting for me just beyond the exit door. The customs lady, while gracious, was not to be deterred. She grabbed a knife and began to slice open the packages.

Medical Supplies
Since I work in a hospital, I was fascinated to learn that inside the cardboard box was an aluminum cylinder of liquid medication being sent from a New York drug manufacturer to a medical center in Mexico. The padded envelopes contained an assortment of documents and a couple of videos from a Manhattan advertising agency, probably a commercial destined for air time on a local TV channel.

After satisfying her curiosity -- and mine -- we repackaged the goods as best we could and she sent me on my way. I turned the parcels over to the agent, apologized for their condition, and headed off to the Metro station. I got off at "Revolution" and walked the few blocks to the Hotel Oxford on Ignacio Mariscal. There are several good hotels on this street, including the nearby Hotel Carlton, which offers singles with TV and private bath for about 65 pesos (US$9.50).

I left for Oaxaca in the morning. It had been nine years since I'd been there. I wondered as the bus breezed southward if this beautiful, old colonial city surrounded by the majestic peaks of the Sierra Madre del Sur, had changed very much. I recalled its glorious climate, colorful Spanish architecture, and the smell of coffee and ground chocolate. Bus transportation in Mexico is getting quite sophistocated and is an excellent bargain. Many of the companies operate first class and super-first class buses with air conditioning, movies and complimentary soda or coffee. The 250-mile trip took 6 hours over a new interstate highway and cost 100 pesos (US$14).

Colonial Oaxaca
Oaxaca is still a grand old city. I can recommend a number of hotels, though I finally settled in at the Hotel Vierreyes, located east of the Zocalo at 1001 Morelos. The shaded rooms in the old colonial building surround a large courtyard. My habitacion was built of warm, varnished wood. The bed was clean and comfortable, there was a phone, good lighting, hot and cold water in the bathroom and a clean toilet that always worked. At 50 pesos a night (US$7), I was delighted.

Travelers who prefer a more modern atmosphere may like the Santa Clara Hotel located right across the street. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the spotless rooms with sparkling tiled baths rent for 65 pesos (US$9.50) a single. The Las Golondrinas Hotel at No. 411 Tinoco y Palacios used to be an insider's secret, but thanks to a recent mention in the New York Times, the word is out. It's a charming little hotel with large, clean, modern rooms connected by rambling walkways and exquisitely planted courtyards. But at 110 pesos (US$15.70) a single, I was happy to stay where I was and just pop over for breakfast in one of lovely courtyards.

I like the food in Oaxaca; my favorite place to eat is at the Benito Juarez market, at the junction of 20 Novembre and Las Casas. Here dozens of family-owned comedors serve the best of Oaxacan cooking at cheap prices. I returned often to the Comedor Maria Teresa at locations 38-39. The enchiladas chorizos -- sausages flavored with red chile powder -- and the sopas are great, but the star attraction is the pechuga de pollo con mole negro (breast of chicken smothered in black mole sauce). Oaxaca is famous for its mole -- chile paste pureed with nuts, spices and unsweetened chocolate. I have an adventurous palate, but in all my travels I've encountered few delights to rival this spicy dark chocolate sauce. At Maria Teresa's, the pollo con mole with rice, tortillas and a cold soda runs about 15 pesos (US$2.25).

Ride to the Market
After five days in Oaxaca, I had a pretty good base for my tan and it was time to head for the coast. The 7-hour trip overnight saved the cost of a hotel, so I splurged on a first-class especial busride for 92 pesos (US$13). The trip can also be done in a noisy 1960s diesel without air conditioning for 32 pesos (US$4.50). The two-lane highway that twists through the mountains on the way to Puerto Angel is one of Mexico's great travel adventures. The bumps and general turbulance -- riding through the clouds atop the mountains and descending to sea level steeply enough to make your ears pop -- is one of those trips that inspire locals to make the sign of the cross as they enter the bus.

The fishing village of Puerto Angel is becoming a center for tourist activity. The beaches are beautiful, there is good diving and snorkeling and it is a jumping-off point for lesser known beaches along the coast. The Pension Puesta del Sol, in the center of town, is run by a German gentleman named George. It is affordable and spotlessly clean, each room has a screened window and a fan. The bathrooms are communal, but modern and the only drawback is the absence of hot water.

Playa Zipolite
Three kilometers west of town is Playa Zipolite, longtime Mecca for aging hippies and a legend to backpackers who have passed this way over the years. It's the grandfather of Mexican beaches, long enough to offer spellbinding views of the sunrise in the east and sunset on the western edge. The view from Shambhala, a palapa and hammock hang-out, is worth the trip in itself. Shambhala prides itself on being drug-free -- which cannot be said for many of the palapas on the beach. A man working in the kitchen there gave me the best tip I got on my entire trip. "If you're looking for peace and quiet," he said, "go to Mazunte and find Guido's place."

Beautiful Mazunte
Mazunte is 13-kilometers west of Puerto Angel on the road past Zipolite. Buses run every 20 minutes for 2 pesos (28 cents) each way. Until just a year ago Mazunte was an isolated village on a series of scenic bays, reachable only by a dusty dirt road. It was the center of southern Mexico's turtle industry. Villagers were decimating the "tortuga" population, typically slaughtering over 1,000 each day for meat and the shells. Now, after years of pressure from environmental organizations, an interesting compromise has been worked out for residents who depend on the turtles for their livelihood. The road to town has been paved and an aquarium has been built, where villagers study the turtle and work to protect it. This past September, tens of thousands of turtles returned from as far away as the coasts of California and Chile to lay their eggs on Mazunte's golden beaches.

Guido's Paradise
I found the Casa de Guido. The affable Italian owns a strip of land along the beach where he lives with his beautiful Mexican wife, Marie-sol, their pet parrot and a dog. Guido rents hammock space and rooms in a palapa for US$3-5 a night, and offers home-cooked meals to travelers staying at his place. The ocean here forms a calm bay and curls to form a broad, almost deserted beach. Guido and his wife enjoy a stunning setting; they seem to be living in paradise.

Late one afternoon I took a walk along the far end of the beach and over a rocky strip of land jutting out into the sea. From one of the rocky crests I could see a series of completely deserted, white sand beaches stretching northward, and view the ocean for 180-degrees left and right. What an idyllic spot! More than any place I've ever been, I had the sense that I stood atop a huge ball floating through space. A steady breeze tousled my hair, condors sailed overhead and I watched the sun, resplendent in its copper heat, descend and disappear into the sparkling Pacific horizon.

Notes on Zipolite
SoRelle Braun and David Fagundes, two Harvard students who contribute to the best-selling Let's Go budget travel guidebooks, tout Zipolite, Mexico as the place to go for high adventure at a minimal cost. Something of an international melting pot for the youth of Mexico, Europe and the U.S., the beaches are clothing optional, prices are dirt cheap and the atmosphere is extremely low key. Warnings include the fact that there are no telephones, pharmaceutical items are rare and expensive, the swimming can be dangerous due to a cross-current, and you may want to bring drinking water. There is one newly-paved road leading in to town, so those who love the isolation fear that Zipolite may soon become a popular tourist attraction. Shambhala, on the west end of the beach provides small concrete rooms with beds and mosquito netting for US$3.20 a single, US$4.80 a double, or you can rent a hammock for 80 cents. They also have cabanas with clean bathrooms and cold-water showers for $4 for 1-2 people. Recommended restaurants are El Hongo, Lo Cosmico, or La Choza -- the most expensive -- with red snapper for $3.20. Zipolite is home to the Museo de la Tortuga, an aquarium boasting nine of the world's eleven known turtle species and all six fresh-water varieties. To reach Zipolite, take the colectivo from Port Angel.

IAATC Member, Jamaica Plains, Massachusetts
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