OK, the Cabanas are not quite in the stratosphere but you would have thought so if you’d seen me gasping for breath, climbing the hill up to the Cabanas after dinner the first night. They are at 10,500 ft (3200 m) and it’s been some time (actually, probably never) that I’ve done any physical activity at that altitude. It was tough!
The Cabana’s are new-ish, clean and well maintained, and for 150 pesos per night ($11.50) I got one for myself. It was supposed to be a dorm situation but there were no other occupants.
It was very cool at night but the big fireplace fixed that, along with a comfy bed with 3 heavy wool blankets.
The dutch couple from Oaxaca were in the cabin next door, and we met a Scottish woman who’d been travelling alone in Mexico for 3 months, after having done a 5 week training in shamanism in the desert. Her name was “Two Birds”, given to her by a native american when she’d done some training in the US. She had some interesting stories… I don’t buy into much of what she was saying, but that’s the nice thing about travel – you get to meet people with very different perspectives on life. Every day is an education.
There was the option to hike between villages, but I’m not really set up for hiking long distances, and anyway once set up in the Cabana I was reluctant to leave. The other option was to hike locally and come back to the cabin, so the four of us hired a guide for a day (about $4.50 each) and hiked about 10 miles through the forest. Luckily it was relatively flat, I was still having trouble getting enough oxygen when exerting myself at that altitude. I was feeling better every day though, I guess my body was acclimatizing.
