Besides food, the main task of Oaxaca was to get our transportation sorted for our departure on Dec. 27, as we were worried we might not be able to get a ticket to the coast, our next destination. Our bus from Puebla to Oaxaca on the 23rd was packed, as was the bus station, so we didn’t want to take any chances. We had contemplated taking the bus, but after running into Alex and Chelsea, our friends from Mexico City, and hearing their story about a 12 hour bus trip from Puerto Escondido, we decided to take the risk of a less comfortable van trip without bathrooms, which ended up being much cheaper, and only 6 hours. The key to this trip though, was finding the station to buy the tickets. And an elusive station it was at that.
We actually started looking for the station the very first morning on our way to the local bus station. We walked to the address listed in the Lonely Planet and on Google Maps, but it wasn’t there. However, we were given a clue with a poster saying something along the lines that they had moved and listed a new address. Great you say! The problem was, first off, how do you read this address? What’s up with the cross street?
A clue
Anyway, we wandered down a couple blocks where the two streets listed crossed, but no Atlantis. To clarify, the name of the company is actually Atlantida, but hey, close enough. And it was lost enough to be Atlantis, at least in our books.
We gave up for the day and went to Hierve el Agua.
The next day, Christmas, we really didn’t think it would even be open, but we thought we might as well try and locate it anyway. This time we decided to be more strategic and figure out the address system. Which seemed pretty straightforward. We needed the 600 block of Calle . Fine. We walked along the street until we hit the 600 block, found the addresses on either side of the Atlantida address, but no Atlantida, and no building the number of what we needed either. Stumped again. At this point, you’re probably wondering why we didn’t ask for directions. Good point. So we did. First we asked another transport company about a block from where the new address should have been, and they directed us four blocks east, back the way we came. At that point we asked a hostel, who said it was around the corner, which of course led us back to the original address with the sign directing us to the new address. Right. Time to give up for the day.
The list of Mezcals we needed to drown our disappointment with not finding Atlantis
The next day was the 26th, when everything was open, and we wanted to leave the next day, so this was it. Time to get proactive. Cheryl sent them a Facebook message (their Facebook page was surprisingly active, which is why we didn’t think they were out of business), and I searched for other companies that would take us to Potchutla, about half an hour from Mazunte, our desired destination (Atlantida would take us directly to Mazunte). Finally, about four blocks from the original Atlantida address, we found a station that sold tickets to Pochutla and bought them for 10:30 the next morning. We were elated to say the least.
Later that night Cheryl did get a reply back to her directions enquiry, with a response asking where in Oaxaca City we were (ostensibly to give us directions from there), but at this point, we decided Atlantis was never meant to be found. It would remain the lost station of Atlantis to us.