Mexico Route 175 is presently about the only route one can take from Oaxaca City down to the coastal towns and resorts of Puerto Angel, Puerto Escondido and Bahias de Huatulco, without having to go far out of one's way.

The road winds treacherously over the Sierra Madre del Sur with little, if any, shoulder, through lush greenery and giving one fantastic views of the Central Oaxaca Valley as you travel up from the interior moving toward the coast, and of the verdant foothills falling towards the Pacific Ocean approaching Pochutla.

This stretch of highway, from Miahuatlan to Pochutla, is a mere 148 kilometers long. When we travelled it in September of 2000, it took us close to 4 hours to make that part of the drive. In September, of course, we were at the height of the rainy season, and as we climbed into the mountains and entered the pine forests, fog closed in about us and wafted spectrally through the magueys and ferns drooping on the sides of the road. The smell of woodsmoke was in the air and the few settlements along the route consisted often of sodden, wooden shacks with dripping sheep and burros standing outside the doors. The road had several spots where small mud slides had occurred, and fortunately there wasn't much traffic to have to worry about passing on the windy, narrow road.

Coming down toward the Pacific, past San José del Pacifico, the fog thinned and we were treated to views of deep, green valleys, numerous roadside waterfalls, giant moss and vine covered trees, all with the feeling of an oriental painting which nature brushed on the surroundings with light, wispy strokes. Bananas began to appear among the trees, and a whole family of Coatamundis wisked across the road in front of us, tails curled above their backs.

Pochutla, we found, was a confusing town, poorly marked and hard to get through without getting completely lost. But make it we did, and arriving at Puerto Angel, we decided that despite the arduousness of the road we'd just covered, it was definitely worth the effort to experience the fabulous landscapes that are found along it.