Around the clock... in Puerto Escondido, Mexico

You can’t deny that changing time zones is childishly exciting, especially when it works in your favour. It might take a whole day to get from a hotel in Asia to a hostel in Latin America, but when it’s still earlier in Mexico than it was when you left Japan, it makes you feel as though you’ve somehow fooled nature, got one over fate and basically been given a second chance to relive that Thursday evening, albeit sitting around in airports and train stations. So when we finally arrived in Mexico, we were secretly smug about ‘going back in time’, but when we wandered through the coastal town of Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca, we asked ourselves if we had actually travelled into the past… If you have ever wondered where all the Volkswagen Beetles went - the 60’s classic car - I can confirm the majority of them are here in Puerto Escondido; in every colour you can imagine, running like a nostalgic dream, and often blaring Latin pop music as they zip around the Palapas - thatched structures on the beachfront - where the fish tacos and grilled seafood made from the fishermen’s morning catch can be washed down with an ice cold Corona under the rusty ceiling fans that seem to be in keeping with the retro theme of this Mexican fishing village.

With our accommodation on the main beach, known as Playa Principal - the part of Puerto Escondido where the real Mexican holidaymakers go - we almost felt like Spanish-speaking intruders, trying to blend in, eating in traditional, local restaurants only to be greeted by suspecting waiters whose doubts about our nationality were confirmed when we had to ask what most of the dishes on the menu were.

The morning catch on Playa Principal, Puerto Escondido.

However, as we headed east towards Zicatela beach, where the waves become a lot rougher, and the shops become a little more chic and boutique, we were suddenly surrounded by a familiar crowd of trendy tourists that only a surfer’s paradise could attract. The earlier street vendors with pineapples laced in chilli sauce and cheap coconut ice-cream were replaced by French pastries and fashionable frozen yoghurt hangouts, the level of inauthenticity directly proportional to the price.

Horses on Zicatela

We spent the rest of our stay in Puerto Escondido exploring the different beaches, going from old school Mexican to 'à la mode' depending on our mood; the unique culture associated with each area swinging from one extreme to another like the pendulum of a grandfather clock, reminding us that time travel nowadays has a lot more to do with tourism than it does with time.

Sunloungers in Playa Manzanillo, Puerto Escondido.

Guess what I found out in Puerto Escondido?

1. In 2013, the German carmaker, Volkswagen, had produced 10 million cars in Mexico. The plant in Puebla, a state in the south east of Mexico, is the second largest VW plant in the world.

2. Prior to the 1930s, no real town existed in Puerto Escondido. The bay had been used as a port intermittently to ship coffee, but there was no permanent settlement due to the lack of drinkable water.

3. According to legend, Puerto Escondido, translated as “Hidden Port” gets its name from a woman who escaped her captors and hid in this village.