In Case you've never heard of San Jose Del Pacifico, it is about 2440 m/8000 ft high on the Pochutla-Oaxaca highway (175), and makes a good overnight stopover when driving between Oaxaca City and the Pacific Coast.
But San José del Pacífico is mostly also known for its psychedelic mushrooms, and the local tradition of using these mushrooms for healing.
Mushroom season runs from about July to October, but they may be found at other times preserved in honey, because of this hundreds of foreigners as well as local tourists flock to the area in search of the local "Hong" as it's called.
But don't let the fact that it's become a popular tourist destination fool you, it's still very much a quiet peaceful mountain town that holds onto a lot of its heritage.
When you first arrive in San Jose Del Pacifico you will be greeted by the smell of fresh mountain air, as well as many local shops selling anything from mushroom artefacts to hot coffee and cocoa.
There is definitely something warming about the main town, which is a good thing because the temperature can get relatively cold compared to other parts of Mexico.
If you're like us and would like to participate in the healing practice of consuming the local hongos, there is pretty much one place in town that is the most trusted.
It's a quaint little restaurant up on the hill called Cabanas Pacifico here you will find a tiny little restaurant that serves all kinds of food and drink, but if you specifically ask for the "Hongo" the last working there will bring out the mushrooms for you to view.
You basically have two choices, to purchase the mushrooms as is, or she will make it into a tea for you (otherwise you can make it tea yourself).
And don't worry, she will tell you how much you need to take for the desired e, but if you're new to the experience it's always a good idea to start with a little less.
The price for both of us was around 750 pesos which is a bit more than what we had heard it would cost, but I wasn't really in the mood for bargaining I was just happy to take the tea as is.
We took the tea back to our cabin and lit our fire, we made sure we had plenty of water and food for later (the last thing you really want to be doing is going and looking for food and water.
We drank our tea and to be honest we were slightly surprised at how fast it worked, it started with a tingly sensation all over the body and a slight feeling of uncertainty of what was to come.
Watching anything on TV become futile as nothing really made sense, we decided to put music on and that's when the lights and shapes started to form, although it wasn't a scary feeling at all, walking around become a little difficult.
we all of a sudden had a strong feeling that we needed to be outside despite the cold weather, we rugged up and sat on the edge of our cabana for what felt like forever.
It's very hard to explain the feeling of being on mushrooms, but the best way we can put it is a feeling of warmth and grounding, it's almost as if a reminder from Mother Nature that we are part of her and she is protecting us, life and death don't seem to be so binary, instead it feels like they are one a the same.
The next day we felt an overwhelming calm come over us, it's hard to imagine having such a
psychedelic experience without any after effects as you usually would from drugs or alcohol, but that was the effect we had.
It's an experience that may not be for everyone, but if it's something you are interested in we would r it being in the right setting with the right people, and San Jose Del Pacifico definitely seemed to be the right place for us.
For us it's a comforting feeling knowing we can check back into this healing place whenever life feels like too much, just for the reminder that we are in fact connected to nature. It's an experience we will never forget and recommend it to anyone looking to expand their consciousness.