I saw this man ride by in the small town of Tlacolula, about an hour outside of Oaxaca. He's not a peasant; he rides that fine horse for pleasure. But following the old ways, he cuts cut fresh forage out in the campo so the animal will eat well. And because the feed is free.

Large, well-bred horses like the one above are the exception in Oaxaca. More typical are the ponies used to draw carts. This form of transport isn't some quaint throwback kept alive by hobbyists or as a show for tourists. I saw scores of these things. They're an important part of the Oaxacan transportation network.

If you can't afford a pony, you use a donkey. This is one of many in San Juan, another small town.

Horses, horse carts, and donkey carts are not used in the city of Oaxaca itself. It's too congested and drivers are fast and aggressive. But they're plentiful in the pueblas.

Internal combustion technology has made greater inroads since the last time I was in the poor, backward south of Mexico. While I saw I few tricicles being pedaled, most of these taxis have been modified so they can be drawn by motorcycles. The bikes often are tricked-out beauties that can be detached and driven with pride to the local cantina on Saturday night.

The greatest change over the last year or so is the sudden appearance of the nifty new micro-taxis.

Clint says they're of Chinese manufacture. They look like they're environmentally friendly. They have four-cycle engines (less polluting) that barely sip gasoline. Watch one struggle up a hill and you'll see what I mean. A ride costs $5 pesos—50¢.

The primary purpose of this Volkswagen beetle is to carry a blaring sound system around town to harangue the people into voting for PAN, one of the political parties.

This practice is sublimely irritating. The message is loud, unintelligible and unwanted. Nevertheless, they've been doing this sort of thing for over 50 years, and nobody but expatriates thinks they should stop it.

Below we have a working big rig tractor from the late '40s or early '50s. Just look at that split windshield. Usually trucks this old are quietly rusting away in a field or junkyard. But this one is still in service. You can tell because of the newish, meaty tires. There's no sign left of the model or make; that hood sheet metal has been reworked a few times. But what a beauty!

I'm accustomed to seeing the Virgen de Guadalupe airbrushed onto the backs of pickup trucks. But a dump truck?

Our local guide, Eric, told me that Guadalupe is colloquially know as "the serpent crusher." Cool. The words Reyna Mia mean My Queen. Reyna is a misspelling of reina. The juxtaposition of a sacred image with a pair of longhorn mud flaps was too good to pass up.

The last pair of photos is barely transportation related. This DC-3 is parked on the lawn of a huge buffet-style restaurant situated out in the country.

The big rotary engines are intact, as is the landing gear and other essentials. I guess it could be restored to flying status.

But it won't be. It now functions as a small movie theater; a diversion for the kiddies while the old folks idle away the afternoon at an hours-long Sunday comida.