Up at 6am and out by 730am in taxis to catch our 5hr coach to Oaxaca leaving 825am. The coaches here are just like the ones all over South America – big, luxurious, seats better than aircraft economy and toilets in the rear. The journey to Oaxaca was very scenic taking up and past the massive Sierra Mixteca Mountain Range that looks like an elongated mini Grand Canyon. Superb as photos below reveal.
On arrival in Oaxaca (Pop 736,111), pronounced Wuh-Huka, we dropped our bags and embarked on a guided walk to the local markets. Oaxaca immediately struck us as more traditional with the same formula of multi-coloured buildings which seemed much older and run down than Puebla. The local “Mercado” was packed with people. Two main buildings, one with clothes and the other with food. The group had a late lunch whilst I took some local photos and tracked down cheese, wine and olives !!! The group walked on and I decided to head back to hotel to post Puebla. No worries here since I had a full Golfco guided tour of the entire city planned for Friday. Oaxaca was founded in 1486 after a truce between the three main indigenous factions – the Zapotec, Mixtecs and Aztecs who occupied the nearby Mount Alaban area as early as 1500BC. No wonder this place is considered the “spiritual heart” of indigenous Mexico – a kind of Ancient Capital. I will expand upon the various indigenous peoples of Mexico in my next post.
The next day (Thu 11JAN) was the first of many fully guided day trips that I had planned from Australia some 3mths earlier with Viator or Get-Your-Guide. We were picked up at 8am and joined a bunch of other people (different from Intrepid) at 9am to head out to the Tule Tree of Santa Marie del Tule. This is the largest tree in the world in terms of GIRTH – that is the distance around the base of the trunk, which is a whopping 58 metres !!! It is also estimated to be between 1200-1300 years old !!! The next stop was the remote village of Teotitlan del Valle, in the middle of a semi-arid desert containing a family run compound that has sheep, shears them, cleans the wool, straightens the wool, spins the wool into thread, dies the wool using natural plants and minerals, then meads the coloured thread into rugs !!! Amazing. Saw the whole process. Next was the town of Mitla, which contains an archeological site belonging to the Zapotec Peoples of the first millennium after Christ. The highlight is a palace with the Zapotec freeze indicating Birth, Life and Death. There are other buildings that date back to 450AD but have been reduced to rubble. The most impressive features were the stone blocks weighing up to 18 tons and plaster with red colouring still present. The next stop was lunch. Antonia ate. I interviewed the guide. The next stop was something I had never seen before. A PETRIFIED WATERFALL. It is water that solidified over time due to massive concentrations of calcium carbonate in it. There is a water hole at the top, which extends to the edge of the fall like an infinity pool, which makes it one of the most photographed places in Mexico. It is locally known as “Hierve el Agua”. The fall is only 30m high but took one to two thousand years to form, it is actually like a huge stalactite and well worth visiting. We had a swim in the water hole but it was very iffy with multiple bodies in it as well… The final stop was the best – MEZCAL !!! This is the specialty of the area – a type of Tequila made from the Agave but a different species from the one that is used for Tequila. The unique things about Mezcal is that it is double distilled from fermented Agave juice just like Cognac is double distilled from Ugni Blanc. A 5-foot nothing Mexican took as around the distillery explaining the entire process from Agave planting to the finished product. We tasted 4 samples: 8yrs, 1yr, 6mths on on American Oak and the last pure. Our favourite was 1yr since it had a very aromatic essence with slight smokiness. Suffice to say we were exhausted when we got back to the hotel and decided to whoff down 4 tacos and my can of veggies with American mustard !!! My can of veggies have helped me keep regular since tacos and the rest are mainly corn bread and meat and fat !!!
Our final day in Oaxaca (12JAN) was focused on the city itself and its people and buildings. But not before a 10km run. What a run. Three hills rising 233m above 1515m in crazy traffic with busted narrow footpaths and hardly any road shoulders due to deep gutters that suggest the huge amount of rain that must fall in the wet season. Our 4 hour walk peaking at 30C but dry took us to the following places: Sangre de Cristo, Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzman, El-Convento de Santo Domingo de Guzman, Jardin Etnobotanico, Iglesia del Carmen Alto, Plazuela de Carmen Alto, Espacia Zaoata, Calle Macedonia, Sangre de Cristo, Centro Cultural San Pablo, Museo Textil de Oaxaca, Catedral de Oaxaca, Zocalo (Main Square), Museo del Palacio, Mercado Benito Juarez, Jardin Socrates, Plaza de la Danza, Basilica de la Soledad, Museo de la Basilica de la Soledad. The highlight was definitely the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzman, a massive large block church with exquisite interior but what made it the winner was the agave garden in front of the entrance. Our walk featured a huge amount of shopping by Antonia, who found everything she was looking for. The walk ended with supplies for tonight’s 12hr overnight bus to San Cristobal.
We packed and showered back at the hotel before crowning the day and Oaxaca with sublime cocktails overlooking our favourite church and a nice thin steak, beans and rice at the local Mercado.
After a brief shower and rest back at the hotel we left at 1915 for the 12hr overnight super-coach to San Cristobel, which left at 2025. The super-coach is a huge thing with business-class seats reclining to one quarter back with puffy seats and head rests and foot rests. Exactly like South America. Memories. Took me back to 2011 when I travelled to 9 countries in coaches like these with Maureen over 3mths. The other point of reminiscence was disguising my wine in non-see through juice tetra packs since alcohol on these buses is not allowed. But like South America, no one check your carry-on so it was easy wine drinking into the night…
My assessment of our first three cities of Mexico City, Puebla and Oaxaca is this. All three cities are colourful and classic. Mexico City has the greatest dose of modernism with huge classical buildings and Oaxaca the least in both. Which leaves Puebla that is the goldilocks – it has the best balance of both !!!
So it is time to decide for yourself by immersing yourself in the images to follow…
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