Day 18 – 20 – Oaxaca

Ps from last post. While we were sleeping in the van in Cholula we were rather rudely awoken when a car decided to drive right into us at 3am! Luckily it just grazed the side of the van and the van was just left with some scratches and a dent.

Day 18 – Wandering around Oaxaca

Last night we stayed in the hostel Cielo Azul, splashing out at 620 pesos per night (¬$34) for a private room. Unlike the rest of Mexico, it was packed here and we got the last room. This was in part because Oaxaca seems like a pretty popular place for tourists and also because this week is Oaxaca Film Fest, with hoards of people from across the globe (the US).

While having breakfast at the hostel, we were told about a free walking tour of the city, departing at 10am. This gave us 10 minutes to dash up to our room, get ready, and set off for the tour, meeting at the Santa Domingo church. The walking tour was a lot of fun. There were eight of us and we spent around four hours going around the city. Santa Domingo is the most prominent church in Oaxaca and very ornate, with many saints all around the walls and ceilings. Our next stop was an organic market, where we sampled the mildly alcoholic beverages of aguamiel, pulque, and a spiced version of pulque along with looking at some artwork and ceramics for sale. We proceeded by stopping at an artisanal chocolate shop. We learned that Oaxaca is the number one consumer of chocolate in Mexico, even though only one percent of cacao from Mexico is grown here. We sampled chocolate that used husked vs whole cacao beans, different bitternesses, and different bean varieties. Continuing on, we visited a textile workshop where we saw men manually creating cotton throws using looms. After stopping at a couple art studios, visiting a market, where we tasted chapolines (grasshoppers), and walking around a community library, our final stop was at a mezcal bar where we got to taste some of the drink that has become so popular among the country’s hipsters. After the tour, we all had lunch together at a local spot famous for tlayudas. These are huge tortillas filled with oaxacano cheese (a very stringy white cheese), beans, and meat and we had them grilled over charcoal.

In the afternoon we visited the large local market where Andrew got a shirt and we had some fruit horchata and a sliced pineapple. The market was super busy with a maze of stalls that we very quickly got lost in. Once we finally escaped, we headed back home, had a late dinner, and went to bed.

Day 19 – Day trip to Monte Alban

Just 10km out of Oaxaca are some ancient ruins from as old as around 500BC. We drove up some rather terrifying roads to get there. Google maps took us the direct route, up one hill in particular that was so steep I was half expecting the car to stall going up (amid a rather impoverished ghetto). Eventually we made it back to the main road and up to the site entrance. The itself is on a high up ridgeline with spectacular views in all directions. We wandered around for some time, admiring the architecture and pyramids built by the Zapotec people.

We went back into the city and wandered around a more touristy market, buying a beautifully painted skull (we’ve looked at hundreds over the past few days and finally found the perfect one) and had dinner of two new moles, estofada and amarillo (there are seven varieties in total, of which Oaxaca is well known for). We ended the day back at the chocolate chain “Mayordomo” where we enjoyed a cold hot chocolate for dessert.

Day 20 – Andrew had a fever

Unfortunately, the time came for one of us to get sick. We spent a night in the van outside the hostel, where Andrew heard a suspicious man wandering around our van at 3am and proceeded to be on full-adrenaline guard duty for the next hour. We then had breakfast, after which Andrew quickly developed an upset stomach and fever. We spent the morning in the hostel common area, Viki had lunch in a market, and then we found a cheaper hotel, at 370 pesos ($21) for a night and decided to stay there. Andrew napped, Viki read her book, and then we went to find Viki dinner at a nearby restaurant.