Oaxaca 2 - White Girls Can't Dance.

What a varied country Mexico is! One minute we're feezing in the mountains, the next minute we can't sleep cos the nights are so hot. But let me go back a step.....

We arrived back in Oaxaca prepared for the assault on our senses. After being in the peace and tranquility of the Pueblos Mancomunados, we thought the traffic and smog of Oaxaca would be a shock to our senses, but it was a Saturday night when we drove back in and the traffic wasn't bad at all. The next day was Sunday then the next was a public holiday so there wasn't much traffic again. We were here for five nights and the traffic never seeemed as bad as before.

We spent so much time in Oaxaca that in the end we had our own name for some of the streets. The one that was closed to traffic was the walking street, the next one over that had a bike lane that was good to walk in was the almost-walking street, the one that had our favourite cafe on it was the Nuevo Mundo street (the name of the cafe) and the one that ran above our hotel was Vince's street, named after an old friend of John's who was a mechanic and often worked on cars on the street, just like a guy was doing here.

We checked into a different hotel this time and it was wonderful - it was spotlessly clean and had a comfy bed and crisp white sheets. Heaven!

We headed out along the walking street where all the action happens. To our amazement we came across three weddings in about 500 metres! They parade huge bride and groom 'dolls', for wont of a better word, and spin these huge globes that I think have the bride's and groom's names on them. Traditional dancers spin and dance to the music of energetic Mexican musicians. It's fabulous!

We had to laugh at where the person inside this 'doll' peeked out from!

We passed a bride wearing blue outside one church then came across another street wedding celebration. This one was a gringa marrying a Mexican guy, which is fairly common. There must be a certain machismo in the Mexican men that appeals to what appears to be mostly American women. This bride wore white.

I think she must have booked her 'doll' figures a bit late though. They definately weren't as good as the ones further up the street!

The next night there was yet another wedding celebration!

We headed down to the town square, the 'zocalo', where everyone hangs out. Each day and well into the evening you can buy balloons, toys, food, tourist trinkets and just about anything you like. It's always busy here.

Each time we go there, there is some sort of different performance going on. This night there was a band and everyone danced.

We spent hours and hours wandering the streets of Oaxaca during the day. These trees with amazing yellow flowers were scattered around the old centre. I wish I knew what their name was!

We saw a few of these guys in one day then never saw them any other time! They ride a stationary bike and the wheel drives a disk that they use for sharpening knives!

Cafe Nuevo Mundo on the right and the trekking office on the left. We walked past or visited these a lot!

Some buildings were beautiful.

I quickly grabbed this photo. I haven't seen streamers on handles since the dragsters of the 70s!

Our niece, Maddy, and her partner, Ash, were having a holiday in the US so they decided to join us in Mexico for a while. They were supposed to land in Oaxaca at 3pm but their flight got cancelled so they were put onto a longer flight via Mexico City that landed at 11pm. We thought we did the right thing and went to their hotel to check that it would be open that late and that their booking was ok. We were aassured it was all good so we happily arranged to meet them in the morning and went to bed. Big mistake! 

They landed on time but their bag didn't. After sorting out what they had to do about the lost bag, they went to catch the minibus that we had told them to catch but it had stopped running. No problem, they caught a taxi, it's just dearer. They finally arrived at their hotel and it was locked! They banged on the door for half an hour before somebody came out. Maddy and Ash don't speak any Spanish so the conversation was confusing but they got told  there was no booking for them! They ended up at a hostel some distance away. What a terrible start to their trip!

We spent most of the next day trying to locate the missing bag. Poor Maddy and Ash only had the clothes on their backs. We got them a room in our hotel where they could at least have a shower and I lent Maddy a dress. Meantime, Ash was starting to cultivate cheese worthy of the market in his socks.

We set out to explore the market between chasing up about the bag. We had scrummy tortas (rolls) at a little place in the market. Next to us this lady was selling a drink that all the locals seemed to love. We got one. It's basically a cold chocolate but it's got a strange frothy stuff on top.

Still without their bag, we headed out to dinner. John was determined to show a range of the local mezcal to Ash. Between the two of them, they managed to taste quite a few!

Maddy tried it too. To quote myself on another blog post about Maddy trying plum brandy in Romania a couple of years ago, "Hmmm delicious!" she said!

We woke up in the morning to find the bag had been delivered to the hotel overnight. Yay! Mash (Mads and Ash) had clean clothes for the first time in days!

That afternoon we headed out to Monte Alban, a ruined city near Oaxaca. Going to ruins in the afternoon isn't ideal as the crowds are usually there by then; however, much to our amazement, there were very few people there. It makes such a difference to how we perceive a place when we're not surrounded by other tourists.

Monte Alban was huge and well-preserved. It was a very hot afternoon and the ancient city seemed to be baked dry.

There were lots of carvings here. Some showed some of the gruesome things they did to the leaders of other groups that they fought against. I'm so glad I don't live in those times! Here's a much nicer one.

This was an enormous sundial. There were also astronomical buildings here.

Some extra photos from Ash's phone for Helen, John, Caity and Dawn!

There was a museum on site with pieces found in the old city. I love these figurines.

That night, John found a local bar near the market. We had a drink then ate tea in the market. Some of the simple meals were enormous!

This is a really bad photo but I wanted to put it on cos it shows this local lady who was trying to sell us fried crickets to eat. She just didn't seem to get it that we didn't want to buy any!

On our way out we passed huge pots of 'mole', the delicious sauces that they use here. Although they are chili-based, they're not usually very spicy. The front one is a chocolate-chili sauce which tastes better than it sounds!

We then returned to the bar and the real fun began. It was John's and my 25th wedding anniversary so John bought a rose from a wandering rose seller. The guy then must have figured this bar was where it was all happening cos he hung around for the rest of the night!

The bar was decked out like an ancient ruin. It sounds corny but it was quite cool! 

A funny thing was that the guy's toilet was right beside us in the bar. It's just to the left of the guy with the blue shirt above. If a guy wanted to go, we had to shuffle over to let him open the door. It was weird, but handy I guess!

Local music had been playing on the jukebox but then a song came on that we all knew.

Note the sombrero-wearing dude behind me.

The bar started to fire up. This local couple danced. Everyone here seems to be able to salsa. 

We got talking to an American couple - she was Mexican and he was Afro-American. They seemed nice, although they were very drunk. By the end of the night they had had a fight, stormed out of the bar, then returned five minutes later as though nothing had happened!

Anyway, we had fun dancng with the various people we met there!

There was a big guy in a red shirt at the bar and when a song came on that he liked, he would start dancing by himself. I soon joined him but I quickly learned that a white Aussie girl knows nothing about salsa! This guy made me look like I had three feet or like I was dancing in gumboots. He was amazing and I was hopeless! 

I'm not sure how it started but we somehow ended up doing a conga line through the bar. Ash ran out into the street to film us as we came out of one door and back in another but the music stopped just as he got the video going.

We then got talking to a Mexican couple who had been drinking since before we first arrived. There was a really funny part towards the end of the night when they were talking to Mash. They only spoke Spanish and just raved on for five minutes not realising that Maddy and Ash couldn't understand a word! I didn't get much of the conversation either so I just pretended to translate. Mash nodded as if they understood and everyone was happy!

This couple could also dance incredibly well. Us four Aussies just wiggled around a bit! It was such a fantastic night. Mash were heading off the next morning to go walking in the mountains where we had just been so it was a great way to send them off!

On our last day in Oaxaca, we caught up on things. I had lost my sunglasses down a drain so I bought some more at the market. I saw quite a few ladies in these traditional clothes. I'm not sure if this style is from a particular region.

We then headed out to a good restaurant for dinner. The food was delicious! We sat on a rooftop terrace and were serenaded by the ubiquitous guitarist. We saw a huge three-wheeled motorbike pull up in the street below us and when we left, I jumped on for a qiuck photo.

I was really sad to leave Oaxaca. Although the place hadn't impressed me that much when we first arrived, we had spent so much time here that it really grew on me. Everyone was so friendly and, even though it was quite touristy, it wasn't overwhelming. It helped that we found a great, comfy and well-run hotel too.

Adios!

Heather and John