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

Oaxaca - the City of Colour

Hello from Oaxaca, hard to pronounce but a really interesting place to visit. Actually, it's not that hard to pronounce - it's Wah-ha-ka.

The colours of the buildings here are amazing. They're a lot like those we saw in Valladolid, only the historic centre of the city is much larger here so there are more coloured buildings.

By the time we leave this town, we will have stayed in three different places. The first one was beautiful. It was bright blue outside.

This place had the most beautiful courtyard gardens, backed by brightly coloured walls.

Courtney got the room with the hot pink walls! 

As much as our existing place was lovely, the beds weren't too comfortable so we decided to get an apartment. We looked at a couple of places and discovered that descriptions on Airbnb aren't always accurate! We ended up in a place that is wonderfully large but is very noisy and you have to run around under the shower to get wet. Such are the joys of travel!

The obligatory town sign photo ;)

This region is famous for its mezcal. Tequila is one kind of mezcal, but from another region. John loved trying out the different types. There were plenty of places that gave tastings or specialised in selling differnet types. Courtney didn't mind it but it was way too strong for me.

This town is very busy with traffic. The streets are crowded with cars and busses. It's a little too much for us in some parts. One day we saw this bus hit a car. In typical Mexican style, what did the drivers do? They had a bit of a laugh about it! Most people in Mexico are incredibly kind to each other. One day, I turned a corner and walked straight into someone. If I was at home, the other person would have given me a withering stare or said something nasty but here, the guy simply said "Buenos dias" (good morning). We've been in shops where people have walked in after us. Not only do they say 'good morning' to the shopkeeper but they say it to us to. If you walk into a lift you should say 'good morning' to everyone in it. They are so polite.

We checked out the market one day and it was one of the best I've ever been to. There were so many interesting products. Grasshoppers anyone? Which type would you like - large, small, red or brown?

I love Mexican colours!

Some of the stands were permanent and we had free tastings of flavoured mezcals. The mezcals were mixed with juices and creams and they were yummy! We bought some and drank it in our apartment on our last night.

Courtney tried some nuts that had whole garlic cloves and other flavours through them. She said they were amazing (but I note she didn't buy any - check out the look on her face!)

We then found a stall that made cups of fruit salad then added yoghourt plus granola, jelly cubes and honey on top. It was great!

Of course, we were serenaded by guitarists......

Nearby, the large town square, the zocalo, is traditionally the centre of a town's activity. It still applies here, however it's very touristy. The balloon sellers always add a splash of colour.

Oaxaca is reknowned for being an arty town, so Courtney and I took advantage of this and did a series of painting lessons! Our teacher was a cool guy with long grey hair. Neither of us finished our paintings but they're well on the way. Courtney's looks great! Mine just proved that I should stick to scrapbooking - lol!

We went for a walk up a hill to the auditorium one day. We went through an underpass and there were amazing murals there. Murals are such a biug thing in Mexico. They're everywhere. There is also a lot of graffiti but very little graffiti is done on the murals, thankfully.

We met up with Leanne again and hired a taxi for the day between us to take us out along a valley near Oaxaca. There are lots of things to see along this valley.

First stop was El Tule where there is a tree with the world's largest truck. It was massive! The tree is estimated to be about 2,000 years old, which makes it older than any of the ruins we've seen in this country. Wow!

Next stop was Mitla. The streets of the town were decorated with umbrellas.

We weren't there to see umbrellas though - we came to see the ruins here. An interesting aspect of the ruins was that all types of cactii were planted in the area. They were so cool!

These ruins were unique - they had amazing decorations over all the buildings. Aparently each stone was carved by hand before being set into the walls.

Like many other ancient Mexican places, the buildings were originally painted. This one had been recoloured and it was a very cool effect.

Columns were hand carved from stone. The stone was all brought in from the surrounding hills. Archaeologists haven't figured out yet how they did this.

There were two tombs that we could visit. We had to bend right down through narrow passages to get there. They were hot and humid inside - probably not ideal conditions for storing bodies! Apparently when someone died, they just moved previous bodies aside and added the new ones in. They're empty now, however those stains on the floor look suspicious!

Like many invading civilisations, the Spanish have a lot to answer for. They built a huge church on top of the ancient ruins at Mitla.

Next stop was the springs at Hierve El Agua. For those of you that have been following our blog for a long time, you might remember that we visited Pamukkale in Turkey, where a series of pools were coated in calcium from the limestone-rich water and it formed a white landscape with solidified waterfalls. Well, there are only two places in the world where this occurs, and Hierve El Agua is the second place. Hierve El Agua was nowhere near as big as Pamukkale and, as we were visiting on a Sunday, it was fairly busy with locals. It was interesting to see though.

Water bubbled up from the springs.

At the edges of the limestone areas, the land just dropped away and there were no safety barriers. It would be very easy to slip over the edge!

Again, there were very cool cactii.

John and I walked down to the bottom of one 'frozen' waterfall. It was pretty cool! Note the people at the bottom - it gives you an idea of the size.

Some parts were like a wierd lunar landscape.

I loved the splashes of colour from minerals and the weird shapes the calcium had made.

Like Pamukkale, a couple of artificial pools had been built. These soon get coated with limestone and look no different from the rest of the area, except that they're too round to be natural. They create amazing infinity pools though!

Courtney was the only one brave enough to test out the cool water. It was a very photgenic location!

We had a simple lunch (more tacos) then headed back towards Oaxaca. It was market day in one of the towns and it was huge! I was amazed to see so many local women wearing traditional clothes. We hadn't yet seen this anywhere else. I took most of these photos on the sly so they're not perfect shots!

The women wearing traditional clothes mostly seemed to either wear scarves on their heads or they tied their hair in plaits with a ribbon through them. Some then tied the ribbons together.

Sombreros are everywhere.

Courtney had some lunch here and we watched as the lady made the tortillas. These presses make life a lot easier for many people!

Inside one hall was the bbq area. Slabs of meat hung in stands which were cooked and served up in tacos or soup. Smoke filled the air.

Courtney and I were walking together when we both suddenly smelled chocolate. Sure enough there was a chocolate crushing stall. Mmmmm!

Puppets!

Last stop was a place where they make mezcal. We learned about the process. This is an aguave plant when it's cut and ready to be crushed (with a grinding wheel pulled by a horse), then fermented and distilled.

While John, Courtney and I tasted the drinks, Leanne and Diego, our taxi driver, chilled.

Flags decorated the roof of the building.

Oaxaca is also known for its food and we ate in lots of different places. I can't say I was amazed by the food but some of it was quite good, We really like the chocolate-based sauces they make (sauces are called moles). They're not sweet but are rich and nourishing when you're a bit cold.

Most days, the sun shines constantly. The temperature is cold at night but the days are beautiful - sunny and mid 20's. No wonder so many Americans and Canadians are here escaping their winter!

We are about to head of for 6 days walking in the mountains. We will have no wifi and are looking forward to experiencing village life. 

We have just dropped Courtney at the airport. She is off to India for a wedding! Her next adventure is about to begin. We will miss having our kids with us.

Heather