Getting to Oaxaca City and First Sights
March 25, 2008

After spending a week or so in Huatulco, at Marina Chahue, and exploring the nearby towns of La Crucecita and Santa Cruz, we decided to take a bus inland to Oaxaca City. We had decided to wait awhile before going there, as we arrived in Huatulco a few days before Easter Week (called "Semana Santa" in Spanish) and we wanted to avoid the spring break crowds. We went to the bus station on Palm Sunday only to find out that the buses for the next day, Monday, were all filled up, so we booked a pair of premier class bus seats for Tuesday, very reasonable at $24 per person, one way, to Oaxaca.

Getting to Oaxaca Click on map for larger version

Its about 100 miles, as the crow flies, from Chahue to Oaxaca City, the capital of the state of Oaxaca. We figured that even a slow bus would take only 4-5 hours to get there. What we didn't realize is that instead of taking the direct route, Highway 175, thru the mountains, the "1st class" bus we had booked would take us the long way around, on Highway 200 all the way east to Salina Cruz, then NW thru the mountains on Highway 190. We left La Crucecitas at 9:20 a.m. and didn't arrive in Oaxaca City until almost 6:30 pm, 10 hours later, about 175 mi. We were joined on our ride by two fellow Canadian cruisers, Ian and Ness, from the boat EILEEN NONEN.

The bus was nice, roomy, & air conditioned, with movies all the way, and the views were pleasant, if not spectacular, particularly as we made our way along the coast to Salina Cruz. As we rose thru the mountains, we could see great vistas and valleys in the rugged ranges of the Sierra Madre del Sur. The landscape, surprisingly, was not jungle-lush as we expected, but rather dry and oddly reminiscent of Southern California. All along the way we could see oak and acacia trees, "wintering over" thru the dry season here, which lasts from November until May or so. Interspersed with all of the growth, we saw many, many small farms of Agave, the cactus used to make Mezcal, on the hillsides, in village front yards, along the roadside, and so on.

When we got to the 9,000 ft crest of the mountain range, we were welcomed by a variety of pine trees, "Pinos" in Spanish, which once again reminded us of home. We stopped several times, once in refinery town Salina Cruz, once in Tehuantepec, and then one final time at a quaint little restaurant/roadhouse just on the other side of the mountains near a reservoir, where we had a late lunch.

The wonderful Oaxaca Zocalo

As we made our way down into the Valleys of Oaxaca, we strained our eyes to try and make out the ruins or other landmarks, but not having a good map, and not knowing exactly where we were, we were unable to place ourselves until we finally arrived at the outskirts of the city itself and found ourselves in busy rush hour traffic. We had not made reservations at any hotels, and so we were anxious once we arrived to find some lodgings for the night. We went to the Hotel Francia, which we had read about in a Moon Travel guide, and which was located just two blocks from the Zocalo downtown. The front desk clerk at the colonial era Francia told us that they had a room, but only for two nights. We were planning on staying 5 nights, but took the room anyway, with the idea that we could find another hotel later. In the meantime, we checked in, and immediately went for a walk out to the Zocalo.

The Zocalo was one of the, if not the, nicest one we have seen in Mexico yet. In fact, as it would be revealed to us, Oaxaca City is considered one of the finest destinations in Mexico. At first all we could do was take in the beautiful (cerca 1733) Cathedral, see all the children playing with their Aeroglobos (6' long balloons), watch the lovers walk hand in hand, and the multigenerational families who came here nightly and on weekends to enjoy the festive atmosphere and free music that was everywhere to be found.

We went out to a nice dinner on Tuesday night at Casa de la Abuela, where I had a very nice Mole (chicken in a spicy chocolate sauce) and Trish had a Snapper Veracruzana. But the most noteworthy part of the meal was the appetizer that Trish ordered- "chapulines" Fried Grasshoppers! They were fried with onions and peppers, almost like ground beef, and served with tortillas & guacamole, so you could make your own grasshopper tacos. I only tried a wee teensy bit and was not overly hungry for the little critters, but Trish liked them a lot :-)

We stayed two nights in the Hotel Francia, and then moved over to the swank Marques del Valle, a very nice and somewhat exclusive 1940s era hotel right on the Zocalo itself, next to the Cathedral, for our final three nights.

1. Trish at rest stop outside Oaxaca   2. Me with mango tree   3. Our bus at the rest stop   4.  5. View from our balcony at the Hotel Francia   6. The Cathedral on the Zocalo, one of many in Oaxaca   7. Trish enjoying her grasshopper taco!   8.  9. Architecture reminiscent of New Orleans   10. Having a beer at a sidewalk cafe   11. The inner courtyard of the Hotel Francia   12. Our room at the Hotel Marques del Valle

The Ancient Ruins of Monte Alban

Wednesday morning we got up kind of early and made our way a few blocks more north of the Zocalo, where we stumbled upon a good tour agency. We wanted to book a tour of the ancient ruins Monte Alban, which, once again, we had read about in our Moon Guidebook.

When we met AZ ex-pat Ron of Chino Tours, we knew we had run into the right guy. He was full of information about places to go and things to see in Oaxaca. We were at his office at about 8:30 am, so went ahead and booked the $15/person, half-day group tour to Mt. Alban. Then we talked with him for the best part of an hour as he told fascinating stories about everything from making Mezcal (which he had learned to do, bottling his own and selling it on premises), to cooking styles, to the history & culture of the region.

Me and Trish at Monte Alban

As our 10:00 departure time rolled around, Ron let us know that normally the $15 covered a bus ride to the ruins, but as we were the only clients that day, he was going to send us out in a private car with our own personal driver! Soon, Julio pulled up in a brand new Volkswagon "Pointer", and we were taken to ruins in nice style (and air conditioned comfort, too!). The ruins are only about 5 miles from present day Oaxaca City, and when there, one has commanding views of the three main valleys of Oaxaca in every direction.

Monte Alban is thought to be one of the oldest urban complexes in Mesoamerica. It was first constructed about 500 B.C. as a ceremonial center in the ancient Olmec tradition. It was inhabited by the Zapotec Indians sometime around 350 A.D., and went thru several periods of renovation during the centuries that passed. Around 800 A.D., the decline of the Zapotecs was followed by the rise of the Mixtecs in such nearby places as Mitla and Zaachila. By 850 A.D., Monte Alban was almost deserted. It was rediscovered in the early 1800's by a Belgian traveller named Guilliame Dupaix, but it wasn't until 1931 that Mexican scientist Alfonso Caso, a statue of whom is erected on the site, first began serious archeological excavations.

The site was probably a bustling city of about 40,000 people at one point, consisting of dozens of buildings on a high plateau with views for miles around in all directions. There is a ballcourt, where people played a ritual soccer-handball like game in which, it is thought, the winners or losers may have been sacrificed to the gods at the end of the game! There is at least one astronomical observatory, and a number of temples to the various gods. Also, there are a many individual residences where presumably the leaders and chosen lived. Each residence typically had a family tomb dug in the middle, where generations of ancestors, and the things they might need in the afterlife, were buried.

Many, many treasures have been found in the innumerable tombs that have been excavated. These treasures include dozens of statues, masks, urns, and ceramic pieces, lots of golden sculptures and jewelry, as well as many intricate jade and turquoise pieces. It is thought that the city served as a huge marketplace for the agrarian society that existed at that time, ruling over the valleys of Oaxaca for hundreds of miles in every direction.

Panorama of Monte Alban

We spent about 4 hours at Monte Alban, including about an hour in the on-site museum. It was a really special place and we truly stood in awe of everything we saw. After that, we returned with Julio to Oaxaca City, and then went to the Zocalo where we whiled away the rest of the afternoon, having some cold beers and lunch at the zocalo-side cafe Terranova, and then wandering around a bit, including taking a walk back up to the Ex-Convent and Cathedral Santa Domingo de Guzman. Later that evening while walking around the Zocalo, we ran into Ian and Ness from EILEEN NONEN and had a few drinks with them at another zocalo sidewalk cafe.

The ancient ruins of Mitla

The ancient ruins of Mitla

The next day, Thursday, we went back to Chino Tours and arranged for a private guide again, this time to take us to several places on the other side of the Oaxaca Valley. There was so much to see that we had to limit the places we visited to the ancient ruins of Mitla and Yagul, and a quick stop at the famous El Tule Tree.

Our guide for the day was a nice young man named Geraldo Pinelo. Not only is he a federally certified tour guide (with an English Speaking rating), he is also a trained chef and runs the Pinelo Cooking School, with his mother, featuring training in the classic styles of Oaxacan cuisine! Geraldo took us, this time in a late model Nissan coupe, to the various places we had decided to visit, giving us the history and commentary on each place we visited, answering any individual questions we might have, all for $15/hour for the two of us. We spent about 6 hours travelling around with Geraldo, and it was a bargain by any measure.

The first place we visited was the ruins at Mitla. Mitla was constructed by the Mixtec Indians around 800 A.D., roughly coincident with the downfall of Monte Alban as a center of regional power. It is a much smaller complex, consisting of a handful of buildings, and was probably built on an older local Zapotec site. The architecture of Mitla is quite distinctive though, especially noting the greco (greek-like) patterns which are intricately worked into the structures.

Another striking thing about Mitla, which remains an active religious center to this day, was that when the Spanish arrived in the 1500's, they tore down the main temples on the site and built a classic Catholic Cathedral and smaller church there, so now there is still a town that has grown up around the site. So in one place you have both the ancient indigenous ruins,classic Euro-Christian architecture, all esconsed in the middle of a present day, busy, small Mexican town. It was quite something to see.

Mitla

1. The guys from Chino Tours (Geraldo, young Nathan, Ron, Sebastian, and another tour guide)   2. Arriving Mitla   3. An old church in Mitla   4. Trish and Gerardo at the old Mitla Church   5. The Catholic Church built on the site of the Mitla temple ruins   6. Example of greco-like designs   7. Ancient courtyard, Mitla   8. Ancient courtyard and SP-conquest era church   9. Geraldo and Pat discuss Mitla   10.  11. More views of Mitla   12. Inside a Mitla residence w/reconstructed roof   13. Greco design, detail

Making Mezcal

Agave Cactus

From Mitla, we made our way a few miles back towards the city, where we stopped at a small restaurant, called Zapata in honor of the legendary Mexican hero, to have lunch. While we were there, we got a chance to take a tour of their Mezcal-making facilities and came to understand a little bit about the process of making Mezcal. All along the highways here, by the way, there were dozens of small, and a few larger, commercial Mezcal producers, and everywhere you looked you saw the lovely agave plants growing in small plots, about an acre or so, in fields along the highway, even surrounding a super modern factory!

The process of making Mezcal is very intricate and traditional. The basic process goes something like this. First, after growing for 12-15 years, the Agave cacti are harvested. They are trimmed in the fields to their hearts which look like large pineapples, each 20-50 lbs or more. Then a large pit is dug and a fire made from local oak and pine. When the fire burns down properly, it is covered with a layer of rocks, and then the hearts of the cacti are placed in it to be cooked for several days. When they cook, they carmelize and become soft and quite sweet. We were given some pieces of the cooked Agave to chew on and they were delicious.

The hearts are then crushed by a burro-drawn millstone and the sweet juice extracted. The juice is put into large open barrels to ferment. A little yeast, but NO other chemicals are added. Depending on the formula and the brewery, the fermentation can take between 2 days and 2 weeks. Once the juice is fermented it is distilled in large copper stills. There are several fractions taken off of each batch. The first stuff that comes out is something like 90% alcohol (180 proof). Then a middle layer of less strong stuff is taken off, and finally one is left with the rough body. The middle layer may be re-distilled again several times to further separate out the strong head from the body of the mixture.

The final touch in making Mezcal is the recombination of the head and the body. A certain amount of the filtered body is added back into the head to produce the final mixture, which is always at least 51% alcohol, and can be much stronger! Aging is never done in wooden casks, as this would taint the flavor, but other exotic processes, including dripping the head down over a raw chicken breast (no kidding!), or the mixing in of certain herbs, serves to make specialty Mezcals of all different kinds.

Making Mezcal

1. Hearts being cooked   2. Hearts being cooked, raw ones in background   3. Mill Crusher to extract the juice   4. Fermenting Vats

The ancient ruins of Yagul

Trish at the ancient ruins of Yagul

After our quick tour of the Mezcal Factory, we made our way to another ancient ruin, about 20 miles away, called Yagul, which, among other things, is the site of the 2nd largest ballcourt in Mesoamerica. It is located, as are most of these ruins, on a plateau, this one with a commanding view of one of the three main valleys of Oaxaca. In ancient Zapotec, Yagul means "Old Tree".

For some reason, I felt more connected to Yagul than Mitla or Monte Alban. It was very intimate, and one could easily imagine life here in 900 A.D. as young people got married, children played, and the rich led a life of relative ease. The views were breathtaking and we had fun exploring the houses and imagining how the people lived here.

Yagul

El Tule Tree

El Tule Tree

After visiting Yagul, we drove to see El Tule Tree, which was on the way back to Oaxaca City in Santa Maria. El Tule Tree is a gigantic old "ahuehuete"(cypress) tree, believed the most massive in Latin America. Its base is over 53 meters (165 feet) in circumference and it stands over 40 meters (125 feet) high. They estimate it to be nearly 2000 years old and thus was probably standing here when Monte Alban was active, Yagul and Mitla were born, and the Spanish conquered the area in the 1500's.

Ahh, if Trees could talk!

The tree itself is located in the center of a small municipality with a very nice English-like rose and topiary garden and a Spanish Cathedral flanked by more modern Mexican and local government administrative offices.

After our tours with Geraldo, we returned to Oaxaca City, and once again made our way back to the Zocalo. We checked into our new hotel, the Marques del Valle, right on the Zocalo, and spent the rest of the afternoon having lunch and drinking frosty cold mugs of Sol beer at the hotel's sidewalk cafe restaurant. We went out that night for a really nice nouveau cuisine dinner at Restaurant El Naranjo near the Zocalo.

The Thule Tree

Click HERE for more on our Visit to Oaxaca ...