Oaxaca (wah-haka)

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It was time for a trip out of the city.. so what better place to go then Oaxaca to see some ruins, a giant tree and a waterless waterfall?
Oaxaca is about 6 hours south of Mexico city, and is quite a traditional town known for its cheese, chocolate, grasshoppers and protesting teachers.
After the long bus ride to Oaxaca, I wandered around the streets for something to eat, only to find there were hundreds of people all camped out in tents around the main town centre.
Thinking I had arrived in the ghetto, I soon discovered they were teachers camping out in protest for something or another.. the locals get annoyed at it as every year the teachers are always protesting about things.. they say if they were actually good teachers they could justify the protests, but they are not good teachers so wished they would shut up.
Anyway.. I found some food then being the nana I am.. went to bed.
Day 1:
My laziness and the heat didn’t mix, so I decided to take a tour to get me around the major sites of Oaxaca.
The 1st stop was a giant tree, the tule tree. Not exciting seeing a tree huh.. but this tree is one of the widest in the world (53 meters in diameter), it was pretty big. After a few ohh’s and ahh’s we headed off to see where they make those traditional Mexican blankets.. this I admit was boring and I couldn’t wait for the next stop: the mezcal factory. Well not so much a factory, just a little hut where they make mezcal (just like tequila, but not made in Tequila and uses a different type of agave plant… so I have been told).
After some mezcal tasting we headed off to Mitla, some ruins of the Zapotec tribe from Oaxaca. These were not as big as the other ruins I have been to, but had some really nice patterned carvings that the other ruins don’t have. Also Mitla is not as old as most of the other ruins around the country.
From Mitla we headed off to a waterfall that has no water.. that’s right.. no water..
The water of this waterfall ‘Hirve de agua’ was full of minerals and eventually the waterfall petrified. To get there we had to go through a small village, where they block off the roads, and make you pay a fee in order to pass through, as it is the only way to see the waterfall. Cunning huh?
The view as awesome and the waterless waterfall looked really beautiful. This was the last stop of the trip, so we all headed home after many photos.
A girl I met on the tour and I went out for dinner and a drink after the tour, which then may have sealed my fate for a bout of sickness later on. (more on this later).
Day 2:
My friend Julie met me in Oaxaca late the night before, to be my tour guide.

Meet our new german friend from the tour we then caught the bus to Monte Alban, to see more Zapotec ruins. These were bigger then the Mitla ones, but very different in design etc.
After the ruins, we wandered around the town, the buildings are abit more traditional then Mexico city, and the town is very quaint. Gearing ourselves up for an evening in the Mezcal bar we decided to have a siesta in the afternoon. It was here that I started to get really ill, with major stomach cramps etc… after attempting to go out, it was discovered there would be no mezcal for me that night.. so I went back to the hostel. while the others partied all night, I had a date with the toilet. Not fun.
Thankfully this was our last day in Oaxaca so I didn’t miss out on any of the sites.
I filled up on medication and made it back to Mexico city without any casualties.

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Photos

Giant tule tree
Measure 53meters in diamter

Agave plant
Used to make MEzcal and tequila

Mitla
Zapotec ruins

Hirve de agua
The water is petrified- it contained lots of minerals

Monte Alban
Zapotec ruins