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Published: July 20th 2007
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From Puebla, we continued our travels through the state of Oaxaca to the capital Oaxaca City, which is approx. 4 hours by bus. The bus travel has been fairly good to us, much better than the bus travel I experienced while traveling in other countries. We always opt for the first class buses though. Typically they are direct as well. Other classes of buses may stop for whoever they see on the side of the road. If you get motion sickness flying may be a better option because every trip is a curvy and winding road up, down and through the mountains. Our "student"id's have definitely been a bonus too. All summer our tickets are half price.
Upon arrival to the Cristobal Colon bus terminal, we retrieved our bags and flagged down a taxi. Our first stop was to Hotel Las Golondrinas, which we found in both books we have been traveling with, Lonely Planet - Mexico y Moons - Oaxaca...Gracias a Betsy! This hotel was a great choice for the first night because it was a bit outside of the historic center and we needed some good walks from all of the bus traveling. We have been averaging
$30 US dollars/$300 pesos a night for hotels and while this hotel was a bit more, we didn't mind because its charm was worth the price. The entire hotel was filled with beautiful tropical plants, the room and bathroom were both spotless and there was plenty of hot water. While none of the hotel rooms we have stayed in have AC they all, at least, have powerful fans for ventilation.
The books say that one could spend a month exploring the city of Oaxaca and still have plenty left over and they weren't exaggerating a bit. This is one of those places you just don't want to leave either. We were lucky enough to spend some quality days in Oaxaca before heading to the coast and after the coast we returned to the city of Oaxaca, of course.
As you can see by the photos from this entry and later in part 2 entry of Oaxaca, the richness of this city is unlike most cities. Oaxaca has its fair share of problems as well, but this shouldn't keep tourists from visiting. It didn't keep us from visiting nor returning in the near future as well. There were major
problems in 2006 that left Oaxaca resembling a ghost town for most of the year. While the city is somewhat divided they welcome back the tourists because tourism is their survival. As you look through the gallery of photos be sure to read the captions as we will explain a bit of the current controversy in Oaxaca.
The first place we walked to after getting settled in our hotel, was to the zocalo-Plaza de Armas, of course. The zocalo in Oaxaca is unlike any zocalo I have ever seen. Traffic-free, shaded by tall tress and surrounded by portales
(arcades) with numerous cafes and restaurants, it is the perfect place to soak up the city's atmosphere. Adjacent to the zocalo is the Plaza Alameda de Leon, which has a separate name, but is no different than the zocalo. Everything happens in the zocalo. It is the focal point of not only this city, but every Mexican city. Our motto is, if you can't find it in the zocalo, it doesn't exist...from flower bulbs for sale to balloons, cd's, clothes, ice cream, elotes (corn with mayonnaise, cheese and chili), etc. . I forgot all about mayonnaise until I met Carlos and
I just love it now. We just fell in love with the zocalo and it's energy. Our days always started and ended here, whether it was for a beer, lunch, dinner, shopping or just walking the sidewalks.
As mentioned there is something to do every minute of the day. July is one of the best months to travel to Oaxaca as well. While we didn't stay for the celebrated Guelaguetza (The Giving) festival which is held the 23th and 30th of July this year, we sure did receive a taste of it in the streets during our visit. The focus of the festival is it's indigenous Oaxaca people, speaking 16 unique languages and representing hundreds of Oaxaca's separate ethnic groups, converging in the city for a grand two-week party of food, dancing and music.
As soon as we walked north from the zocalo, we encountered a party in the street near a restaurant. They were celebrating their 15th anniversary with free beer and tamales, music and dancing. As you can see from the photos, we couldn't pass up the party. From there we continued our walk north on the pedestrian street of Andador de Macedonia Alcala, which is
lined with museums, shops, bars, restaurants, idengious women and children selling their handmade shawls, food vendors, etc. We ended up at the Templo de Santo Domingo. It seemed every time we walked to this corner plaza there was a full live orchestra playing and people dancing. We frequented this location at least twice a day. I suppose you could say we developed our own routine while in Oaxaca and we were never disappointed with what we found.
We can't say one negative comment about this city. Everything was just perfect the entire time from the hotel to the entertainment to the tours to the people. Speaking of the people, once again we encountered our Italian friends. This time we did more then just exchange waves, we did our best to communicate and even took some photos together. Little did we know, we would continue to see them even after we departed from Oaxaca (the city).
We changed hotels after the first night because we wanted to be closer to the zocalo. This time our hotel was cheaper and just as charming. The best part was that they took credit cards. Most hotels don't take credit cards so we
were lucky to find this one. I am trying to get as many miles as I can out of this trip. Hotel Posada Catarina is located just steps from the main market and just blocks from the zocalo. I think the best part is that every night we walked back to the hotel, we passed all of the street food stall vendors. We typically stopped to eat.
A very interesting observation here not only in Oaxaca, but all over Mexico, is when you pay by credit card, they actually bring the hand held device to you so you can be sure everything is exactly as it appears on the bill. Carlos said that had problems in the past with people stealing the numbers so now they have added this security measure.
During one of the days while in Oaxaca, we decided to take a tour through the Valley of Oaxaca. The next entry will describe our trip. Enjoy!
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