Blogs from Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, North America - page 2

Day 3 Today we spent the entire day near the Santo Domingo Culture Center. Once a church this area serves many purposes now. The one we enjoyed the most today was the Jardin de Ethnobotanicals. These gardens are open only three days a week and admit a limited number of visitors to protect the plants from vandals and piracy. The first area features desert plants much like we would see in far West Texas. The most interesting area was the gardens of maize that showed the evolution of maize from ancient times to present day. The diet of this area has not changed a lot. They people still are primarily vegetarians. Tropical plants including orchids were in another area. A twelve month growing season guarantees large leaves and healthy stems. We left and headed to a ... read more

Today we have nothing specific planned. We have to be out of our room by midday so we spend the morning lounging around and then decamp to the very comfortable lounge area of the hotel to write up yesterday’s blog - I was much too tired that do it last night! It’s not so hot today...overcast and actually threatening rain! We are wondering whether to take a trip out to a couple of artisan towns. Our German companions from yesterday have told us they are OK but nothing particularly spectacular - they were thrown in as additional stops on a Monte Alban minibus tour that they did the day before. Still, we have nothing better to do! The town of Arrazola produces colourful wood carvings - all made from the coral tree. San Bartolo Coyotepec produces ... read more

It’s another early start. Our bus leaves the central station at 8.25am and that’s right on the other side of the city. We have packed our bags and are just deciding whether to return the fan to the room we purloined it from...after the hassle involved in changing rooms we decided just to help ourselves to the missing items in the new room rather than to ask! We check out. It’s the sour faced woman that wanted to house us in the hell hole. She takes our key unsmilingly and not so much as an adieu...clearly she has not forgiven us for standing our ground! Our Uber arrives promptly and we are at the bus station within half an hour giving us plenty of time to purchase goodies for brunch. Security is cleared and our bus ... read more

Oaxaca is our last stop in Mexico. If I remember correctly a Mexican work colleague recommended that I visit Oaxaca, and I can understand why, it is perhaps the best place we have visited in Mexico so far. We end up spending 3 days here – a day longer than originally planned - as the bus to the border with Guatemala (there is only 1 a day and this is overnight) is full on Saturday. The city is a bit of a cultural hub and attracts a fair number of visitors. It’s also one of the more indigenous areas of Mexico so there is a strong tradition of local crafts here. If we were in the market for a woven rug or other Mexican gifts then this would be a very good place to buy them. ... read more

On Monday night, I arrived at around 7PM to Oaxaca. Unfortunately there is no UBER in Oaxaca, but Taxis aren’t expensive, to I took one for 50 pesos to my hostel Casa Ángel. I booked a simple 12-bed-room which was quite ok. It was spacious enough, there were bathrooms enough on this floor, the beds were comfortable and it was clean. The only 2 bad things : 1) in the 12-bed-room, it was really really hot all night long, even with two fans running and the window open ; 2) hot shower is only possible from 8 to 10 (AM & PM), but if you ask at the reception, you can also have it at other times. This hostel is definitely nothing for a quiet stay : it’s an absolute social party hostel. The rooftop terrace ... read more