Blogs from Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico, North America - page 3

Breakfast was almost as good as yesterday’s with toast, fruit, scrambled eggs and good coffee. I left early to the bus stop to catch a bus to a place called Mitla, a town near a petrified waterfall outside of Oaxaca. While waiting for a bus, a taxi driver offered to take me with others in the taxi for the same price. I accepted, although given the driver’s confidence driving at speed and the fact there were two of us squeezed in the front, I was beginning to think it wasn’t such a great idea. I did arrive at Mitla quicker than the bus would have, so it wasn’t all bad. I shared a ride in a pickup truck with others to get to the waterfall. We sat in the back of the pickup truck on a ... read more

In the morning I woke up early. The breakfast was fresh and delicious, Mexican beans, eggs, fruit and coffee. It was a really nice change from Guatemala and El Salvador, with an abundance of good food and facilities. The hostel was busy. I decided to book another night to relax, although unfortunately they informed me that they were full. I wasn’t the only person that had this problem, there were others having to find another hostel because it was fully booked. I switched hostel, and went exploring the city. Oaxaca was really nice, much more European feeling, with cobbled streets and streetlights. I went down to the markets, where they had a lot of different foods and goods. There were crickets flavored with spice, mezcal with snakes inside and Oaxaca cheese which was a bit like ... read more

Vorgestern Abend waren wir bei Marina und Christian „auf ein Bier“ eingeladen, welches aber von reichlich oaxacanischen Spezialitäten begleitet war. Dabei lernten wir einige sympathische Freunde der beiden kennen, interessant für uns war ein Paar, welches mehrere Jahre in Kobe (Japan) gelebt und uns schon viele wertvolle Tipps für unsere Reise geben konnte. Wir lernten auch Mezcal kennen, den lokalen Agavenschnaps, den es in vielen Varianten gibt. Gestern Morgen genossen wir ein mexikanisches Frühstück im Café Pan:am bei uns in der Nähe und nahmen dann an einer Führung im ethnobotanischen Garten im Bereich der ehemaligen Kaserne (früher Dominikaner-Kloster) teil, wo wir viel über Bäume, Mais, Gemüse und Kakteen erfuhren, inklusive der Cochenille-Läuse, woraus man einen wertvollen roten Farbstoff gewann. Am Nachmittag hatten wir eine ausgezeichnete Führung im Museum Rufino Tamayo. Die... read more

"Sometimes you're the Louisville slugger, sometimes you're the ball." -Dire Straits Sometimes you find yourself in the south Mexican mountains in a torrential downpour in the middle of the night with a landslide in front of you that just washed off the mountain and blocked the road. Then you realize another tree has fallen behind you and you're stuck on a small stretch of road with a few other vehicles, and must team up with other drivers using machetes to cut these trees up so you can escape; meanwhile rocks are falling and you're wondering if your car, which includes all your material possessions, will just sort of disappear off the edge. And sometimes you make run-on sentences with way too many commas. Then maybe you find peace at the local hotel with the first real ... read more

Gisteren ben ik naar Monte Alban geweest. Dat zijn ruïnes die heel Oaxaca en nog twee valleien overzien. Dat was natuurlijk heel interessant en het leuke is dat je kan zien hoe rijk ze waren door de hoeveelheid ruimte die ze leeg hadden gelaten in het midden van de stad. Want alleen rijke mensen kunnen lege ruimte betalen, en dat gold toen ook al. Maar de foto's zeggen meer dan ik op kan schrijven dus zal ik die maar laten spreken. Wat wel grappig was aan het bezoek was dat er een extra huisje was dat bij de ruïnes hoorde maar niet in het park lag. Daar stuitte ik toevallig op toen ik stond te wachten op de bus. Ik zag een paadje aan de achterkant van de parkeerplaats en ben daar naartoe gelopen. En toen ... read more