Advertisement
Published: January 26th 2011
Edit Blog Post
This time you get 1 blog for 2 days, simply because I stayed in the same place for 2 days... And a bit late as the site refused to let me update the pics last night.
After a night in Puebla, I was off early to catch the bus to Oaxaca. I got to the station at 10am and the next 2nd class bus wasn't until midday, so I opted for the more luxurious ADO which was a 4 hours trip and leaving at 10.45. That set me back 320 pesos (instead of 260) but I was kind of happy as the owner of where I'd stayed in Puebla had told me to count 400 pesos for the economy service.
The landscape on the 4 hours journey was quite varied, from rugged deserts to ochre hills (the latter reminded me of the colours of Monument Valley) and as you got further South, you found some relatively dense forest (very dense compared to the near lack of trees up until then!) with mixtures of colours from dark green to autumn browns and oranges (only I guess it was because of the burning sun rather than some autumn type weather.) I also
spotted a few farmers along the way, some cowboys on their horses and a man walking next to a donkey carrying branches. It was starting to feel like the countryside!
At about 2 pm, we got to Oaxaca and I decided to walk to the hostel (indications from the net were that it was 25 minutes walk away). It felt quite hot with my rucksack on my back, but once again I was feeling very happy to have gone light. I had met a South Korean girl on the same bus who was travelling for 10 months and had pretty much no choice but to get a taxi because her pack was so heavy. She wasn't the first person to comment on the size of my bag and still, every day, I wonder if there is anything I could have left behind to be even lighter, but I don't really think so.
As promised, about 30 minutes later (and downhill), I got to the hostel, unpacked, Skyped home and after a brief chat with the receptionist, went exploring. I had a map picked up from the bus station but as I was there for a day and a half, I
just wanted to enjoy a stroll around. It was overcast and not actually that hot a day and as time passed, the sky got darker and darker. I expected the rain to start pouring down but in the end it never happened.
I went to the Zocalo (central square where the cathedral is) and ambled around the busy streets and the market, wondering what to buy for my evening meal. In the end I went for avocado and tomato salad (following my mother's advice that avocado is good for you) and then bought a sausage to cook with my rice. In the end, the sausage was tasteless and hard (I did overcook it on purpose to try and kill any flies' eggs seeing as everything in the market was out in the open) and it ended up in the bin...
Back at the hostel, I had a chat with a Belgian girl in my dorm who had decided to stay in Oaxaca for a month and told me that one day and a half was not enough. She advised that I should use the following day to go and visit the cultural centre and to do a trip to some
mountains waterfall about 2 hours away (in the end I managed neither!)
The next day, after having spoken to a few more people, I decided to go to Monte Alban as it was nearby (only about 10-15km) and sounded like one of the “must-do” in the area. I had a quick breakfast, packed (the hostel allowed me to leave my bag in storage with them all day for 10 pesos) and I was out by 8.45. I went to where the bus was going from, paid 40 pesos and waited until the next one (9.30).
Monte Alban (entrance 51 pesos but free to Mexicans) was similar to Teotihuacan in so far as it was an old city and has remains of pyramids. It was notably smaller, but whereas in Teotihuacan there were 2 massive pyramids dwarfing all the other structures, in Monte Alban there were many constructions all close by and of similar sizes. I thought it made you appreciate each one more compared to Teotihuacan, where you almost ignored the smaller pyramids. I took my time and plenty of pictures and was done in a little under 2 hours. So I got back on the midday bus, where
the driver mentioned that 1 hour was fast, 2h was good and 3h was long. Phew... I was normal after all!
Back in the city, I decided to go and explore the Northern side which I hadn't had a chance to look at the day before. I'd had a quick glance earlier at someone's guide book and had subsequently decided to climb up to the auditorium for a nice view over the city. I also wanted to see the cultural centre mentioned by the Belgian girl. But as I approached one of the churches, I heard some noise and as it got in full view, I discovered that there was something going on, or rather about to go on. They had laid rows of chairs in front of a stage and people were just taking their seats. So I decided to stick around to see what the fuss was about. I got treated to an hour and a half of traditional Mexican dancing and some opera type singing (but I didn't enjoy that part so much). I also got talking to an American lady who gave me some tips about places to go to in San Cristobal and Palenque (my
next 2 destinations). I felt so lucky to have stumbled across this and it really made my day.
After that, I went up to the auditorium and took some more pictures before going back down via a large park and the bus station to book my ticket. I got a ticket for the cheaper night bus to San Cristobal De Las Casas, leaving at 9pm that day and arriving at 8am the next. That set me back 426 pesos, which I thought was quite reasonable for an 11 hours trip. Then I went and bought some fish from the market for my dinner and headed back to the hostel to chill for a couple of hours before heading off for the bus.
While I was at the hostel, I bumped into a Dutch couple who just happened to be going on the same bus as I was (and we were even sat next to each others), so we decided to share a taxi (15 pesos each) and exchanged a few experiences. I also filled them in on what the American woman had told me about San Cristobal.
We left Oaxaca at 9pm, in the hope of getting some sleep and
being ready for another day of adventures...
Advertisement
Tot: 0.042s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 11; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0203s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
delphine
non-member comment
elle ne me plait sa robe... est ce pour me donner des idees que tu prends ttes ces mariees en photos??