Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico

After another overnight bus we got to Oaxaca early morning and, after getting wrong directions from the bus driver, we finally made it to the hostel. We set out to explore the city and wandered around the markets and then headed up to the Monte Alban ruins. In an effort to save 9 pesos, the equivalent of about 60 cents, we decided to catch the local bus not knowing that it would only take us halfway up the mountain. Not our smartest idea! We had quite a walk ahead of us with a slightly increasing gradient the further we walked but we looked at it as training for the Salkantay Trail in Peru......just another day in the adventures of Nicole & Louise! By the time we got to the ruins we were pretty exhausted but we walked around and tried to take in all the information. We decided that this group wasn't so smart building their city on top of a mountain. We decided to be a bit smarter on the way down and got one of the tourist buses. Once we got back to the hostel we went and had dinner and a couple of beers with some guys from the hostel. On the way to dinner we tried some grasshoppers at the market. You can get them in a few different sizes and flavours and they don't taste too bad. We crashed reasonably early after not having a whole lot of sleep and having done a lot of walking!!


We booked a tour for the next day which included going to see a 2000 year old tree, a textile factory, a Mezcal factory, a ruins site and a waterfall. It was a big day but was really interesting! At the textile factory they showed us how they get the colour red for the threads by using the insects off a cactus. They can then change the shade of red by using lime juice. They also use different plants to get lots of different colours. They also showed us how they weave the rugs, they can take a couple of months to weave depending on the size and complexity of the pattern. At the Mezcal factory we learnt how to make Mezcal from the agave plant. Tequila is also made from agave but uses a slightly different process. Mezcal tastes like smokey tequila and then they also make lots of different creamy flavoured ones. We got to taste lots of different flavours and I bought a choc mint flavoured bottle which we are yet to drink (the creamy ones taste a bit like Bailey's). The waterfall didn't have water but I think it is called a petrified waterfall where the limestone on the rocks looks like water (refer to photo because I am having trouble explaining it). There was also a natural pool on the side of the cliff that had a great view. The ruins were also pretty cool and you could actually walk down into some of the tombs. Once we got back to the hostel we had a couple of hours just to relax before another overnight bus to San Cristobal!

Monte Alban ruins

Grasshoppers

 Part of the Mezcal process

Natural pool

Petrified waterfall