Travels Around The World

Oaxaca

The ride from Puebla to Oaxaca was one of breath taking beauty. Imagine climbing high into the mountains on curvy roads, surounded by tall catci and pine trees. This is the rugged, wild, and untamed Mexico that we don't normally think of. After six hours of beautiful scenery and hair raising turns I was ready to strech my legs once again and adventure out into Mexico's "southern capital" of Oaxaca.

Stepping off the bus I was completely lost as to where I was. To make matters worse I couldn't find any road signs, nor was anyone very helpful in finding my way to the Zocolo. The first lady I asked pointed me in the wrong direction. After following her directions for a few blocks I came to the conclusion that I was seriously headed in a very bad direction. You know, when people start pointing at you and giving you strange looks. Needless to say I quickly changed directions and asked the first nice looking lady for a new set of directions. This lady was much more helpful and I eventually found my way to the Zocolo and to my Hostel, Magic Hostel.

The Magic Hostel is a pretty cool place. Lonely Planet describes it as a party place, but I don't really agree with that statement. Everyone is very social there, however, English isn't the first language of preference (pick spanish or french). Here I've run into travelers from Argentina, France, UK, Ireland, and the USA.

Oaxaca's Zocolo

Instituto Oaxaqueño de las artesanias

Oaxaca is the hub of Mexico's art scene and this becomes quickly apparent after a few minutes in the Zocolo. Every night there is a free concert given in the town square. The past two nights have seen a student concert band, a Xylophone group, a native american group, and several marachi bands. My favorite moment was when a group of students rented out the Marachi band for at least an hour (yes, Marachi bands don't play for free). Everyone was way into it and all the students were singing at the top of their lungs with the band.

The Marachi Band

My first day in Oaxaca was rather short as I arrived around sunset. After finding my hostel and eating some food, I decided to go out Salsa dancing. Candela was to be my destination, quoted as being one of the best venues for salsa in southern Mexico. To my dismay I showed up to a nearly empty club, having only a few couples. The club would later pick up but my first real salsa experience in Mexico still remained a disapointment. Salsa in Mexico seems to be a couples thing, and the women didn't really want to dance with me in front of their boyfriends. I did manage to get a few of the good women to dance, which raised a lot of eyebrows at the club.

For my next day in Oaxaca I spent the majority of the day just wondering around the city center. The major highlight of Oaxaca is the Iglesia de Santo Domingo, a cathedral build between 1570 and 1608. While the outside of the cathedral wasn't as impressive as some of the churches in Puebla, the inside will make your jaw drop. This is something you would think to see only in Vatacan City.

Some random Cathedral

Iglesia de Santo Domingo

Inside the Iglesia de Santo Domingo

That night I went out with a bunch of guys from the UK and some girls from Argentina. The guys from the UK were completely crazy in my opinion. They were biking around Mexico with small mountain bikes (they are bigger than BMX bikes, but not too much). We ended up going to some club that played some salsa, merenge, cha-cha, and R&B. It was almost like Ferandos for those who know what I'm talking about. The night was pretty fun and way less stressful than the previous night. I did dance some salsa with a girl who was pretty good, but the night was mainly spent hanging out with the other travelers.

The dangers of Mexico struck our group that night as one of the guys from the UK was mugged on his way back to the hostel. Oaxaca seems fairly safe, not as safe as Puebla, but much better than Mexico City. However, the guy went back to the Hostel by himself and was taken out by a group of locals. For as touristy as Oaxaca is, I'm rather dispointed that the Police don't do a better job patroling the streets at night.

For my final full day in Oaxaca I boarded a bus and headed out to the ancient Zapotec capital of Monte Alban. Monte Alban was the center of the Zapotec people from 500 BC to 700 AD and was home to around 25,000 people at one point. I found the ruins to be quite interesting, well preserved, and easy to navigate.

Monte Alban

Monte Alban

Monte Alban

Posted by todd at November 19, 2005 05:32 PM