July 27 - Oaxaca / Mitla

We set out early this morning in order to take (but first find) a tour to Mitla, one of the ruins near the city, along with other sites en route. We tried walking from the hostel to the bus stop but didn't really know where we were going, so we eventually hailed a passing cab. In town, we went to the same hotel that had taken us to Monte Alban and bought tickets for an all day tour at 10am. Frank ambitiously volunteered us for the Spanish-speaking tour (there was an English one as well), but it turned out to be great. We were able to practice (and actually understand, because the guide spoke clearly), and we met a couple that lives in Philadelphia (American husband, Mexican wife). They were very nice, and we spoke spanish with the man throughout the day, because, according to his wife, he needed to practice his Spanish as well.

The first stop was Santa Maria el Tule where we saw one of the thickest trees in the world, El Tule. The colossal plant is 2000 years old and measures 42 meters in diameter. We then went to Teotitlan del Valle, the town famous for its rug making, and watched a demonstration of how they spin and dye wool for weaving in looms by hand. They only took us to one other place in the town, where hundreds of tourists are clearly gathered daily and shown ridiculously overpriced textiles, so we did not make our big purchase here. It would likely be better to return later on our own and seek out individual weavers.

The next stop was Mitla, which means "place of the dead." This city was founded in 100 B.C. Unlike the other ruins we saw, Mitla was princiaplly adorned with geometric designs rather than sculptures or hieroglyphics. Their meaning remains unclear to archaeologists. The designs all over the ruins were quite amazing. I also bought a brightly colored backpack from the market outside the site. After the ruins, they took us to a 100 peso buffet restaurant with traditional Oaxacan cuisine. We ate with the couple from the U.S. and then rode through tortuous mountains to Hierve El Agua (maybe we should have eaten after the mountains??). Though not actually hot springs, the name means "boiling water," because it is naturally carbonated from underground. We did not however see any of the alleged bubbles in the water. Notwithstanding this, the view was one of the most breathtaking we had seen in Mexico. It was also nice to be in the wilderness away from civilization for a while.

On the way back to Oaxaca, we stopped at a mezcal factory and learned a bit about how the popular Oaxacan beverage is fermented from the Agave cactus that grows all over the place. The factory was most unpleasantly filled with flies and other insects. Like everywhere else in Oaxaca, we were offered samples of dozens of flavors of mezcal, but we mostly wanted to go home as it was already 7pm. They also let us taste a stick of sweet agave, and when I tried to give it to Frank I accidentally stabbed him in the face with it, burst into laughter, and spit on the person in front of me. Oops.

Happy to be back in Oaxaca, we attempted to order "tamales con pollo" on Vigil, but after the first quick rejection we got scared and found an Italian restaurant instead. At long last we got a taxi to head to the hostel and encountered the truth of the hostel's warning. Our driver got to the right neighborhood on his own, but then had to ask a bunch of different people and drive around a bit until he finally found the place. He charged us a dollar more than normal for his trouble, but we were just happy to be so close to our beds, which we collapsed upon at once.