Oaxaca
Expectation vs Reality
Expectation of our trip to Oaxaca
We've been planning a five day trip to oaxaca for two months now. We all decided to go there because it is a place full of culture and traditions, there are many important archaeological sites and museums. To make the trip comfortable and well organized we are going to hire a travel agency called vivo resorts, which offers transportation, lodging and breakfast.
Each of us should bring enough money for meals, souvenirs or any attraction that is outside of VIVO's contract, so it is estimated that each one will carry at least eight thousand pesos. In addition, you should only carry one medium-sized suitcase per passenger, personal identification and a small first aid kit.
The places planned to visit are Monte Alban located in Santa Maria Atzompa, Hierve el Agua located in San Lorenzo Albarradas, Mitla in San Pablo Villa de Mitla, the emblematic and recognized worldwide as the widest tree in the world, the tree of the Tule located in Santa Maria del Tule. We will visit the land of the gods, Teotitlan del Valle, the temple of Santo Domingo de Guzman, Tlacolula, the textile museum and finally the Macedonian theater of Alcala.
We´re going to start the trip on November 8, we will meet in downtown toluca, next to the cathedral at 11 PM. There, the transportation from the travel agency, going to pick us up and take us to the center of Oaxaca, where the hotel is located. The trip from Toluca to Oaxaca is expected to last at least 8 hours, including stops at gas stations, shops and bathrooms, so we are going to arrive at our destination at seven in the morning on November 9. We are going to settle in our personal rooms, and have breakfast at the hotel.
At nine in the morning the travel agency will deliver us the car that includes the travel package. We´re going to drive to Monte Albán, so we are going to drive for about 26 minutes. We chose this place because we´ll be able to see the tombs, courtyards and temples, which invite us to imagine how the ancient Zapotecs lived on top of a mountain. Initially, we will tour the archaeological area, we will see the square of the dancers, the stone of the conquest, we will visit the site museum of Monte Albán where in addition to admiring the works of art, we will buy some of the regional crafts and some others in Santa Maria Atzompa, which is four kilometers.
We have planned that the whole tour will last at least three hours, seeing and photographing the buildings, as well as the entrance to the museum. At noon we are going to go to the restaurant El Andariego, which is a traditional cuisine. Finishing lunch we´re going to go to Hierve el Agua, which is located 76 kilometers in San Lorenzo Albarradas an hour and eleven minutes from the restaurant where we eat. We are going to park the car in the parking lot of the tourist place, we are going to pay $25 pesos and we are going to go to the natural park. Arriving there we will change in the bathrooms, we will put on our bathing suits and enjoy the turquoise pools and the petrified waterfall. We are going to enjoy this place for at least two hours, then return to the hotel to rest and take a shower for dinner at some elegant restaurant in the center of Oaxaca. After dinner we are going to walk through the historic center of Oaxaca and at approximately 11 PM we are going to return to the hotel to rest for the second day of adventure.
On the second day we will visit Mitla in San Pablo Villa de Mitla and the emblematic and worldwide recognized as the widest tree in the world. The Magic Town of Mitla is surrounded by enormous hills that form a green carpet during the rainy season; here is one of the most important archeological zones because important characters and priests have been found buried under the main palaces. It was inhabited by Zapotecs and Mixtecs at different times, so the cultural mix is outstanding. The zone of Mitla, the second most important ceremonial center in the state of Oaxaca after Monte Alban, has several groups of constructions, among them the one of the columns, located next to the church.
On the third day we’re going to Teotitlán del Valle known in Nahuatl as "the land of the gods", located 30 kilometers from the city of Oaxaca. This place is famous for its production of wool textiles, such as jackets, rugs, bags, curtains and dresses, all of them decorated with natural dyes and traditional Zapotec designs.
At the end of the tour of the museum we’re going to a traditional Zapotec restaurant called “Tierra Antigua”. We plan to eat the traditional yellow mole tamales and mole de castilla.
The rest of the afternoon we can visit the Handicraft Market, we will walk through some stalls and buy souvenirs.
That day we’re going to return to the hotel at 07:00 pm and fall asleep early for the next day's adventure.
Reality of our trip to Oaxaca
Day one
So far, what was planned for the first day has been fulfilled almost perfectly. We all met punctually in downtown Toluca, except for Hazel, who arrived five minutes late due to traffic, however there was no problem. VIVO's transport driver decided to cross Mexico City, as he considered it would be the most ideal route. We made a stop in plaza Sendero Ixtapaluca, while the driver filled the gas tank and checked some mechanical things, we decided to enter the mall to buy personal hygiene items, small sandwiches and swimsuits.
We continued with the trip, some were sleeping, some admiring the landscapes or just enjoying the trip. Our next stop was in Tehuacan because the car had been damaged by a tire. While the driver was repairing the car in the mechanical service, we decided to eat something in a restaurant called Caracoles and Micheladas la China. This restaurant is open 24 hours a day so the service was excellent. There we took advantage to go to the bathroom and stretch our legs. Our next stop was Asuncion nochixtlan because Jennifer was feeling bad and we got off to take some air, she took an aspirin and she felt better.
We loaded up our luggage, blocker, swimsuits, shoes, among other things, and continued our journey to our first destination, Monte Albán. We went around the archaeological area, we saw important things like the great square, the ball game, the palace, tombs, among other things. After the tour, we visited the souvenir shop and all bought different things for our families, such as key rings, t-shirts, caps, etc. The entire tour lasted three hours and thirty minutes. We took photos, videos and even rested and talked about what we knew about the ruins of the culture we were observing. We had planned to buy more souvenirs in a small town four kilometers from Monte Albán, called Santa Maria Atzompa, however we decided to hurry for lunch.
We go to the restaurant el Andariego, which is a traditional cuisine, very close to the archaeological area. We all order pozole Mixteco, chapulines and gusanito sauce, in addition, we order a single dish of iguana stew for everyone to try even a little.
At 1:30 in the afternoon we continued with our plans, we went to Hierve el Agua, it took approximately an hour and a half since we decided to travel slow to admire the landscapes and considering that they were more than 70 kilometers. We arrived at the natural park, parked the car, paid for entrance tickets and access to the bathrooms to put on our bathing suits. We went to the natural pools, took pictures and enjoyed the minerals of the water. We were there at least an hour and a half, after that, we entered the bathrooms again and put on our comfortable clothes and tennis. We went down the hill where we were to observe the petrified cascade, where we also took pictures and walked while we observed the flora, fauna and the landscape in general. The most fun was the extreme wind in the natural pools, it is amazing the speed that the wind can reach.
At the end of our rest we went for a walk. The idea was to find a luxurious restaurant where to dine, watch the mariachis play and people dance. Finally we went to dinner at the restaurant Los Danzantes, where the service was excellent but very expensive. We ate on the terrace of the place and all ordered mezcales craft of the region. To eat we order Tlayudas de camarón and as dessert we order cascada de chocolate and flan de queso de cabra. We paid about a thousand pesos by person, but it was worth it, it was delicious.
As we left the hotel we went to the esplanade, we saw the mariachis playing Mexican songs and small musical groups with many people danced beside them. At midnight we returned to the hotel to rest.
Day two
When we arrived at San Pablo Villa de Mitla, we were too surprised by this town. It is one of those towns that transmit a certain peace when you are there. The journey was really exhausting, influenced by many things, it was very hot and it was a long way to go. When we finished the first tour we went to buy something to drink and to rest for a moment. We were given thirty minutes to buy something to eat and drink and after that we left for our next destination. When we arrived at the Tule tree it was fantastic, it is one of the most amazing things we have ever seen. Really when it was time to leave we didn't want to leave there, it's just a fantastic place. Unfortunately it was not possible and we had to return, although this does not prevent us from returning later and staying longer. At the end of the day's tour we were hungry, very tired, so we bought tlayudas and juices for dinner. The lady who prepared our food was very kind and told us some anecdotes that have happened to her, of which many have been hard to believe, among them the one that surprised us the most was that different actors have gone to eat there and other famous people.
Finally we bought some souvenirs of our visit and took the bus back to the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, we asked about some dive, since we wanted to go out for a while, besides it was a little early and we didn't want to be locked up. First we took a bath, and then we took a cab to go. We didn't stay long because we were going to leave very early the next day. We just went to dance for a while, and then returned to the hotel.
Day three
This day is nothing like what we had planned, to begin with our transportation arrived several hours late and our destination is not close to where we are staying. Once our transport arrived we boarded it and went there, as we lost a lot of time. This forced us to change our plans for this day. We really wanted to make the most of all our time, however these are things that are not within our reach to control. In spite of all this, we are not going to let this ruin our day.
Due to the setbacks, for this day we only plan to go to the restaurant "Origen", which is recognized because it uses a great variety of fresh and exquisite ingredients from the region, this restaurant recommends visitors to try the bean and chili hummus as a starter green, guacamole with grasshoppers and chepiche, as a main course the duck breast, sautéed quinoa, amaranth and quince, and for dessert a rich corn cake with champurrado ice cream and pinole foam. We are eager to taste these renowned dishes at this Oaxaca restaurant.
Let's continue with the adventure
Day four
Tomorrow we are going to visit Los Portales in the centre of Oaxaca to take a tour of the historic center in the Alebrije tourist tramway. We've read on their website that it is the most famous tourist tramway in Oaxaca because it takes you to interesting and beautiful places. Also, it only costs 70 pesos per person. Which is perfect for us. It's good, nice and cheap. As it is not that far from our hotel, we are going to walk to the center of Oaxaca where we are going to wait for the tramway. Also, we are going to go to the central market to buy ice cream in the local "Nieves Chonita", because some friends recommended us to try the burned milk and tuna ice cream, something that sounds very strange but it really is delicious.
After the tour, when it is already night, we are going to go to the Casa del Mezcal to know how is the process of elaboration and to make tasting of the different types of mezcal. Also, we have read that there is a "toques" machine, which are small electrical discharges, and we are excited to try it.
Day five
For the last day, we are going to leave our hotel early at 3 am to go to Carrizalillo beach in Puerto Escondido because it is close to the airport. We are going to move by taxi. it's going to be worth taking a taxi because it is going to leave us our next hotel in the Bacocho area, which is close to the beach and also has a spectacular view of the sea. To get to our hotel we have to walk about 10 minutes because the taxi doesn't go there. To get to the beach we have read that we have to go down some beautiful stone stairs.
Nobody brought sunscreen on the trip, so we are going to stop at a pharmacy to buy two bottles of sunscreen to avoid getting burned while on the beach. We plan to arrive at the hotel and leave the bags and then go to the beach to enjoy as much time as possible. To eat, we are going to go to the restaurant El Cafecito which is close by, as we have read that the food there is very tasty and cheap.
We want to go to the beach to swim and dive. We have already booked an excursion to take a boat ride and see dolphins and some whales. We're going to be there all day until it gets dark to finally go home.
Experiencie and Tips
Team 9:
- Camilo Guadarrama Johan Hazel
- González Romero Aldo Daniel
- Orozco Salgado Jennifer
- Gil Martínez Jocelyn
- Hernández Medina José Antonio
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