Oaxaca: 20th - 23rd June 2025
20th June – Friday
I had the worse nights’ sleep ever. I set the alarm for 5:45 and didn’t turn the light out until after 1 pm, but I woke every hour, literally every hour. I’m really not sure why I bother with an alarm clock, my body clock goes into over-drive when know I have to get up.
It’s now 7:37 am and I’m on the coach bound for Mexico City, part 1 of my trip to Oaxaca. I was going to walk to the bus station but my bags are heavy and I managed to hail down a white VW Beetle taxi, not that that’s hard to do in this city as at least 3 out of every 4 taxis is a white VW Beetle taxi, in fact every taxi is white with a red circle on the front doors containing their registered number. Even the local buses are white with the red dot – it must be a Taxco thing. The Beetles are quite awesome as, due to the fact they are only have two doors, they take the front passenger seat out to make it easy for customers to get in/out. I’m glad I got the chance to ride in one.
You are not going to believe this, the man and woman sitting in front of me on this coach are the same two that first arrived at the bus stop at the caves yesterday! It’s a small world.
Later: I’m now in Luna y Mar Hostel, Oaxaca and wow what a hostel. It’s more an apartment than a hostel. More about it later, first the trip from Mexico City to here. I stupidly allowed myself to be ripped off when I arrived at Terminal Sur bas station. We got in late and I thought the bus station for Oaxaca was a good hour away so I agreed to pay extra for the driver to drive ‘rapido’, turns out it was only half an hour away, but I had already agreed the price. The checky bugger then asked if he could keep the 500 pesos I gave him, I can be stupid at times but I am no mug; I insisted on my change. I was also really pissed off because the Terminal Sur station had lots of stalls with hot food, I didn’t think I had time to buy anything so I waited for the next terminal; all it had was a candy store. I had crisps and mini fruit tarts for breakfast, yuk. Then to top it all off, the coach was not of the luxurious style I’ve come to expect in my short time in Mexico. It was old and tatty, with standard seats and no toilet! Thank god we stopped after 3 hours, my poor bladder was really full, but hey, I’m a teacher, I know how to hold on for hours!
The journey was a feast for the eyes, upon leaving Mexico City we passed lots of cultivated farm land, the first I have seen and the terrain was mostly flat. I must have dozed off for a couple of hours because when I woke, we were ascending into the mountains, and boy did we ascend, which actually does not make much sense as Mexico City is significantly higher than Oaxaca which is only 1,555m (5,102ft) above sea level compared to 2,240m (7,350ft). I’ll have to do some research on that one and come back to you later with the details. It was super scary at times because the driver was driving, what felt like, faster than needed, overtaking everything. On some parts of the route there was a sheer drop into the valley below and no crash barrier, not that one would have done a lot to save us. I even had to look away at one point because it was making me feel sick. But the views were awesome, I really do love seeing the clouds enshrine the mountain tops. At one point the mountain sides were covered in really tall cactuses, hundreds of them, standing tall like trees alongside Yaka trees and other succulent plants. After that the soil turned bright red, it reminded me of the roads outside of Siem Reap, but an even deeper red, and then there were these huge trees with what looked like several trunks all intertwined into one. That was just outside of Oaxaca.
I was quite relieved to arrive as the man in front of me was beginning to jar me. For the best part of the journey he had been clearing his throat every 15 minutes, making a loud guttural noise, the nearer we got to Oaxaca the more often he did it. Anyway, we finally arrived an hour late, surprising considering the speed we were going at. By now it was dark and I am always cautious about walking in new cities in the dark. The taxi driver wanted 100 pesos for a 7-minute journey, so I braved it and did the 16 minute walk, I’m glad I did cause it was actually very busy with market stalls lining the main street selling food and cheap clothes, so I didn’t feel at risk at all, that is until I got onto the road the hostel is on, which is quite a dark road, but very residential. However, it’s just a stones’ throw from the centre so I am sure it’s safe.
As mentioned, the hostel is not a hostel, it’s a shared apartment. There is my room, which is very large with a double bed, and there is another bedroom with a single and a double bed in it, I presume that would have been the living room. There is also a fully fitted kitchen, including a coffee maker 
and, of course, shower/toilet room. It’s open, airy and has natural light coming in – quite the opposite to my last place. Currently I am the only occupier, so I have the place all to myself. I asked the owner if more people are expected, he said no-one has booked but you never know, someone might come tomorrow, I hope not. Four nights here on my own would be lush – I may never leave – lo25
21st June – Saturday
Uhm, no-one likes a lumpy pillow, do they? The first thing I did this morning, after putting the coffee on to brew, was to pinch the only non-lumpy pillow from the other bedroom, my head deserves the best!
I’ve just returned from a little walk. I first tried to find a laundry place that had good reviews on G Maps. I located the right road and even the right house number but there was no laundry shop in sight. However, there was an open door, so I half popped my head in and said ‘Ola’ to the lady sitting inside. I showed her the place I was looking for and she took me two doors down to a large black metal door, she put her hand in the gap, unlatched the door and there in front of me was a lovely little passage way with the laundry shop at the end, I would have never found it. My laundry will be ready at 4 pm 😊
From there I strolled into the centre to purchase a two pin USB plug, I was getting so frustrated only being able to charge one item at a time, now I can do two 😊. Oaxaca is such a stunning town, very different from Taxco which, as dad pointed out, is very Spanish looking. Oaxaca feels and looks very different and a lot poorer; the buildings are not as beautiful and there’s a lot of graffiti everywhere. I passed so many desolate people I lost count, most in rags and with no shoes. It may be the area I’m staying in which isn’t very ‘up-market’ even though it’s literally a 4-minute walk to the start of the town centre, and no more than 8 minutes to the historic centre.
On my walk I passed what looked like a dance/art school, (I later learnt it’s called CEDART Miguel Cabrera), where I managed to get a quick peek at some girls doing a dance in the courtyard, it looked very Spanish, but I only got a peek as the gates were locked. I also passed a very beautiful church opposite a lovely little square but cannot locate it on maps from my picture. On Monday I will go for a proper exploration of the centre and find out the name of Church and few other landmarks that are worth investigating. I may even go on one of the free walking tours, I found one on the internet that leaves several times a day, I think it will be more informative than me blindly walking around taking uninformed guesses at what things are. Without intention I went via the zocalo, which is the town square/plaza, which again looked very beautiful and was very busy with people lolling around, again a must for my Monday exploration.
On my way back I bought some churros from a street stall which were not very nice. I really don’t see what other people see in these deep-fried sticks of dough, maybe it was stall I bought them from? Anyway, I’ve noticed that my bottom and thighs are enlarging, I’m not sure if it’s the giving up of the vaping or all of the stodgy food I’ve been eating or a combination of both, whichever, I really don’t need to be stuffing my face with deep fried anything.
This afternoon I stayed in my room, not only did it rain a lot but I also had a splitting headache; going to pick up my laundry seems to have eased it a little. I’ve also decided to stay in this evening, but for dinner I am going to pop to the corner and buy a tlayuda at Tlayudas La Chinita, which I read are the best tlayudas in town. I may even be daring and get grasshoppers with it. I’ve booked an 11-hour tour for tomorrow which I am looking forward to so and early night is called for.
Later: The tlayuda was interesting, it is a traditional Oaxaca dish, consisting of thin corn tortilla. I ordered the small which was very large and must have been about 20 cm in diameter. The tortilla is cooked until crisp on a grill and is then covered with beans, tasajo (dried meat), chorizo, quesillo (a type of Oaxacan cheese), Cecina (dried beef), and avocado. I ordered it with red pork and, being greedy, chorizo. I’m not sure why I asked for chorizo considering its not one of my favourite meats and this one was so strong I only managed a couple of bites. I was only able to eat just over half of the tlayuda, the rest is the fridge next to my coffee. The guy who took my order spoke excellent English and explained that it will go soggy if left too long, so I am not sure what state it will be in the morning or if I will even try to eat it, let’s see. Although not too bad it has done nothing to enamour me to Mexican cuisine, I can’t see me buying it again. I really am missing my green veg, I hope there is some at the buffet lunch tomorrow. I also need to start eating more fruit, my diet at the moment is so unhealthy and I’m not feeling good on the inside, or outside, because of all the tortillas, tacos, rice and re-fried bloody beans I’ve consumed in the last two weeks ☹
22nd June – Sunday
Today has been the most expensive to date, in fact Oaxaca is proving to be very expensive ☹I really do need to curb my spending and that means putting a real limit on the tours.
However, today’s tour was lots of fun, and it was the company that made it so. I turned up at the departure office, gave my name and the young lad behind me, Dan, said ‘you must be from the UK’ so we got chatting, he’s from Manchester and in his 5th year of training to be a doctor, next month he has a work placement in Chilie! We sat at a table with two people from Holland, who were also very chatty and when they called the names out it was obvious that another one of us, Luke, was also from the UK. Then there was a guy from Columbia and a girl from Jamacia, they were not very sociable but did relax and become a lot more friendly over lunch. Finally, there was Wendy from Dallas, she was very friendly and I envied her Spanish, but she explained that both her parents are from Honduras, so she grew in a bilingual household.
Our first stop was Santa Maria del Tule to see the Tule tree, starting life during the Zapotec Civilization, it is 2,000 years old and has a circumference of 54 meters/164 feet giving it the largest girth of any tree on the planet. It was quite spectacular and you could see different things in the bark, I saw and elephant and a ghoul and Luke pointed out a very large lizard. I had breakfast at this stop; Luke and I walked to a stall where lots of locals were standing and eating (standing while eating very common across Mexico), and we got taco darodas, which came with no rice 😊 and were the most delicious tacos that I’ve had since I have been here, the only draw back was that they were fried.
Our next stop was Teotitlán del Valle, where we learnt about how they create woven rugs, dresses, hats and other beautiful items. It was extremely fascinating, especially the part where we leant about how the dye is created and used for the making the different coloured wools. The main base for every shade of red is a small termite that lives on a cactus plant, when it’s squashed it creates a very dark red stain, if you add lime to it the red becomes lighter, the more lime juice added the lighter the shade of red, if you add chalk to it makes a purple stain. We also learnt that the indigo plant is used, again when mixed with different natural substances, to make different shades of blue. They used to sell a lot of this indigo dye to the west for blue jeans, but now the west makes a synthetic blue dye, but the people in this village still use the natural version for their products. I couldn’t resist a purchase and bought myself a woolly hat, it will be of use when I go to Ushuaia, which is the southernmost city in the world before the South Pole. It will be very cold there, even during the summer months.
From Teotitlán del Valle we went to the petrified waterfalls of Hierve el Agua, again they were stunning. The falls are created from a build-up of minerals from dripping water deposits, just like stalactites, but they have formed in such a way that they look like a waterfall. Dan, Luke and I went on the hour long hike to the bottom of the falls, which was not too challenging, but I was surprised how out of breath I got, I think / hope it was to do with the sun coming out and the altitude rather than how unfit I am (?) There were also a couple of natural pools where I dunked my toes, Luke went for a swim, he loves a photo so I took loads for him on his phone but none of them came out, very strange and very disappointing.
By the end of this visit I was ready for my buffet lunch, but no, we had one more visit first to Mitla, which means ‘place of the dead’ and is the second-most important archaeological site in the state of Oaxaca, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. It’s ‘primarily a religious centre, and its structures were used for ceremonial purposes, especially related to funeral rites. The Zapotecs believed Mitla was the gateway to the underworld, and it was a place where priests, rulers, and nobility engaged in rituals to honour the dead’. For more information follow this link – Mitla. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the full tour as it started to piss down with rain, but what we saw was stunning and the mosaic patterns in the stones were so detailed and extremely beautiful.
After a very delicious buffet lunch we went to a mescal distillery, unfortunately it was not in production but we learnt about the process and then had a tasting session. At first our tour guide brought out 6 bottles for us
to sample, the first was 50%, I had a full shot which I did in four sips, the first was disgusting, but much to Luke’s amusement, I kept going as it got better every sip. The final one of this this batch that we tested was quite delicious as it had a weed after taste, our guide explained that it did not contain any THC, as the weed flowers were not actually distilled in the mescal, but rather the just used to scent and flavour it. We were all feeling quite tipsy after our 6 tasting samples (some more than others!), but it was not over. A lady came out and started giving us flavoured mescal to sample. These were only 10% and far nicer, my favourite was the moka and coco flavoured ones 😊 As you can imagine, by the time we got back to the tour office we were all very happy, chatty and ready for a nap. I walked the half hour back to my room, via the laundry lady as yesterday she had forgotten to pack my pink bar, and via an Oxxo shop (Mexico’s version of 7-eleven) where I bought a couple of beers!
23rd June – Monday
I had a nice cheap day today and spent most of it in bed drinking beer. And it was well deserved after the shit night’s sleep I had, awake from 1:30 – 3:30, I wanted to cry. It was my fault for going to sleep at 9:30, but I was so pissed from the mescal and beer and so exhausted from the tour that I couldn’t make myself stay awake.
Feeling guilty, as it is my last day in Oaxaca and hunger was beginning to kick in, I decided to find an ATM and the Mercado 20 de Noviembre. I had dinner there: yellow mole with pollo, no rice but two tortillas, everything comes with tortillas. The mole was delicious, it’s a very rich sauce, which usually contains chilies, spices, nuts, chocolate, and other ingredients, it is almost like a gravy or soup. That’s two days in a row I’ve had Mexican food that I actually wouldn’t mind eating again, although saying that I did enjoy the tacos I had for my first breakfast in Mexico City. After dinner and walking around the indoor market for a little while I ventured to the outdoor market, I bought some rambutan and then the thunder came and very quickly after that it started to rain, heavily. I sheltered for quite a while until it eased up a little and then made my way back to room. So much for spending the evening enjoying the town centre. While sheltering, after spending ages messaging Bela, who seems in good form, I messaged Justine, it’s the anniversary of Nathan’s funeral today, so sad. She still doesn’t know that she is coming to Mexico and I told her I was in the mountains, which I am, so hopefully, even after she finds out at the airport tomorrow, she wont think that I will be meeting up with her and Appy at Cancun airport. I am so excited, not just to be meeting up with Justine, but also to be
getting out of this bloody rain. It’s in the high 20’s in Cancun/Playa del Carmen, hot and sunny and there’s a beach – I don’t have any shorts with me but I do have my bikini 😊
I’m going to spend this evening trying to set up a second website in Word Press for this trip, it can be done, but it looks very complex. I first need to back up my SE Asia website so that if all goes wrong I don’t lose that. Wish me luck.
