Today, we went on a day tour of the surrounding areas near Oaxaca.
This old tree
The first stop was the Tule Tree, a famous old Montezuma Cypress that’s considered to be one of the biggest-trunked trees in Mexico. The town of Tule seems to centre around this tree. The tree itself isn’t anything all that special, but the local kid who insisted on showing us everything his imagination could find in the trunk was really funny. He wore a Santa hat and carried a laser pointer, and he’d point out an elephant’s trunk or a star and punctuate each one with “you see? you see?” to which he’d wait until we said “Si!” before continuing. Fairly amusing.
We stopped off for coffee before getting back on the bus. The local restaurant where we ordered it seemed confused at first, and then sold us coffee that took about a half hour to arrive. When it did come, it was stove-made coffee, really thick with the grounds poured directly inside. Really quite good, actually.
Zapotec ruins and cacti
Next, we went to Mitla, home of some of the most important archeological ruins from the Zapotec period. The remains of the temples and houses have intricate geometric patterns, and were built with hand-cut stones so perfectly carved that they didn’t use any mortar to hold them together.
The ruins were located behind the town’s main church — which, itself, was built on top of ruins. There were fields of cactus everywhere, so we took some cheesy cactus photos. Well, that is, until Tatiana got a little too close to a cactus and ended up with some pins and needles for her troubles.
We all browsed the market and souvenir stalls for a while. I bought an Aztec stone plate, which I’d been meaning to get for a while. Glad I waited; the prices in Mitla were much lower than in Puebla or Oaxaca. A few people got some food, and Ben got some interesting pomegranate drink that looked vaguely obscene.
These falls ain’t water
What is a petrified waterfall, you might ask? Hierve el Agua has the answer. It’s a site where the rock formations just so happen to look like a waterfall, even though it’s made out of hardened minerals instead of water. The “falls” were only discovered fairly recently, and have become a popular tourist spot both for the strangeness of a solid rock waterfall, and apparently also because Corona featured them in a beer commercial at one point. Yep, marketing, it works, folks.
We arrived at Hierve al Agua early afternoon, and decided to have lunch before exploring the area. We got the local specialty, tlayudas, which are basically thin grilled pita-like flatbreads with mole sauce, the local Oaxaca cheese, and toppings. I had avocado and tomato on mine. Delicious! A bit messy to eat, mind you.
After lunch, we decided to hike down to see the falls. Vanessa, Gao, Carolina and I set out on the path down to the falls. Right at the top, there are two swimming holes where you can go for a dip. The swimming holes are located such that, if you stand in the right spot, it actually looks like you’re going to go right over the edge of the “falls”. The original infinity swimming pools. I actually did bring my swimsuit and a swim looked tempting, but it being Christmas Day, the swimming area was extremely crowded with families and kids. We decided to hike a bit and come back afterwards.
So we started the long hike down to the base. And when I say down, I mean down. It only took us about twenty minutes, but each giant step was actually the height of two or three normal steps, and the whole way down, all I kept thinking was, we’re going to have to get back up. The bottom of the falls offered a decent view, though I actually think the view was better from near the top. And the hike back up took me twice as long as it did on the way down, and by the time I reached the top I was severely sore and out of breath and definitely out of energy for a swim. Instead, I made my way back to the lunch area and just relaxed for a few minutes until it was time to leave. If you visit the area, I suggest staying at the top and swimming and taking photos from there, and not bothering with the hike down.
Obligatory shopping stops
Anywhere you go in the world, these day tours all have obligatory shopping stops someplace where they can get a percentage. This one was no exception. We stopped off at a local weaving factory where we got a demonstration of the loom, wool spinning, dying and design process. They demonstrated the dye on my hands, so I had a lovely purple stain on them for the rest of the day. And of course, everything there was for sale, which normally would have annoyed me if not for the fact that I love Mexican and Aztec designs. I bought a blanket for probably more than I would’ve spent in the local markets, but it was still pretty cheap and I love the colours.
Finally, we wrapped up with a stop at one of the dozens of local mezcal factories for a tasting. Mezcal, unlike its cousin tequila, is made from different types of agave and comes in a whole variety of flavours. My favourites were mocha and coconut. A bunch of people bought some bottles, of course, since it’s that kind of trip.
By then, we were running very late to get back to Oaxaca for our bus onto San Cristobal. We made it back to the hotel and had about ten minutes to change, repack our bags, and grab our stuff and make our way to the bus station.
All in all, I easily could have spent another few days here in Oaxaca. I love the town, the feeling here, and I missed a lot of the major sites including the ruins at Monte Alban. But, time’s short, so onward and forward.