Oaxaca

Ok so here is my first blog since arriving in Mexico. I am going to be very careful and not make generalisations about Mexico as a whole as I have only experienced part of one state and don't want to give the wrong impression.

Oaxaca is one of the most amazing places in the world. The people here are very friendly and have been very patient with the fact that I speak very little EsSpanol. The owners of our hotel, Francisco and Marina are very friendly and helpful and we get breakfast served to us on the roof each morning. The toast here comes pre-toasted in the packet so when we eat it, it is cold, on the toast we have what I think is homemade strawberry jam which has whole strawberries in it! We also have a nice home brewed oon caffe. Yesterday we had mexican scrambled eggs too, I don't normally eat eggs but I just had to try them they looked so good!

So far we have been to the archeolgoical site of Monte Alban which was a Zapotec temple in the mountains which was built in 650BC. There was a lot of peddlers there selling reproductions of artefacts found in the temple. I bought a stone Gato (cat) for my Mum.

From there we went to some outlying villages where I thought we were going to die we were going through dirt roads on mountains with no seat belts on. We arrived at a workshop of a family who make alebrjies (prounounced aleebreekees) travelling on to a church in another town I have forgotten the name of but it was past xoxoticulan it was built by the spaniards and part of it was left open in the traditional way that the locals worshipped to help convert them to christianity. It was depressing to hear about how many cultures were destroyed by christianity.

We then had a buffet lunch in an open restaurant, by open I mean it only had 3 walls! I have learned the safest drink to order is a Limonada! I also discovered a local dessert which is pretty much caramel watered down with milk which is amazing. After a late lunch we visited a black pottery workshop and saw a demonstration on how they are made.

Then it was home to bed as I was exhausted!

Yesterday we went out on another tour this one lead us to the town of El Tule where we visited the Tule tree which is the widest tree in the world and also one of the oldest. A Spanish church was built by the tree as the locals had once worshipped the tree.

Throughout Mexico there are often Spanish churches either built by or on old aztec or zapotec worship sites this was done as part of process of converting these people to catolicism. From Tule we went to Mitla we were saw an ancient Mixtec temple, this is the only temple of its kind and the architecture is amazing photos won't do it justice. One of the temples was knocked down and a church was rebuilt with the remains.

After Mitla we were told that we had to drive over the mountains, I thought that this was going to be a short cut back to the next town but I was wrong, what happened next was one of the scariest things I have done in my life! Dan was 95% sure we were going to die! We had to drive over a mountain where the road was built by the locals and not by the government which means that no engineers were used and it was literally built in to the mountain. We were at such a height that it was a little hard to breath and we could feel the mist on our skin from the clouds. When we got down the other side it was worth the sheer terror as we found a natural wonder! A mineral bath which was formed on the mountain, I only wish that I had bought my swimmers! No words can ever explain what this was like. It was only photographed for the first time in 1987 as it had always been kept a secret.

We traversed back over the mountains as it was the only way to get back, we passed some men shepherding goats across the mountain and a village at the bottom where women were washing there clothes with rocks at a river. A lot of women here carry things on their heads as well. We had lunch, I have no idea what I ate but it was yum and I think it had mole sauce on it. I accidently ordered two lemonades because I got the spanish for 1 and 2 mixed up!

A mezcal distillery was up next which we discovered is a more primitive version of tequilla I did not try or buy any as I had tried some the day before and was sure my insides were still burning! There are sooo many mezcal distilleries throughout this area its not funny!

On our way home from a long day on the road our vans tyre broke. I was sure at this point that we were bound for highway robbery but sure enough the tyre was changed and we got back on the road and I could take my money back out of my underwear.

Everyone warned us before coming here to watch our money and our organs but I really feel like we are in a safe city and with lovely warm people. The only thing to fear is the roads. It doesn't really seem to appear that any road rules are followed, people overtake on double lines, travel through red lights, don't stop at pedestrian crossings, most motorbike riders don't wear helmets, people ride in the back of pick-ups, there are no reflectors on the roads, people drive drunk, don't wear seatbelts and there is no signs or markings for speed bumps. You can rest assured my kidneys and valuables are safe!

The other interesting point to make is the number of street dogs there are here and I mean they are everywhere!!! A lot of people have dogs for pets but the number of strays far outweighs that. I have never seen so many dogs in my whole life.

Since getting here I haven't been able to get my sleep patterns right and I pass out around 7pm each night and find my self waking around 3pm.

P.S - Photos by Dan!