Oaxaca and Area

The tree we saw in the little town of El Tule ("TOO-lay"), near Oaxaca is purported to be 2000 years old, and the oldest tree in the world. Its trunk is 14 metres in diameter, and is home to many birds, squirrels, insects, geckos, and probably scorpions too. As we sat for a few minutes, pondering this tree that is the universe to its inhabitants, the breeze blew a few small pieces of a limb off, and a piece of it landed on a young woman walking nearby. Of course David picked it up to take home with us.

We had lunch there, and got in the car to return to Oaxaca. A small pick up ahead of us carrying two large pigs was stalling and blocking the road. Of course David got out and helped push the truck off the road. Chivalry isn't dead, it's just too often wasted on swine!

Oaxaca is a beautiful colonial city, with a very large walkable central plaza. We stayed at La Casa de Tia Tere, a very pretty hotel, its twenty rooms on three floors all overlooking a central dining area where breakfast is served. There is also a good sized pool in the backyard. I was surprised to learn that the building used to be one big house.

Chloe is a big hit everywhere we go... while sitting in the square in Oaxaca, some men whistled at her (yes, at her!), and one friendly man came right up to us when David was about to take a picture in the square. He proclaimed his love for Chloe, telling her how beautiful she is, saying "I love you, baby!" in English, and of course Chloe responded in kind (see picture above). After the picture was taken he thanked us, mentioned he was a mescal junkie, and then kissed me. I can vouch that he reeked of mescal, and so can Chloe.

We wandered through the city, taking in the sights and sounds. There is no shortage of artisans here, and we admired hand woven wool rugs made with natural (vegetable- and insect-based) dyes. The only tough part is choosing which one to buy. This area is also known for its black pottery, which I had never seen before, and of course its mescal production. Ah, the mescal. We had a road-side mescal taste tour, which included a brief history, how it's made, and as many samples as you could want (yes, I did mention this was road-side!). When we got back on the road, we noticed lots of algave plant farming on mountainsides.

We had a fairly pleasant drive from Oaxaca, the head spinning parts less frequent on this leg of the trip. We were on our way to San Cristobal de las Cases, a city we'd heard a lot about. We had planned to stop for the night in Tehuantepec, and by the time we got there we were too tired to take the time to find a decent place in a decent neighbourhood and check the room out, like we usually do. Big mistake!

The room was the dingiest, ugliest room we've seen so far, and grossly overpriced. But we were tired from the drive, so we moved our stuff in, and began to unwind. Soon there was a knock on the door; apparently they were not okay with the dog being in the room with us, even though they initially ok'd it when we checked in. We should've just got our money back and left, but we were too tired to load up the car, etc. So we put Chloe-joe back in the car to appease them; it was getting dark so we went and got her in about thirty minutes when it was too dark for them to see outside.

A little while later, I discovered that the toilet was plugged; it wasn't me, honest. I thought I would try again a little later. No luck. We slept in our sleeping bag, as we didn't like the look of the sheets. I didn't sleep well, as I had one ear on the door all night, and there was a lot of noise outside. We got up early and left as quickly as possible. Did I mention the toilet was still plugged?

That was our worst hotel experience - I guess we can't expect to luck out every time! To top it off, we left behind our good flashlight/club in the room. Yes, in future we will leave town earlier to get somewhere else earlier, check out the room, and be comfy. (I can't blame the mescal tasting.)