The bus ride was long, but well worth it to experience the marvel of the city of Oaxaca. Fellow cruisers told us the trip was a must-do, and they were right.
I know, we keep saying everyplace is the best. But Oaxaca truly is our favorite city in Mexico. If we lived in this country, this is where we’d settle. The mountains and valleys are largely unspoiled and visually stunning. Weather is beautiful but drier, so no bugs. The city itself is rich in culture, history and art. Inviting coffee houses, adventuresome small restaurants, art galleries and boutiques featuring locally produced textiles line the colorful streets of the historic district, and the population is noticeably youthful. We could have happily spent weeks here!
The church of Santo Domingo, a couple of blocks from our tiny hotel
We hired a guide, Silvia Männig, to take us around to the surrounding villages and ruins. Her father was in the Dutch foreign service so she speaks nine languages, but spent many of her childhood years in Oaxaca and later returned here to raise her family. Stanford-educated, with a PhD in archaeology, she was a wealth of information, especially on the local Indian cultures and the nearby ruins.
We began with a stop at a local mezcal distillery. It was a small, family-run operation, and we were the only tourists on site.
This is the core of an agave, the type of succulent used to make both mezcal and its more refined cousin, tequila.
First, hunks of this core are buried under the earth with hot stones, where they roast, caramelize and start to ferment.
Above, the caramelized, syrupy smelling fibrous chunks are stone-ground in a mill (a horse pulls the wheel)…
… then the product is distilled over the wood fire…
…. and finally voilà, mezcal trickles out the pipe!
I’m equivocal even on smooth sipping tequila taken straight, but Stan loved the smoky flavors of the aged mezcal, taken traditionally with slices of either oranges or limes, and chile powder. All the local restaurants serve it this way, usually in small ceramic cups that look like saké cups. If you look carefully, you can see the worm in the bottle in the foreground. It supposed to make the mezcal taste smoother, but… seriously? ick.
From there, we continued to the village of Teotitlán del Valle, where the Zapotec Indians have been weaving wool rugs and cotton textiles since around 500 BC. We visited the studio of a cooperative of seven young couples, who shear the sheep, clean, sort, spin, dye and weave the wool. Their dyes are made from local plants, and the wool is even cleaned using local natural soap root.
Living on a boat, in the tropics, wool rugs are not high on our list of necessities so we were not interested in buying any of the lovely works of art these folks create, but were fascinated to see the process up close.
The small cocoon-like things in Isaac’s palm are cactus parasites. They make a whitish powder when crushed…
… But then add a drop of water and it becomes a bright red-orange dye. Add baking soda (left side of his palm) and it turns purple.
Isaac Gutierrez is a Zapotec Indian, and speaks the Zapotec language. He is following in the footsteps of his father, whose work is displayed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
So anyway we bought four rugs.
What! Not a word out of you, do NOT speak.
We also visited several ruins, which, happily, were not for sale. The most famous was on a mountaintop at Monte Albán.
The Olmec civilization was here from as early as 1500 BC, then the Zapotecs moved in from the North around 1000 BC, blended with them and came to predominate, with influence from the Mistec tribe as well. There are nearly a million Zapotecs living in Mexico still, most of them in the state of Oaxaca, and many still speaking only Zapotec.
The geometric designs they used will probably look familiar to you.
The complex at Monte Alban was used for religious ceremonies and other important gatherings. They had strategically located obelisks, and chimney-shafts allowing sunlight to penetrate only on certain days, showing they maintained a very accurate calendar. There is evidence of a kind of medical teaching hospital, if you will, with pathological conditions and birth defects carved onto standing stones.They also did brain surgery, no doubt using herbs for anesthesia. The Zapotecs are very accomplished herbalists.
It’s a place you really have to see to take in the vast expanse of it, their grand sense of space. If you clap your hands, it echoes loudly throughout the whole huge pavilion. You can picture some high priest addressing thousands here.
Back in Oaxaca for dinner, we made another ordering mistake and ate grasshopper quesadillas. Just a couple of bites but that was plenty! Remember the raw rabbit misadventure in Burgundy I blogged about during the summer? I guess we haven’t learned our lesson. We really need to start paying closer attention.
But for now we are looking forward to more land travel, to San Miguel de Allende, known for its art. Just to look, of course, not to buy. And a cooking class. Stay tuned for recipes, none of which will feature insects!
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