11 – Oaxacan (Wah-hah-can) Walkin’ Tour
Jan. 25 to Feb. 6, 2010
Today I’m going to be a slacker and use short descriptions and photos to describe our two weeks in Oaxaca City. Thanks for understanding the ways of a lazy man.
The drive from the coast to Oaxaca was a twisty one.
From the coast, we climb into the mist.
Village on a mountain top.
While in Oaxaca, Roz and I lived in two apartments – a bowling alley and a shoe box. Moderation is for suckers.
Our bowling alley apartment. Yup, there's also a bedroom back there.
Our other place - that's all there is...
...and outside was a sitting area, shared kitchen and Yuki.
Oaxaca is a charming city nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Madre, full of churches, art galleries and coffee shops. I liked the coffee shops.
Revolution is in the air. In 2006, a teachers’ union demonstration turned ugly when soldiers attacked. A war in the streets ensued. Many died. An uneasy truce exists now. One night, we stumbled upon another teachers’ demonstration in the main square. On our way to the zocalo we saw a truck full of soldiers pile out and enter a government building – I think they were standing by (out of sight) in case things got interesting again. Luckily, we didn’t witness any incidents. But it made me realize that anything can happen anytime in these fragile democracies.
Grafitti art
Free the political prisoners
A mariachi dons a wrestling mask during a teachers demonstration.
We spent an afternoon at Monte Alban, about 9 km outside of Oaxaca. (ROZ: Monte Alban is a pre-Columbian archaeological site high on a mountain top overlooking the Oaxaca valley. Apparently it’s one of the earliest cities of Mesoamerica and was the pre-eminent Zapotec socio-political and economic center for close to a thousand years.) Now there are only the remains of stone buildings and stone carvings of castrated men. Ouch.
Santa Domingo de Guzman is a huge church, over 400-years-old, whose ceilings are resplendent with 3D relief paintings. Inside the doorway of the elaborate gold-leafed church, a tiny Mayan woman begged for coins. Hmmm…
Adjacent to the church is the former Dominican monastery, a labyrinth of rooms that now houses the Cultural Centre of Oaxaca. It was filled with very cool pre-Hispanic artifacts – and the usual post-contact colonial tools like Spanish armour, muskets and statues of Christ.
The governor’s palace has been converted into a museum and art gallery. (ROZ: It was a beautiful old building (love those arches) with a huge mural by Arturo García Bustos. A big piece of the mural portrays native son Benito Juárez, a Zapotec Indian who was governor of Oaxaca and served five terms as President of Mexico in the 1800s. As I told Trond, Juarez is “the dude” in these parts – Mexico’s greatest and most beloved leader and probably the only Mexican hero whose reputation still stands. Just about every other street, park or store in Oaxaca was named “Juarez”.)
One day, we went to a mall that someone referred to as gringoland. We watched Avatar in 3D there and indulged in a Domino’a pizza. I enjoyed both experiences. They both felt like the real thing.
Well, that’s all folks. Thanks for letting me be like my underpants – brief.
(ROZ: When did you start wearing underwear?)
END OF PART 11
We are now working as caretakers for a remote private resort near Merritt, BC Canada. Trond is probably skating on his rink right now and Roz is probably cross-country skiing.
Themocracy
Beautiful photographs, thank you! We are in Santa Fe for a 10 day ski trip.. Terrific snow conditions and fun city with good chili to top it off.
Abrazos, Lee and Ines
Lee and Ines – thanks for the kind words. Skiing in Santa Fe sounds sweet – but isn’t the water cold? (tee hee). Hey! Did you sell your bike yet? I’m still dreaming about it!
Hi guys, We really enjoy following your posts. We arrived in Oaxaca 2 nights ago and are in the Oaxaca Trailer Park. We’re hoping to find somewhere to stay out of the van for a couple of weeks. Do you remember the names/locations of your bowling alley and shoebox? We’d like to have cooking facilities, and it would be nice to be able to park off-street to keep the vehicle safe. Do you think either spot would work for us? We’re just borrowing someone’s cable connection so can’t write more at the moment. Hope you are having fun in Antigua – we have a friend who goes there every year and loves it. All the best, Paul and Alexis
Hey Paul and Alexis – glad you made it safely to Oaxaca. And I’m glad you asked about the places we stayed at because I had meant to post them in the blog.
The “shoebox” is a modern house full of big and small rooms (we had the small) called Casa del Fresno. Here’s their site, http://www.casadelfresno.com/, and the host, Edith (who speaks excellent English), is at 044-951-150-87-51 (if dialing in Oaxaca). There was room for one vehicle in their parking spot (at night) and I suspect your van would fit. Parking didn’t cost extra. Room rates are listed on the site.
The “bowling alley” is an older building at Ave. Guerrero 311 a few blocks east of the central park. The landlady/owner’s name is Senora Sylvia Santos and her number is 516-34-84 and only speaks Spanish. Parking was limited to a few vehicles in the courtyard and cost extra (60 pesos a day), but was still cheaper than the public parking just down the street (towards the park). We got a bit of a deal staying there as we knew someone there, but it was around 1500 pesos a week.
Hope this helps!
Hi guys,
I love following your adventures. Michael and I went to Monte Alban too! However, we went up there in a rickity school bus driven by a 20yr old who was more interested in chatting with his friend than keeping his eyes on the very TWISTY, CLIFF-RIDDEN road! He had a Bart Simpson figurine beside the Virgin Mary painting, so I guess he figured that would protect us.
I think Bart helped because at one point we were almost driven off the road and when I looked down (I was cliff side)and there was no road, just a 200ft drop. Yikes!
Did you guys hear the insane buzzing of grassphoppers while you were on the mountain?
xoxo,
-Heather
Yeah, that’s a twisty road alright. Having been on similar heart-stopping bus rides in Belize, I’m very glad to be driving my own ride these days. But I like the Bart figurine idea – I gotta see if I can find one!
big love,
trond
SUPERB!
Nice pics, so cool to follow you like this. I keep reminding my husband about your trip… one day we’ll do something like that ;O)
Canada/Vancouver is just waking up after the Olympics. It was really fun.
Enjoy your journey and keep good spirit
cheers
Amazing photos, such a colourful land. it is good to get back to gringo-dom now and again and taste some foreign fast food.
Safe travels both.
Julian
I like this format — pics with commentary. Perhaps it’s easier on you, Trond?