Posted from Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico.
The reunion you’ve all been waiting for… On Saturday, October 20, Erik and Apollo arrived in Oaxaca, along with our friend Chuck. They left on the previous Tuesday afternoon, making it to Pharr, Texas, early Wednesday evening, driving pretty much nonstop. They crossed the border bright and early the next morning and received the dreaded, random red light at customs, which meant that they had to pull over and allow for Apollo to be searched. A Mexican official opened a door, peeked around, and let the gringos continue on their way with very little drama. Whew! From then on, it was pretty smooth sailing until their arrival in Oaxaca. (They spent Friday night in Puebla, sampled mole poblano, and thoughtfully picked up some famous Puebla candies for Pepe. To read Pepe’s earlier post about the food of Puebla, click here.)
Chuck generously agreed to accompany Erik and Apollo on this portion of the journey so that Erik wouldn’t have to be by himself for the approximately 2500-mile trip. Since Chuck was only going to be here for a few days before flying back, since Erik hasn’t been to Oaxaca since this spring, and frankly since Pepe has never done any of the touristy stuff outside of the city, we decided to cram it all into a couple of days. We showed Chuck around town – fun markets, restaurants, churches, events – and one day even ventured out on a 22-tourists-packed-in-a-van-for-nine-hours day trip. Ay ay ay! (One of the highlights from our first stay in Oaxaca this past spring was our visit to Monte Alban; to see those pictures, click here.) Warning: tourists ahead!
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- Always prepared, Erik managed to double Pepe’s liquor supply without having anything confiscated at the border.
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- Erik’s triumphant return to the zocalo!
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- Fountain inside the fantastic cultural museum at Santo Domingo
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- Chuck in one of the corridors of the cultural museum, which used to be a monastery
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- A view of the ethnobotanical gardens, which happen to be next door to the museum
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- A pensive Pepe, catching his breath before venturing on to examine more Oaxacan artifacts in the museum
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- Fun sundial device on the rooftop of the museum, dated from 1639 (non-functional if there is no sun).
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- Erik in front of The Tree of Life, located in nearby Tule. Its trunk is considered the largest in the world.
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- Looking up in the tree, which is probably between 2000-3000 years old
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- It may not be the biggest tree in the world, but the most famous tree in all of Mexico is still pretty impressive.
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- In Teotitlán del Valle we received a demonstration of traditional weaving techniques – including an explanation of the dying process… ALL colors come from natural sources.
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- At the loom, showing how the rugs are made. All designs live solely in the imagination of the weaver – nothing is drawn out.
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- Thanks to Chuck for this photo of us admiring the scenery at Hierve el Agua
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- Beautiful vistas outside of Oaxaca city
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- More spectacular scenery
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- Water bubbling up from the ground, hence the name Hierve el Agua (the water boils). The water, however, is not boiling, just bubbling. And it’s not hot. It’s cold.
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- Interesting pools made by the bubbling water and the landscape. People swim in the them all the time.
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- Another neat pool with a great view for those wanting to swim
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- The white rock formation at Hierve el Agua which look just like a waterfall. Spectacular!
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- Erik resting in view of the rock formation that, we repeat, is not a waterfall
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- In the nearby town of Mitka are more Zapotec ruins, which presumably served a religious function.
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- The entire archaeological site isn’t very big but it is still quite interesting
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- More impressive Zapotec building at Mitla, dating from 500-800 C.E. (or so). Don’t forget: no horses, no oxen, no beasts of burden… and they didn’t use the wheel!
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- The design work of these buildings is pretty incredible for people without electric tools.
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- Check out these carvings! Amazing.
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- At a nearby mezcaleria, we learned the process of making mezcal (kind of). Here are hearts from the maguey plant (agave) before being roasted…
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- …and after being roasted
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- Then this thing smashes them… or something like that…
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- And then the smashed stuff goes in here to ferment. And then there are more steps like distillation. And then, magically, there’s mezcal. Or something like that.
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- Blanket of clouds cover the city of Oaxaca, as seen from the archaeological site at Monte Alban
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- The beautiful, incredible ruins at Monte Alban before any else got there. Can you find Pepe?
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- Preservation work in progress…
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- …Every rock is numbered. Mind-blowing.
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- Pepe has all those stairs to himself
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- Chuck easily proves that he’s taller than the Zapotecs were. (That’s an entryway to his right.)
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- Juxtaposition of eras: 2000 year-old Monte Alban ruins with a jet flying high above them.
Reunited and it feels so good! Glad to see the gang all back together. Looking forward to the next chapter of Apollos journey
Erik, So glad you had a safe trip back to your friend Pepe. Enjoy your time there until you come back to the midwest. We enjoyed visiting with you while you were here. Stay safe. Don and Alicia
Yay! Finally. What are the plans now? xx