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Ok, so I cant stop counting down the days to our trip(novia and I) to Oaxaca city. We will be there for a total of 10 days including travel time, so roughly 8 days free. While we would love to go to the beaches, the ticket to Puerto Escondido was nearly double that of the ticket to Oax city.
So, my dilema is: will two college age kids run out of things to do in Oaxaca city in 8 days?We plan on seeing Monte Alban, museums, and maybee going to a small village where they produce crafts, and just exploring the city.
Should we plan to spend a few days in Huatulco as well to get the beach in or would we feel too rushed? If going to Huatulco we'd fly because the bus ride is too long for us, time is precious when you never know the next time you'll be back somewhere! Thanks and muchisimas gracias!
My personal opinion is that we Americans rush around trying to fit in as many sites and activities that we can -- however then you see the surface. If you stay in one place, you don't get to mark off as many places seen but you might get to "experience" more.
Just sitting in the plaza in Oaxaca City is an experience! So much to absorb. The beautiful old churches are truly awesome with their gold/gilt(?) interiors and statuary.. The architecture of the city is charming and a walk around just to peer into the courtyards of hotels and haciendas is a treat! The one thing I sadly missed when there was visiting the elegant old monastary, now a 5-star hotel (can't recall the name - something Real). Monte Alban is facinating, but definitely bring a quality guidebook so you know what you're looking at! It's a truly awesome place from another long-ago time in Mexico's history.
I'd agree it's good to savor a place and not rush around but with the younger generation, you *might* want to reconsider that trip to Huatulco or Escondido! We flew from Oaxaca City to both places on 2 separate trips - don't recall it being too terribly expensive. The resort area of Huatulco is *newish* and polished and the beaches are incredibly beautiful. Escondido is a little rougher around the edges but is much more real - but the surf is very rough and not too conducive to swimming. My son, a long-time NC surfer was reluctant to take his board out - I have pics of 20+ ft.waves on the main beach. If you do go, one of our favorite places is the 'Santa Fe' Hotel - a wonderful and architectually delightful place to stay with a terrific restaurant. I'd love to go back someday..
Let us know some of the impressions of your trip.
Have a wonderful vacation!
I spent the past semester as a college student living in Oaxaca, so if you tell me what you're interested in, I can try to help you out! Do you speak Spanish? I know that so much of what I found was just based on asking people how to get there.
I'd really recommend a trip out to el Arbol de Tule. There are buses that you can catch from near the baseball stadium (you might have to ask around to find a stop) that say Tule on top- you just get off at the last stop. It costs 4.5 pesos each way and is totally worth it. Make sure to talk to the boys in the churchyard of the tree about the mirrors (espejos). You give them a few pesos and it's cute. The town is really adorable and there are lots of little shops selling goods. There's a great market for food. Definitely try a mole empanada! It's not what you're used to I guarantee. The nieves (a really amazing version of shaved ice) in that market are safe and something you should really try. Crema de mescal was my favorite although friends of mine liked the rose and nanche flavored.
If either of you are into artwork, I'd suggest that each of you pack a softsided bag inside of your suitcase and then fill it with art from Oaxaca. I wish I had bought more. You just need to watch out for Chinese imitations which are getting to be a big problem- especially for alebrijes (the colorful woodcarvings Oaxaca is known for). There's a great artesian shop near the Zocalo (I can't remember the street but up the hill a few blocks on Alcala maybe and right off a street on the right... there normally is a large colorful statue or effigy type thing outside) that is all guaranteed artists. They do a lot of work with local artists to promote their craft and it's very reasonably priced. I bought a large alebrije for around $30 that I could easily sell on eBay for $200+ if I wanted to. They wrap everything up well and nothing broke on me, not even my pottery.
There are lots of villages outside of the city that each produce a different artesian good. One is famous for alebrijes, another for green pottery, another for black pottery, and so on. I can't remember any of the town names, but if you ask at your hostel or hotel, they would know. Normally you have to take a collectivo (a little taxi where they shove about 6 people in for a set price which is rather low), though it wouldn't cost much to get a taxi.
Things to try: off the Zocalo there's an ice cream shop called Michoacan (it's a chain in Mexico) and they gladly give samples if you ask and it hits the spot on a warm (or even cold!) day... they use bottled water so it's safe; all types of mole; quesillo (Oaxacan string cheese essentially... I just bought mine from the markets), chapulines (grasshoppers), mescal, comida corrida (4 course meal with drink for lunch... often for under $4), great coffee, nieves, tlayudas (Mexican pizzas), agua fresca de tuna (tuna is the fruit of the prickly pear... SO good), tamales (especially mole negro tamales), and huitlacoche (corn fungus, but tastes like truffles).
The markets could each easily take up a day. Definitely go to Abastos (the main market) but watch out for pickpockets. I think market day is Sunday which is a whole other level of craziness, but it's still busy any day of the week. It's like what would happen if Walmart, the local farmer's market, the feed store, the pet store, the street vendors, the wedding outlet, and all of downtown threw up all over a bunch of stalls. You literally can get ANYTHING there and it's a great place to get pictures. Any taxi would know where it is and it's within walking distance of downtown- plus many buses end there. I've spent whole days just wandering it and getting incredibly lost. Downtown there is also 20 de Noviembe and Benito Juarez which are across the street from each other. One only has food while the other has everything. They're close to the Zocalo. Down the street from there is also an artist's market.
I wouldn't suggest Huatulco. I only drove through and got lunch there, but it seemed overpriced and not really the college set. If you were to go to a beach, I'd say Puerto Escondido or Puerto Angel- but definitely not taking the bus. Pretty much all roads in between Oaxaca and the coast are really curvy because of the mountains. I kid you not- on the 6 hour drive between Puerto Escondido and Oaxaca there was maybe half an hour where it wasn't roller coaster type curves over the mountain. We all took dramamine but about half the van full of able bodied 20 somethings were puking their brains out the whole way. The beaches are nice, but you can get nice beaches anywhere.
I could go on- nightlife, live music, political scene, environmental scene (Fridays and Saturdays is a wonderful organic market filled with locals and expats selling all kinds of stuff- including stellar candy and meals. I'll find out the name and the exact location because it's definitely worth a go and many tourists don't know it's there), arts, etc. It's also great to just walk around and look at the graffitti since it has a whole different meaning in Oaxaca. Definitely take some time to study up on the political situation there (or ask me, that's pretty much what I was studying :P) to get a full understanding of the street art and what you may see while you're there. There are somewhat regular "plantones" or sit ins in the Zocalo as well as marches. I'd stay clear of the march, but if you look out for police presence, the sit ins are interesting as they sell all kinds of alternative, political gear. Lots of Che Guevara which is annoying, but also lots of great documentaries and APPO and Zapatista gear.
Oh look... this is making me crazy nostalgic. :P Again, any questions, I'll be happy to let you know what I know!
I love Oaxaca but 8 days of sight-seeing would be a bit much in my opinion. The bus ride to Puerto Escondido is only 5-6 hours. You could always do an overnight bus if you were worried about "losing" time.
Thanks for all the info! I can tell that you had an amazing time, just by how much you were eilling to share. If you do find out, please let me know about that organic market as my girlfriend is a vegetarian and she'd love it! I think we'll just stay in the city and do side trips to some of the villages if we get bored. Thanks again!
Oh, yeah yo hablo mucho espanol para un guerro o gringo! Voy a tener mucho divertido hablando con la gente de Oaxaca...Piensas que esta "safe?" para tomar hasta un poquito borracho o debo tener mas cuidado? Obviamente necesito ser "alert" pero, es el tipo de lugar donde los hombres robar huerros boracho caminando a hotel por la noche? Just a thought, i encountered this before in other countries/towns where there is a downtown with bars and hotels on the outskirts, groups of locals who hang out in the shadows, jump/beat up and rob drunk tourists walking to their hotels...Something to keep in mind alla? Thanks!
Oh funny, when I first read your post, I thought you were a parent bringing two college age kids with you. Now I see that you and your friend are the two college age kids.
Anyway, I lived in Oaxaca for 2 months in 2008. I found the city to be very safe. I rented an apartment 5 blocks from the zocalo and never had any problems. That being said, I'm not a drinker and am normally in bed by 10. Oaxaca does have a lot more beggars than I've encountered in other Mexican cities. But they tend to be very non-aggressive and they don't hassle you at all.
I went to the vegetarian market once and was very disappointed in it. Just not much there. There's one vegetarian restaurant in Oaxaca and three-four vegetarian friendly restaurants. Flor de Loto gets mentioned in a lot of the guidebooks but I was not impressed with the food there and I've talked to other people who agree. I'll try to remember where the others are if you're interested.
There are also a couple of places in town that offer dance classes. One is on independencia near 5 de mayo. The other is on Armenta y Lopez, maybe 7-8 blocks south of the zocalo.
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