Oaxaca

Next up after Puebla, we went to Oaxaca. This required a 5-hour bus ride starting at mid-morning and lasting until mid-afternoon in Oaxaca. Of course, 5-hour bus rides suck, but I passed the time talking with one of my new friends and listening to my iPod. All-in-all, I’ve had much worse travel experiences.

Like I said, we arrived about mid-afternoon. We took about a 15-minute chill period and then met back up in the lobby to have a walking tour of the historic district of the town and then get some food. The walk was pretty interesting. Oaxaca City isn’t a tiny town but we were going through a relatively lightly inhabited part of the city. I took a few pictures as we made our way to the zocalo. There we stopped for dinner and I encountered suspect number one of two of what has caused me so much pain ever since. We stopped at a restaurant and I had chile rellenos. They were filled with beef and I downed them with various types of Mexican beers and they were de-licious.

After dinner, a group of us went out to a bar for additional Mexican beers. It was a good time and it lasted until around 1 am. Upon leaving, I stopped at a little street stand and ordered suspect number two of my troubles. It was a hamburger with a piece of beef, a tiny slice of ham, pineapple (yes, pineapple) and an assortment of other toxins. I must say that it was delicious as well and a new friend of mine and I sang Monty Python songs while walking back to the hotel.

Early the next morning, Montezuma had his revenge and he’s been having it ever since (about four days now). I’m just going to leave it at that.

The next day, we had breakfast and went out for an all-day tour of things around Oaxaca City. We first visited a petrified waterfall. This required a thirty-minute bus ride followed by a 45-minute trek up a hill in the back of a pick-up truck through very bumpy terrain. (This, of course, did great things for my stomach.) Once we got to the top of the mountain, we had some great views of the petrified waterfall, something I had never even heard of before, and the surrounding mountains. There were some ponds and a few people went swimming in there, but I just took some photos and negotiated with my sore, sore belly.

Following this, we went to a mezcal factory and saw how the famous Mexican liquor with the worm at the bottom of the bottle is made. We also tried several various types of mezcal and I think this may have helped to kill some of the bacteria in my system.

From the mezcal factory, we went to the Arbol del Tule. This tree, right outside of Oaxaca City, has the largest base of any tree in the world. One local guide told us that it required nineteen people to stretch their arms in order to surround it. Legend has it that the tree is fourteen hundred years old. When it’s all said and done, though, it’s just a huge fucking tree.

At night, we ordered pizza delivery – some of the worst pizza I’ve ever eaten, though the hot sauce was good – and played a card game involving civilians, mafia and policemen. The next day, we remained in Oaxaca, while we waited for our overnight bus to San Cristobal, but I can’t say there’s anything exciting to report. We hung around various markets in Oaxaca and then went back to the hotel to drink beer, buy vodka for the bus ride, and wait to catch the bus. I guess that’ll be an appropriate place to pick up the next entry, so I’ll see you then.