[I love Mexico. I think about it often, even as I travel elsewhere. Also, because I've been remiss in posting contemporaneously, you get these illustrated musings completely out of context to where I am right now. Such is the cruiser's mind.]
When we spent a full month in Marina Chahue in Huatulco (Feb.-Mar. 2010), it was part of a plan. We wanted plenty of time to wait for a weather window to cross the Gulf of Tehuantepec into Central America. We knew that during February and March we'd likely have to wait a couple of weeks for good weather. But we had more in mind. We wanted to spend some of that waiting time, touring inland.
We took a 9-day bus trip out of Huatulco. Part I led us 7 hours by first-class bus from Huatulco to Oaxaca (the city; conveniently located in the eponymous state) to not just visit the city itself but some of the nearby prehispanic ruins. Shopping for various types of souvenirs also figured heavily into our plans. Plus, GB found a small B&B, Casa de los Sabores, in the city center whose owner/chef ran a nearby restaurant and offered cooking classes in traditional Mexican cuisine. GB took one of those cooking classes and had himself some fun. Our plate was full, so to speak.
Part II of this road trip took us 13 hours by bus from Oaxaca to San Cristobal de las Casas, in the state of Chiapas. From there, it was yet
another bus trip of about 5 hours to the town and
nearby world-class ruins of Palenque in the Mexican state of Chiapas
near the Guatemala border.
Oaxaca and Chiapas are great areas for tourism - whether your interest is in
restaurants, museums, cooking classes, archaeology, Spanish classes,
shopping for art and handicrafts, or some of all of the above. In fact,
there's so much that's accessible to the average cruiser out
of Huatulco, I've had to break it down into a series of posts. Lucky
you.
The Bus Trip from Huatulco to Oaxaca
Seven hours from Huatulco to Oaxaca. Rode through rolling hills that became mountains. Began passing fields of maguey, the succulent cactus from which mescal is made. Saw roadside open-sided sheds in which the hearts of the maguey were roasted, then ground with a millstone powered by a burro. (In one case, though, I saw it was powered by bicycle. Burro wins!) The roasted, ground maguey product is then distilled in hand-made wooden vats. I lost visual track of the process about then; presumably the mescal is then taken from the roadside vats to be bottled elsewhere. They say that each small distiller bottles his own mescal for personal use and/or for sale to the local community but considering the volume of mescal we saw everywhere I wouldn't be surprised if some distillers sell their product to a larger bottler/distributor, like the practice among grape growers and some wineries. But I shouldn't speculate so wildly.
Still musing on the mysteries of the mescal industry, we arrived in Oaxaca. Slow traffic to centro district and Casa de los Sabores, due to much road construction throughout downtown. Good source of jobs for the construction trades, & our tourism was only superficially impaired. Carried flashlight for nighttime walks so as to avoid plummeting to my death in a construction ditch. Many good restaurant options, including the tlayuda stand across the street from Casa de los Sabores (see blurry pic on left), which, it turns out, is quite the popular evening dining destination for all the Oaxacan locals-in-the-know.
Next post: Oaxaca's Ex-Convent Santo Domingo and its Regional Museum.
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