El Tule, Mitla and Hierve El Agua

Our second day in Oaxaca was spent doing tourist things. We booked a tour with our hostel. The tour proceeded to pick up some other people - all women in their 60s - 80s. We were on a senior grandmas trip! There were two dutch women in their 60s and three japanese women in their 70s accompanying us.

The dutch women both spoke fluent english. Two of the three japanese women spoke english, one spoke french, and the other spoke spanish! Very international.

We first stopped at El tule, the widest tree in the world. It's been cared for by the community for hundreds of years and is very special to them. It's been around for thousands of years.

We then proceeded to Mitla, an archaeological site. It was quite well preserved and there were a lot of cool geometric patterns inscribed into the walls. They called them "greco" designs though there is no proof of a connection between them and greek patterns. There was not much restoration - the site itself was in great condition. Interestingly, it seems that the Oaxacan peoples were not as into human sacrifice and violence compared to their Aztec neighbors - there was no mention of human sacrifice, skin flaying, or sacrifice induced warmongering.

We then went to Hierve El Agua, a petrified waterfall cascade. Similar to stalactites and stalagmites, calcium enriched water would falls down the side of the mountain for generations forming a visually aesthetic stone waterfall. There are also pools of water at the top that you can swim in (which we did!). It was overall very majestic and the mountains in the background were incredibly impressive.

The tour also involved a buffet (not included), a mezcal tasting, and a demonstration of traditional oaxacan weaving. While these things were obviously gimmicky tourist things, they did seem somewhat authentic and good quality. The food was actually really, really good and the weaving was quite impressive. I bought some mezcal at the mezcal tasting. Overall, a very good tour. Our tour guide was also great - her english was good and she was very good at explaining everything.Baca lagi