Oaxaca, México

From Puebla to Oaxaca it took 5 hours on the bus, an easy ride on the long and windy roads, I didn’t feel carsick AT ALL :-/ After we checked into our hotel; The Oaxaca Real Hotel, we began the day by another orientation walk around the city. Oaxaca I thought was very similar to Puebla, both with brightly coloured streets, beautiful old churches, and the city square surrounded by restaurants. That night we met for some drinks to watch the world cup qualifying football game – México V Costa Rica… it was pretty cool to watch as México won, (apparently if they did win, Burger King would give away cheese burgers to customers with every meal, however we didn’t take advantage of this! Nice promotion Burger King). I wasn’t really watching the game as I was enjoying my frozen margaritas and playing card games with the other non-football fans.

The next day in Oaxaca was very busy! We had 4 activities on the agenda for the whole group. We rented a private bus to take us to another archeological site called Milta site, a natural waterfall called Hierve El Agua, a weavers workshop called Zapotec Weavers, and a tequila and mezcal factory called Mezcal Destilery. We all agreed that this was such a fun day and great experience. It gave the group a good chance to bond and enjoy the local traditions & sites. Our first stop was the archeological site. I’ll be honest, this was my least favorite site on the whole trip, but only because it was so small… I like to hike and climb the sites :o) My favorite part of the day was the waterfalls… BEAUTIFUL, the pictures below aren’t anything compared to the present vision! 

Here was the opportunity to hike the woodland to reach the best views of the falls. Perfect to stretch the legs after all the time seated on the bus... Here at the falls we were also able to bathe in the natural springs. It’s hard to describe the waterfalls, however here’s my attempt! The waterfalls were up in the woodland mountains, over looking miles of other mountains. On the flat surface of this mountain were natural springs. These natural springs were so close to the edge that they formed waterfalls, and are larger and heavier when there had been more rain (stating the obvious). As this water is so high in calcium, over the many hundreds of years it has created natural rock formed looking waterfalls – another mesmerizing addition to the view. After lunch and a swim, we then headed to our next stop to visit the local weavers. Here they taught us the traditional Mayan customs of wool and material production. They also displayed how they would create the colours by using natural products such as minerals, plants, and insects. To make the Red and Pinks of the materials they use insects called Cochineal. The man giving the tour ever so kindly used my hand as a palet to display the mixing of the insects into a red paste… crushing of the dried insects and adding a drop of water made a nice pink paste, oh and it was permanent for approx. 5 days on my hand – good stuff! :o) He also said that most red lipsticks and other daily make up has this as one of the main ingredients, watch out ladies ;o)

Our last stop of the day was to go to a Tequila and Mezcal small factory. Here they showed us the plants and process used to make both Tequila and Mezcal. I was quite impressed by this, especially to find out that they still use the same process and equipment as what they used many years ago. The BEST bit of this was that we got to try their selection of drinks… from blueberry – mango – mint – chocolate flavored tequila, I was tipsy enough to buy a bottle and take with me around México, to this day, it’s still not finished (however we're working on it).

The next day the other guys explored the town of Oaxaca, however as I missed out on the first pyramid ruins in México City, I wanted to go to the Monte Alban archeological site so I joined Eduardo for the journey as he was going also. We spent a few hours climbing the ruins and exploring the grounds. 

I really liked this site, we could climb a few pyramids, which isn’t an often treat with these archeological sites. We also went inside one of the pyramids through a restricted door as no one watching and the padlock was unlocked, very wrong but exciting. ANYWAY…  upon our return, Eduardo and I went for a walk around the town, stopped off for some Mexican cuisine, and went to the Museum of Oaxaca Culture. The museum was pretty interesting – I learnt a lot about traditional Maya ways, the invasion of the Spanish and their Roman Catholic influences, and the more modern day revolutions.

After the long day we simply needed to chill out so we went to find some Shisha before we left for the bus station to start our 12 hour bus journey to San Cristobal de las Casas.

Hola México!

Once I had arrived in México City, I was greeted by an ex-client of mine, (now good friend) Jonathan. Jonathan picked me up from the airport as he lived not far from México City’s airport. With no time to rest, we went straight to his friend’s house where they were hosting a BBQ and drinks lunch. On the way we also met with others – Karen and Rodolfo… I’m so glad to have met with them for the day as it was a great introduction to the Méxican culture, food, and friendly hospitality. Here I also managed to meet another ex-client of mine, Kare. Meeting Kare and Jonathan was great fun! We had been communicating for over a year and worked closely together - both were as I expected in person…. Welcoming and great fun! I didn’t think I’d get to meet either of them due to my unplanned short notice, however I forgot that in Latin America everything runs smoother spontaneously ;o)

Meet Jonathan and Kare

That night was the first night which I met Raquel in our hotel – Hotel Metropol. She was my room buddy for the 1^st leg of my GAP Adventure trip through México. I knew immediately that Raquel and I would be fine living together as she was in the same situation as me; a single 23/24 year old travelling solo from Australia.

The next day I would then get to meet the remaining people of the group – Sarah and Brock- an Australian couple, Ling and Terry - friends from Edinburgh, and our tour guide Ivan from México. Not only did we have Ivan as our tour guide, we also had another GAP Adventure’s tour guide whom was in training for México, Eduardo. It was pretty convenient for me to have Eduardo on this trip as he was to be my next tour guide on the 2^nd leg of the trip though Belize and Guatemala.

The next day I decided not to join the group as I wanted to spend more time with Jonathan, my thoughts were that I would be spending the next 2 weeks with the group, and yet I wouldn’t be seeing Jonathan for a while, so he offered to show me around his wonderful city. The GAP Adventure group explored The Teotihuacan Pyramids however Jonathan and I went to the Chapultepec Park where went for lunch. As it was such a lush day we also decided to rent a boat to paddle on the park center water – I thought this was pretty fun! 

On our way back we also visited the Chapultepec Castle which has a great impact to the Méxican history. Later that night we then went to a beautiful restaurant in around the city’s square called Gran Hotel Ciudad de México. We waited for a seat by the balcony so we could over look the square’s fiesta below us…. (I didn’t realise this, but every September in México the country celebrates there independence. The Méxican independence day is celebrated on the 15th September, and the 16th is a non-work day (too bad for the workers this year as it fell on a Sunday), however I was pretty pleased to be in México for this wonderful month!) From my experience of Latin Americans, they KNOW how to party, so rather than celebrate for the one night, they celebrate for a whole month. I felt bad as when asked when the English celebrate “their day” (which I consider to be St Georges day), I had no Idea when it was, however I did know when St Patrick’s day was... (well done Guinness, your brand advertisement has succeeded, otherwise I’m sure no one would know this holy day of the pint!) Anyway! The dinner was lovely and the view was amazing – Jonathan, it won’t be forgotten.

The next day I joined the group for breakfast to begin our journey onto Puebla. A short hours bus journey later we arrived and headed to La Alhondiga Hotel. Everyone was pretty exhausted at this stage of the journey with the early starts and jet legs so we took it easy in Puebla. The day consisted of an orientation walk from our lovely tour guide, Ivan. We simply walked around the town, visited the church to see the beautiful architecture and went for lunch. You won’t believe how many beautiful churches there are in México. When the Spanish invaded México they brought with them their Spanish Roman Catholic views, hence all the churches. These churches were breath taking inside, glorious gold and imaginative stone and wood carvings – basically I was pretty impressed!
That night we gathered again, of course after a small siesta, we were off to watch the wrestling – another Méxican tradition. We all LOVED the wrestling… 3 vitals; 1. you have to decide whether you support the “goodies” or the “baddies” (of course we supported the baddies, to my disappointment as the “goodies” were also the “hotties”), 2. The crowd goes loco crazy for the fights – it’s such a pantomime, with the masks worn by the wrestlers and the audience, the acting by the wrestlers and choreographed moves – all contributes to a great show! 3. The wrestling characters – it was obvious who was the crowd’s favorites; Mistico (and let me just say ladies, it was more obvious why!!). Mystico had the moves, the style and the body. To summarise, it was a good night and a fun “sport” to watch. 

Wise Words Shared

Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets.  Look 'em over with care. About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."

With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you'll want to go down. In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town.

It's opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don't worry. Don't stew. Just go right along. You'll start happening too.

OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up! You'll be seeing great sights! You'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed. You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.

Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't, Because, sometimes, you won't. 

I'm sorry to say so but, sadly, it's true and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted.  

But mostly they're darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! 

Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right... or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?

Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you'll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place. 

The Waiting Place... for people just waiting. Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go, or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow, or waiting around for a Yes or a No, or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite, or waiting for wind to fly a kite, or waiting around for Friday night, 

or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake, or a pot to boil, or a Better Break, or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants, or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

NO! That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape all that waiting and staying. You'll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping, once more you'll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.

And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all.

Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't. Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some time you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone! Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.

There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul, On you will go though your enemies prowl.

On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl, Onward up many a frightening creek,

though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike, and I know you'll hike far, and face up to your problems, whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You'll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act.

Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So... be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray, or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea, you're off to Great Places!

Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So...get on your way!