Aztec Trek Part 7 – Oaxaca Mole

Overlooked by the snow-capped Pico de Orizaba, the highest mountain in Mexico and highest volcano in North America, the pretty town of Puebla was our next overnight stop.  Famous for its baroque buildings, colourful Talavera tiles and yet another stunning cathedral.   Getting a little blasé about these world heritage towns, I decided to look a little deeper this time, and discovered an interesting find beneath the streets of the city.

Around 350 years ago, just after Puebla was founded, a series of underground tunnels were constructed, possibly originally to transport riches stolen by the Spanish, or assisting the Mexican soldiers to escape the French, but later used for a more ethical purpose.  Taking water from the nearby rivers, this ancient aqueduct provided water to the town’s citizens and also irrigation for the fields and orchards above.

It’s estimated that there were around 10 kilometres of tunnels, but the site I visited was long enough – spanning around 500 meters of very well-preserved brickwork, interspersed with some of the relics found within it.  Emerging into the daylight, I found myself in a beautiful urban park which offered views over the whole of Puebla and contained an Olympic stadium, a Spanish fort and a nice little coffee shop!

I strolled back to the hotel through streets lined with fantastic street murals and a craft market.  Later that day, back in the centre of town, I found a large antiques market and stopped for a glass of vino in the Barrio del Artista, with stone arches where local artists displayed their wares. Finding a cool little bar serving good veggie sandwiches on the way back was the perfect end to our brief stay in this captivating city.

The next stop on our itinerary was Oaxaca (as I noted on my previous visit, the pronunciation was similar to someone clearing their throat!).  No wonder the British tex-mex restaurant chain decided to spell it “Wahaca”.  Last time I was here, the local elections were taking place and the town was alive with parades and fire crackers.  After a 5 ½ hour bus journey, we were relieved that our apartment was only a short walk away from the bus station.  Not feeling like straying far that evening, we were surprised to find that even our local park had a large market and fun fair taking place…looks like nothing has changed!

Things became livelier still the following morning when a large student protest marched past our road…it was all “go” here!  We hid ourselves away for a couple of hours in the local sports bar to watch the football, before stocking up on groceries.

Whilst in Oaxaca, most people make a trip to the hillside ruins of the ancient city of Monte Albán, but having visited (and climbed) it previously, we decided to give it a miss.  Instead, we were attracted by a tour offered by a locally run agency to the petrified waterfalls of Hierve El Agua.  Unfortunately, as the protests in town were still ongoing, our driver took the “scenic” route, which involved bumping through the countryside along dusty lanes!  After a brief stop at a family bakery to sample some of the local bread (most tasted like brioche), and a cup of hot chocolate, we made it to the site.

 
One of only two petrified waterfalls in the world (the other is at Pamukkale in Turkey), the name translates as “boil the water”.  I wasn’t to be fooled however, and read that this has nothing to do with the water temperature, but the bubbling springs (which we saw no sign of!).  After walking the strenuous loop trail, down the valley and back up again, Ian freshened up with a dip in one of the four mineral rich pools, but a paddle was all I could manage – it was freezing!  Formed over 2000 years ago, and created by the ancient Zapotecs when channelling spring water into canals for irrigation purposes, the rock formations were impressive, and the trail, although exhausting in the heat and altitude, did provide wonderful views of the valley.

We were soon revived at a visit to a local mezcal distillery on the way back, where we were given a demonstration on the complicated process of making this fiery liquor.  It differs from tequila in that several different types of agave plants are used in its production (whereas tequila only uses blue agave).  The small factory still uses donkeys to mill the baked agave (pineapples – or cores) and it was fascinating watching the techniques used.  Of course, we had to sample the final product and spent an enjoyable hour with our fellow (mostly European) guests learning how to enjoy the different varieties, and flavours.  We may have even bought a couple of bottles to enjoy over Christmas!

Our guide recommended that we explore the trendy area of Jalatlaco, which handily was also the area where I planned to start our street art tour the next day.  We had so far been impressed with the variety and quality of the murals we’d seen adorning the walls in most of the places we’d visited, and Oaxaca was no exception.  Most of the works in the Jalatlaco area was themed around the Day of the Dead (which again was celebrated in earnest here).  We strolled through the centre of the city where “mole” (that thick brown chocolate gravy the Mexicans are so fond of) was utilized in the artworks (best place for it in my opinion!!).

After discovering another ancient aqueduct, many of the arches of which had been converted to studios and shops, we came across more wonderful murals depicting mystical creatures and historical local heroes.  Best find of all however, was a brilliant little Indian café serving delicious curries (hands up, I’m an addict).

Although lively, and in the throes of preparing for Christmas with giant nativity scenes in front of the massive cathedral, a huge red Christmas tree that you could actually walk inside and a brass band playing in the Zocolo, Oaxaca was slightly less authentic than I remembered.  It was the first time that we had really been aware of other travellers outside of Mexico City and Westerners outnumbered locals in many of the mezcal bars and restaurants we visited.  The artisan shops and markets were interesting, but prices were obviously geared towards tourists, and there were touts selling tours on every street corner.

Maybe I was getting a little jaded, having caught a cold and cough from travelling on those luxury air-conditioned buses and the chilly nights here, but we were glad to be leaving Oaxaca for some much-needed beach time.

Next stop:  Coastin’ for a roastin’