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First Time Reader? ......here is the background to this series of blogs:
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/9/1233502800/tpod.html
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Click on SLIDESHOW and then the rectangle in the bottom right corner to see photos in full screen format
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Mexico: 23 Destinations to Spend the Winter Months
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Oaxaca
no. 18 of 23 destinations (this is not a ranking)
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State: Oaxaca
Location: 450 km southeast of Mexico City
Population 258,000
Elevation 5,084 ft.
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Oaxaca – City of the Four “C”s - Coffee, Chocolate, Colonial Architecture and Colour

What other city can boast of the four “Cs” – coffee, chocolate, colonial architecture and colour . Oaxaca may just be the destination that best combines these four elements.

Now coffee beans do not grow in the city of Oaxaca, but they certainly grow in the state of the same name, as it is one of the two great coffee growing regions of Mexico. The other is Chiapas our next destination.

Pluma Hidalgo located in the Sierra Madre Sur is one of the regions in the state of Oaxaca renowned for its coffee. Its elevation at 1,400 meters makes it just right for a coffee that a connoisseur would love.

In a perfect world we would have known about and visited Pluma Hidalgo after our visit to Huatulco, as it is only 15 km from Santa Maria Huatulco.

The following website with land and aerial photos will have to do.

http://www.tomzap.com/plumahidalgo.html

No I can’t tell you that the aroma of coffee permeates the beautiful city of Oaxaca but a good cup of Oaxacan coffee is never far away .

As for the chocolate, spend any time at all in Oaxaca and it does not take long to become aware of Chocolate Mayordomo, a major chocolate producer in Ciudad Oaxaca.

It seems that the origins of chocolate can be traced a long way back in this part of the world as it was offered by Aztec King Montezuma to Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1519. But that was only an important historical reference for the Europeans as the Maya and Aztecs were enjoying the pleasures of drinking chocolate as early as 500 BCE.

It was the addition of sugar that popularized chocolate in Europe in the 1600’s from where it took on a life of its own. The first chocolate bar was created in England in 1849. (Source: Music from the Chocolate Lands – Putomayo World Music)

Now don’t go rushing out to buy this CD, but for writing this blog it is really cool because it brings back happy memories of a cool town – Oaxaca .

But nothing brings back the memories like the photos we took during our visit and I must apologize for the huge number of photos that I have included. No, on second thought, I don’t need to apologize since it truly was a “photogenic” city.

Getting back to the coffee and “cacao” beans they are showcased beautifully in the Mercado Benito Juarez.

Our hotel was directly across from the market so we were not far from the coffee and the “cacao” beans so abundantly displayed in their burlap sacs or bins. The whole scene was just so inviting in its visual and olfactory appeal, somewhat akin to being in a winery in the Napa Valley or in the Mendoza region of Argentina. These sensations penetrate to the inner sanctions of one’s feeling of wellbeing. Admittedly, this feeling is more easily induced in a wine-growing region due to the very nature of the product, but coffee and chocolate nevertheless do a pretty good job as “comfort foods” .

Now lets talk about the third “C” – the colonial architecture.

I have said it several times in my blogs when looking at the architectural traces left by the four colonialists in North and South America – the English, the French, the Spanish, and the Portuguese – there is no doubt that the Spanish left the most architectural splendour in the New World, by far. Starting with the American southwest and the many famous missions such as San Juan Capistrano, California, the Spanish also left abundant and beautiful evidence of architecture throughout the Central and South Americas. In the Mexican cities of the central highlands the “centro historicos” are a spectacular architectural legacy of the Spaniards.

The legacy continues in the beautiful “centro historico” of Oaxaca. As elsewhere in the Spanish empire, this rich cultural heritage was financed by gold and silver. If the Spanish Empire was great once upon a time, it was the New World that provided the riches to finance the splendour at home and in the colonies . As recognition of this fact, Oaxaca has been declared not a “pueblo magico” (it is too large for that) but a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Starting from the zocalo or main square, it doesn’t matter which direction is taken in the grid layout of the streets, there is a lot to explore and see. Having said that, there is nothing like the pleasure of strolling the pedestrian streets in downtown Oaxaca. One of the nicest is Macedonio Alcala that leads to one of the city’s main landmarks - the Templo de Santo Domingo.

The last of the four “C”s – colour – permeates this city as vibrant colours can be seen ranging from the agricultural products sold in the markets, to the vibrant colours of local handicrafts to the strikingly colourful buildings so evident throughout the “centro historico”. This is the first destination where I just started taking photos of “colours” as their impact was so striking.

It was Henry Ford who made the colour black famous with his quote about the Model T: “You can have any colour you want as long as it is black” . But even the colour black can look good in Oaxaca, as there are stores selling a local type of pottery that is all black.
The last time I was so impressed by local colours was in a “barrio” of Buenos Aires known as “La Boca” which perhaps sets the world standard for colourful.

Just to backtrack, we got lucky when our taxi driver took us to the Hotel Posada del Rosario which not only turned out to be quite nice for the price range of 500 pesos but it was also strategically located just across from Mercado 20 de Noviembre and just down from Mercado Benito Juarez and three blocks from the zocalo. These two markets alone are worth the trip to Oaxaca.

The Mercados sell various forms of chocolate including the Mole Colaradito or Mexican Chocolate sauce, the coffees, the meats, the poultry, the dry goods, the fruits, and almost anything else imaginable. In addition, there is the fascinating “grill hall”.

The “grill hall”, as I call it, is a huge hall where many of the sellers have a grill where delicious meats and poultry are being barbequed . What is so unusual about that? This is all done indoors with the result that entering the hall is like entering a giant smoke house. As a visitor it is inviting and exotic but what about the people who work there? This would be akin to the Indians of the North American prairies living in a tepee and doing their cooking on a fire built right in the middle of the tepee. Does no one know what the effect of extended smoke inhalation can produce in the way of adverse health risks? Well as I have mentioned on numerous occasions, safety standards, if there are any, are different in Mexico.

Having said that about smoke inhalation, it should be noted that Barbara and I often made the observation that we were amazed at how few people smoked in Mexico. We expected to find a nation of smokers but were surprised to find as few as we did. Questions posed about this phenomenon pointed to public health campaigns about the dangers of smoking as the source of the success. That of course flies in the face of what I said in the previous paragraph about a devil may care attitude towards safety concerns in this country .

Nevertheless breathing in a little smoke never hurt anyone so it was with great difficulty that Barbara managed to drag me out of the “grill hall”. I must have a fascination with smoke because near San Christobal de Las Casas in Chiapas it was a smoke filled church that was the highlight of our visit.

One of the best indicators of how beautiful and interesting a destination was, is the number of photos we took. By that criterion Oaxaca takes first place. The entire city is a photographer’s delight in terms of architecture, texture and particularly colour. Often I found myself just taking photos of the rich colours that characterize this city. Our enthusiasm is reflected in the number of photos that I have uploaded. It hurts to leave too many on the “cutting floor” so to speak.

Nevertheless they are too numerous to label so the visual aspect will have to do.

Our search for a tourist office proved to be an interesting way to explore the city as various people pointed us in different directions .

Eventually our search brought us to Paseo Juarez el Llano, the largest park in the city, where the main tourist office is located. In the park we found another example of a Mexican innovation of having a “zona Internet inalambrico” or wireless Internet zone in the park. That’s a nice little touch for the sake of convenience or for the people who cannot afford it at home.

One of the most impressive sights in the “centro historico” can be found near the northern end of the pedestrian section of Macedonio Alcala. This is the location of the massive Santo Domingo de Guzman Church. The architectural style of the church, its surrounding landscape and the whole area around the church make this a focal point of a visit to Oaxaca.

My lack of photos of the zocalo makes me think that Oaxaca is more than a “one-trick pony” city. In most destinations the focal point is the zocalo and that may be the case in Oaxaca but there is much more to draw one’s attention to other parts of the town .

Beyond the Santo Domingo de Guzman Church we came upon a major aqueduct that apparently was functional until 1942. It was here that we met a mixed group of students of all ages from California who for $2,200 all-inclusive – (flight, family stays with two home cooked meals, courses) were taking a Spanish Language program. Their eagerness and apparent interest in their surroundings reminded me of many summers spent in France taking French courses at various universities throughout the country. I still regard this as one of the best ways to discover a country.

About 25 years ago, one thing led to another and I eventually started a part-time business called Euro-Immersion Language Study that was a one-stop shopping for some 50 European Language Study programs ranging from Sweden to Italy. Fortunately it never got successful enough for me to quit my daytime job of teaching high school. The advent of the Internet made such information readily available to everyone, therefore eliminating the need for my services .

When it comes to language study in Mexico, there are probably two standout destinations – Oaxaca and Cuernavaca, located 85 kilometres south of Mexico City. Unfortunately I have never visited the latter but any time you can spend in Oaxaca is time well spent and language study would be a great way to stay here if you can’t be an expat.

The last time we got so enthusiastic about a town in the interior was, well to be precise we got enthusiastic about several – San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, and Zacatecas. But since Zacatecas was a total surprise to us, I used it as a basis of comparison when I asked Barbara, which city do you prefer, Zacatecas or Oaxaca? The answer of “I don’t know, I can’t answer” left me less than satisfied then she added that there are many more “gringos” meaning expats here in Oaxaca that may influence the choice one way or the other.

Because like Zacatecas, Oaxaca is at 5,000 feet, winter temperatures tend to hover around a high of about 18 degrees centigrade that raises the old debate – which is better? Is it the coastal towns with highs in the 30s or the interior highlands at 18 degrees during the day and around 8 degrees at night? In addition, there is the humidity on the coast that hit us like a ton of bricks especially in Puerto Vallarta .

Interestingly enough in both Zacatecas and Oaxaca we ran into cloudy weather but no rain.

When I look at my brief reflections written at the Coffee Beans – Café Organico Oaxaqueño (5 de Mayo no. 400c) over an excellent cup of Oaxacan coffee, I am somewhat surprised by the following entry:

Oaxaca
-    frantic traffic
-    no regard for pedestrians

In addition I made the following comment:

No matter how nice a place is, and Oaxaca is nice, you can only walk around for so long. There comes a point when you need a nice place to come home to. That is where the concept of a long-term stay or the expat experience enters into the picture. The trick is finding a suitable place and that may take some serious money.

Speaking of expats, through my blog I have become acquainted with “Laura” from:

http://motherlauras .blogspot.com

This is the introduction to her blog:

“This blog has been created in order to share my passions, interests, and experiences in living the expatriate life predominately in the Latin world of Mexico, Central America, and South America. Having lived and travelled in many Latin countries during the last thirteen years I felt it was time to reach out to those who have similar interests or curiosity relating to the places we have lived.”

She has been living in Oaxaca for the last two years and among her blogs is:

Helpful Hints to Hanging Out in Oaxaca

For this and much more information about Oaxaca and the area, just scroll down to the bottom of her blog and start reading the blogs in chronological order.

You will find a well written, in depth blog with a wealth of information from the view point of an expat living in Oaxaca. If you have any questions about Oaxaca, Laura would be an excellent source of information. You can contact her through her blog.

http://motherlauras.blogspot.com

Finally, since this series of blogs is about long-term destinations to spend the winter months, we made an effort to have a chat with a real estate agent .

In this case it turned out to be Mario Raul Diaz Vargas who was on duty in the Re-Max office located on Macedonia Alacala.

According to his information a one-bedroom apartment in the “centro” would rent for about $650 US, a two bedroom $800 US and a “casa” in the suburbs, about $2,500 US a month. He speaks English and can be reached at: mario_raul_diaz_1@hotmail.com. There is no point in mentioning my name as he would not know me from Adam. This info is provided simply as a reference point.

On a personal level my blogging of Oaxaca should be a highlight due to its stature as one of the great destinations of tourists, students and expats alike. My timing in writing about Oaxaca (June 26, 2009) however couldn’t be worse as our planned three-year stay here in Prince George, British Columbia has come to an end and we are in the process of pulling up roots and moving elsewhere. This is a time consuming process that involves selling everything thereby pushing blogging way down on the scale of priorities .
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Feedback: travelswithlobo@yahoo.com
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Coming Soon: (maybe)

Oaxaca – Monte Alban