Crisp, clear morning view of the mountains. They don't look too impressive , do they? Oaxaca downtown is at 5000 ft. I'm at 5500 ft. Those mountains are over 9000 ft, with the highest ones over 10,000 ft! They're definitely nothing to look down your nose at, except from a plane. Climbing them is like climbing Mt. Washington: no easy feat.
 
 
What a long day!

Tour van was scheduled for 9:30. Went out at 9:20 and he was already waiting. Made two stops to pick up people. Got to their downtown office, sat in the van for about 30 min waiting for other passengers to arrive. Ended up filling two 14 passenger vans.   

Pretty comfy, huh? This company is one of the premier tour services in Oaxaca: new Toyota vans, employees uniformly dressed and half of them bi-lingual. All in all, pretty darn good service for a 9 hour day for $15. That's plus entry fees (about $10) and buffet lunch ($12 w/tip).  

 



First stop was Tule, about 6 mi southeast.  http://delange.org/Tule/Tule.htm  This town hosts the largest tree in the world (width wise) and that's all they have going for them: nothing more than a large village with one industry. But the tree is impressive. Just wanted to go so I could say I've seen the largest tree in the world, and, it was so close, it wasn't any hassle at all.  




Next stop was Teotitlan. It's claim to fame is rugs using naturally dyed wool. Some of the ingredients to make these dyes are only available here. We actually stopped at a weaver halfway between the main highway and the town.

Shown are the special plants and minerals used to make the different colors. Most famous of all is the Nopal cactus. Note the grinding stone to the left: the material - for the dyes - that you start out with give no clue as to the color it will be once it is ground.  

 
After a long ride through some very picturesque mountains (you know I like mountains), we arrived at Hierve el Agua http://www.ventanamagazine.com/html/articulo.php?ID=288.  





 
                            These two pics, and ten more are all taken at this site.  

 
   



 This pic and eight more were taken on the road to our next stop.  





 

 
Mitla.  http://www.mexonline.com/oaxaca/oxarc102.htm  

 Just another ruin to me. 

 

 












 
 
Dinner time. Stopped at a buffet place: $9, all you can eat. We didn't do the mezcal thing: that's next at a different place.  




Tried a lot of stuff, but less than half of what they had. It was all pretty good, except for the cauliflower which was in a sauce: took my breath away! Like eating super spicy Chinese food. (Maybe that's why every town has at least one chinese restaurant: they like the spicy stuff!  


 
At the mezcal distillery, while they were explaining the process, the sun was setting and some of us were taking pics instead.  

   





 







 
I tried three different formulations, but the base flavor is always there: I don't like mezcal.