OAXACA - MEXICO

Following my brief stint on the south-west coast of Mexico, I headed north to the city of Oaxaca in the hope of escaping the ridiculous heat... unfortunately not to be ! After yet another early arrival and hostel check-in, I grabbed some breakfast before heading out to the Zapotec archaeological ruins of `Mitla`. Two words, bloody dissapointing ! Nothing really much to see and in fact, I found the nearby church and monastery a hell of alot more interesting than the so-called `ruins`. This may have had something to do with the fact that the temperature was somewhere around 40 degrees, but I`m really just `calling a spade a spade` in saying that the archaeological site was very ordinary !! On the way back to Oaxaca, I passed and viewed from the safety of the air-conditioned bus, the oldest tree in the world. Even from this vantage point, I still felt like I experienced all that was on offer at this site.

That afternoon I busied myself with wandering the city streets and poking around the city centre. I found the cathedral, Zocalo and numerous churches quite interesting. In addition I spent a number of hours in the city museum, learning about the archaeological history of the region and admiring the numerous artifiacts collected and exhibited there.

Despite intially intending to spend around 4 days in Oaxaca, I quickly realised there was little to keep me there longer than 2 days, despite many travellers suggesting otherwise (another case of a trully overrated location). My second day in Oaxaca proved infinitely more interesting than my first, for after having sorted out a bus to San Cristobal de las Casas, I ventured to the Zapotec ruins of `Monte Alban`. These were quite similar (in their layout and what they contained) to the `Teotihuacan` ruins I had visited whilst in Mexico city and illustrated the influence of the Aztec culture on the Zapotecs. Despite the outrageous heat, I enjoyed wandering around the site and got some good photos of the various temples and pyramids before getting in trouble by one of the `guards` for using my tripod (another case of overzealous security if you ask me! Still got some good videos though). The site museum also provided a good explanation of the significance of the various structures and a brief introduction to the Zapotec empire.

Thus concludes all that is worth writing about regarding my visit to Oaxaca. Apart from the ruins of Monte Alban, I didn`t feel like the city offered a great deal and I found it somewhat difficult to understand why Oaxaca recived such great reviews in both many of the travel guidebooks and from other backpackers. Still, not the worst place I have ever been to !

Photo 1: Impressive church in `Mitla` with the `ruins` in the foreground.
Photos 2&3: City cathedral.
Photo 4: Radiant sunset looking over the city.
Photos 5-8: Zapotec ruins of `Monte Alban`.