Oaxaca

After the monster bus ride from hell (13 hours not including transit time) we were relieved to finally arrive in Oaxaca! The city of Oaxaca was buzzing with festivities in the lead up to the Day of the Dead festival with many street parades, artistic displays and decorations throughout the town.

 

We took two organised Day of the Dead tours during our stay. The first was to visit 2 cemeteries in a small town outside of Oaxaca where it is customary to decorate the graves of loved ones with Marigold flowers, decorations and food & drinks that they enjoyed when they were alive. Although extremely interesting, it was unfortunate that the place was completely overcrowded with tourists! 

On the 2nd night, we visited 2 towns to join in Comparsa celebrations

 

Monte Alban was the ancient capital of the Zapotecs and one of the first cities in Mesoamerica (founded around 500 B.C). The site is truly impressive in size with incredible views of the mountains and city in the distance.

 Too many stairs!!

On our final day in Oaxaca, we took a tour that included visits to a local weaver's home where we saw how wool is dyed and woven, a Mezcal factory where we sampled many different flavours of the local alcohol (yum!), the ancient town of Mitla and Hierve el Agua (a set of natural rock formations that look like waterfalls).

 

 At the end of the tour, we had a chance to visit the world's widest tree, Tule. This tree has even had DNA testing to prove it is only one tree and not many that have fused together over time.