Becs 26/5:
We took the luxury bus service of ADO GL from Mexico City to Oaxaca which was 6 hours. All pretty easy, got a taxi to our accommodation at El Quitoje http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/ElQuijote-Oaxaca-20670 and were greeted by the nicest Meixcan couple who didn´t speak much English but we later found out that they had started taking lessons, but our spanish was better than their english and we´ve all had a bit of fun trying to work out what each other is saying.
Seeing as we had been on the bus for 6 hours and now starving first thing (after dropping off our washing) was lunch. We ended up eating a these little kitchen type cafes in amongst one of the markets. Not bad food and very cheap, but lots of it. Also got to witness a local cat fight between two elderly local women, there was a bit of slapping and pushing before one of the customers had to step in and split them up. Quite a bit of excitment for the quite market, don´t know what casued the fight but we think maybe one a the women must have stollen a secret recipe and started up a competitng restaurant next door!
Didn´t do much else today, just wondered around the town and checking out the place which is a lovely town. Too full for dinner so had my first taste of Mexican street food and grabbed a couple of tacos from the little man on the corner and best of all still felt fine the next day!
Mark 26/5:
6 hours on the bus took out most of the day & by the time that the admin stuff of holidaying was completed (checking in, sorting out laundary, seeing what English TV channels are on offer....) we had enough time for a bite to eat at the market, some sampling of Oaxacan Chocolate (quite sugary) and a walk into the main attractions of town. Unfortunately the main square was overrun by a whole heap of teachers protesting over pay & they had set up 100´s of tents there as part of a sit in. From the look they had been there a few days! Quiet night with our first venture on eating off the street from a friendly little fulla selling us some tacos.
Becs 27/5:
Up early today to attend a cooking class http://www.laolla.com.mx/Oaxaca/sabores1.htm. There was 10 of us in the group which unfortunately was really a bit too big so didn´t get much of a hands on experience. The chef, Pilar, began the day with taking us to the local market to purchase the ingredients for the day. Was great being able to see all the different fruit and veges and being told what they all were and also having the occasional taste as well. We spent about an hour there then it was back to Pilar´s casa to start with the cooking. We made tacos, guacamole, chicken mole with rice and guava moose for dessert. It was all fantastic food and we did a great job if I must say so myself, but we also had quite a bit of help. Trying to reproduce these meals when we are back home will be interesting!
Mark 27/5:
First breakfast in Mexico and really there could only be 1 choice. Huevos Rancheros. The cooking school was good fun and we got to sample a bit of real Mexican food (instead of Tex-Mex) and it was washed down with first holiday Mezcal, the cousin of Tequila. Becs has declared that she is a bit gun shy on the spices as the teacher said that the mole was not too spicey & there was steam coming out of Becs ears. Mole is pronounced Mo-ley and we had giggles about the Austin Powers scene, but, apart from that its a type of sauce that is very popular in Mexico and has chocolate & chillis, along with about 20 other ingredients. The afternoon saw us walking around town & a couple of Sol´s for sundowner cervezas. That night we ate at a local taco shop & after adding a tiny bit of chilli to the tacos Becs was just about crying from the heat. 3 more weeks though and she will be swallowing the chillis whole. The taco shop was followed up with a quick icecream & I tried the pineapple with chile sorbet. Tasty stuff!
Becs 28/5:
Our last day in Oaxaca so of course we had to a spot of shopping. We are sending home some more winter clothes seeing as its hot hot hot from here on in. Fortunately we had quite a bit of room left in the box to be sent so what better way to fill it than some more souvenirs. We picked up a table runner and some placemats at the local Arteasians market.
Decided that we had better also try one of these great restaurants that Oaxaca is famous for and had a huge 2 course lunch at Hosteria de Alcala http://www.hosteriadealcala.com/flash.html which was fantastic but so so much food that now we are in the internet cafe waiting for it to digest!
Mark 28/5:
Another day, another round of shopping, we are both getting a bit over the whole purchasing of materials for an unknown house/bed/table but we got some stuff to fill out the box for a trip to the post office to pack off some more stuff & lighten our load.
Whilst the backpack was lightened, the tummy took on further food as mentioned above. Lots of further food. Its going to be heavy going on this Mexican joint.
We then hung out in the main square and had a couple of cervezas while soaking up the atmosphere (of protestors) before it was time to head to the bus station for the 2300 departure to the coast.
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