Oaxaca - Happy Mexican Independence day

  Oaxaca, Central Mexico and Gulf Coast, Mexico
Monday, September 15, 2008

We are here in Oaxaca for Mexican Independence Day.

Oaxaca by night

Three days in Mexico City was enough for us, too many police with shotguns and helicopters flying overhead all day. I have never seen such a large police presence in any city, there literally being two armed policemen on every street corner. That aside, Mexico City was a cracking experience for us both. We met some nice people in the hostel and I got talking to a guy called Tim who turned out to be a photographer for Rough Guide. He had just traveled up through Central America from Peru and he was armed to the teeth with useful tips that will come in very handy as we travel south.

Red Hot Chili Peppers

On Friday we decided to head for the coast but stopped off on the way so that we could join in the celebrations. Oaxaca is in a valley surrounded on every side by mountains. The coach journey here took six hours and the views where stunning as we climbed through the mountains and into the clouds. There were points where I couldnīt pluck up the courage to look out the window. Anyways, it was all good, we arrived in one piece. We have found a fantastic hostel thatīs cheap and has a great vibe, relaxed and super chilled. The owner is a cool dude and he invited me and Mish to dinner last night with his family. We ate some lovely Mexican food and then got a little tiddly after wards, hiccup.

Garlic woman

Today he is going to take us to the mountains to show us a different side of the city. Oaxaca is a far cry from the capital. It has a very old feel about it and poverty isnīt as visible as it was in Mexico City.

Mercado de Abasto, Oaxaca

The people, again, are fantastic but the language barrier is hard work because English isnīt widely spoken here. We have picked up the basics in Spanish and learn new words every day but we really need to take some kind of course so that we can converse properly.
So, itīs been a week since we left and so far itīs been amazing. I donīt wanna tempt fate but we havenīt had any problems yet. Our skin is slightly darker and our motions are slightly looser, haha.

Oaxaca hillside housing

We have felt a little like zoo animals this past week due to the constant attention we draw as we walk the streets. Itīs really strange but people have a genuine fascination with us, like they havenīt seen many Europeans before. I assumed that because Mexico is so close to America the locals would be used to our white skins, but thatīs not the case. The children are the funniest because they will literally stop in the street to stare at us with their beautiful dark, twinkly eyes. I can normally get them to smile so Iīm glad we are a source of entertainment for them. Itīs the little things that make the  trip worthwhile.

XXX