After the glories of Puebla, we were on our way to Oaxaca. Once settled on the coach, I got my book out, looked at it and fell asleep for a couple of hours. When I woke up, the coach was on a mountain road with far-reaching views of the countryside and scary views down the mountainside. Far more interesting was Lyle, Lyle Crocodile on the coach telly. It was entirely in Spanish but a good story is a good story. I think it might be the best film of all time. 

When we arrive in Oaxaca, things feel different. For one, the heat is much more noticeable and the city looks more Mexican, somehow. Perhaps it is the architecture, with buildings of a smaller height. It’s certainly less polished but it’s also enormously charming. We stayed at Un Sueño Valle de Huajes which initially didn’t seem like a good choice. Our driver couldn’t find it, and all around us were unremarkable homes and a few workshops. We all looked a bit worried until finally, a sign for the place appeared. Inside the hotel is a lovely room and a great terrace to see the city from. Soon after, we walked down to the zocalo and were accosted by a thousand people trying to sell a load of old tat. This is hardly surprising, we were having a drink at the main square so we had it coming. As we were tourists that looked like tourists, to my horror, a New Zealander who had clearly had a few started talking to us. If you’ve ever seen Peep Show, there was a character called Saz. We had met Saz. She took great joy in telling us she used to live in London but now that everyone had been stabbed to death, she was glad to live in New Zealand. No judgement, but she was eating her dinner in the main square and had the audacity to say it was bad food. Honestly. She proceeded to tell us how she smashed her hand up while drunk in a bar. Her daughter looked non-plussed by the nightmare unfolding. 

After we escaped Saz, we walked around the town and found that music was everywhere you turned. So too were multiple Pikachu’s. I am surprised a fight between them didn’t break out. One set of people were dancing to a DJ, a group were transfixed by some sort of reality show and another group were enjoying a Beatles cover band, ably assisted by two very drunk backing dancers. When a couple got up to dance to the pretty good band, fully sincerely, I felt very touched by it all. 

For dinner, we ate at El Tendajon which was mighty fine. The mezcal cocktails were superb and we enjoyed the experience of the waitress chatting to us in Spanish as we replied with very witty comebacks such as “si” and “si, si” and even though we were stuffed with food, we made immediate plans to return. The night was rounded off with a walk through the city which is beautiful at night as well as in the day. My love was strong for Puebla, but Oaxaca surpassed it and I realised that when I come back Mexico, I will want to explore Oaxaca state more. 

The next morning, the need to get Churros was intense, so we walked for 35 minutes to get some from Churros mecca; Casa de churros. There are so many options on display including ice cream with two filled churros and standard options. Both are outstanding. I loved the sticker for the store and when I ask the guy that runs it about the stickers, he gives me some. One is currently on the laptop I am typing this on. 

We eventually leave the kingdom of churros, into a day that is sweltering but not so sweltering that I can’t be photographed near a mural of dogs. As a veteran of sun sickness, I apply sunscreen more or less on a loop and drink water by the bucket. I can’t go back to being beaten by the heat again. As we walked into town, we realised the partial eclipse was coming and we both wanted to witness the magical darkness and I had read that animals knows something is up so all go quiet. In the end, for about three minutes, there was a little bit of darkness, similar to the sun going behind a small cloud. That being said, I pointed my camera at the sun and snapped away and caught a definite bit of eclipse and I was part of history. The news was filled with people in every other bit of Mexico we’d just been to celebrating the darkness.

As we continue our day, we go to the Oaxaca graphic design centre, which is mildy diverting, striking off an activity rather too soon. We head to the main church, which is being rebuilt, striking off another activity. We strike tourist gold when we find the remarkable Museum of prehistoric art which is tucked away outside the centre of town. This was a highlight of the trip to Oaxaca. It was free and it was put together with great care and attention. I found myself genuinely engaged with the displays and the really old art was the most fascinating to me. Instead of getting museum fatigue, which usually kicks in after one hour, I had museum joy. As I notice these things, I loved that every room had a coloured display case with  the chair in the room the corresponding colour. 

After this, we walked through the markets and were grossed out by the sheer number of grasshoppers in every other stall; endless barrels of them. We walked on, past more grasshoppers and then tripe. Holding our breath, we kept going on through this market of nightmares, passing cakes covered in flies and then we were frightened by a giant dog that was running about the place. It was an experience, I can say that. After all of this excitement, we had a snooze, much needed in the heat. 

Later that evening, we had mezcal cocktails on the roof of La Mezcalerita which is a superb spot to people watch and enjoy the cooler temperatures. Out of nowhere, a religious procession came down the street with people dressed in elaborate costumes, flower headdresses, multiple Mary’s and giant puppet people. This seemed as good a time as any to head back as we were unlikely to top multi-Mary’s. 

The next day, we are treated to a van driving down the street laden with gas canisters. From its speakers came a jaunty jingle that ended with the sound of a cow. Both perplexing and great. This was the day where I spotted lots of stickers that made me smile. One was of Moss from The IT Crowd, showing that culture travels. Another was of Jesus saying “I saw that”. Oaxaca was filled with street art, surfaces covered with stickers and posters taking up any possible space, which I loved. We had breakfast in Quelite Cafe Bar Urbano which was predictably food fit for kings. I would struggle to find a poor meal in Oaxaca and it was wonderful to go into any restaurant feeling like we would be well looked after. The plan for the day was to go to Monte Alban, an outdoors archeological site, but the heat felt too oppressive for this so we stayed in town and visited the Museum of Oaxaca Culture which was an enormous building, housed inside a former convent, filled with the usual artefacts. It was a wonderful place to pass a few hours, especially when we found the part of the museum that looked out over the botanical gardens, which was sadly fully booked for the day. 

The rest of the day was a relaxing mix of eating grasshopper (eww, it was not for me), having more mezcal cocktails because they are irresistible and back to El Tendajon for dinner. And that was it; the Oaxaca adventure was drawing to a close. Unusually for me, I didn’t try to fit too much into this leg of the trip. I just gave in to the delights of relaxation, which I usually don’t bother doing. I might try it more often.