Oaxaca is one of the most culturally rich states in Mexico. If you would ask me what my favorite city/ state is in Mexico I think I would say Mexico City not Oaxaca. But, Oaxaca would definitely be second. Here are some reasons why Oaxaca is my second favorite city.

GASTRONOMY

Oaxaca’s gastronomy is not only scrumptious but also cheap depending on where you would want to go to eat. Regardless of your budget you could still eat great food. Here is a list of places you do not want to miss.

Casa Oaxaca

I definitely recommend eating at “Casa Oaxaca” , probably my favorite in Oaxaca. It is a sit down restaurant, you could eat at the patio or rooftop, either one is very pleasant. As soon as you sit down they welcome you with a “Tlayuda” sort of like a toasted blue corn tortilla with fresh cheese, beans , and salsa of your choice in regards to how spicy you want it. Honestly one of my favorite tlayudas. I didn’t order a main dish but my friend Scott does recommend “Mole Coloradito” and I highly recommend ordering the following appetizer and desserts:

Fried plantains with black mole

Lemon dessert, lemon, polen with a meringue and “hoja santa”

”Sinfonía de Mamey” Mamey mousse and mamey pannacotta. Mamey is one of my favorite fruits. It sort of has the texture of an avocado. It’s creamy and sweet. This was one of the best desserts I have ever had. If you like mamey or want to try new flavors I highly recommend it.

Masea Bakery

Masea

You can find this bakery only a few meters or feet away from “Casa Oaxaca”. What I love about this place is that you can see them making the bread in front of you, all the bread is fresh out of the oven, and you can tell it has good quality ingredients as soon as you take a bite. They also offer a variety of honeys, oils and other interesting products. “Mazorca” bread made with pinole which is similar to brown sugar. This is one of the best sellers at Masea

“Pan de Guayaba” was my favorite. It has a Guava cream filling and a crumble!

Mercado Centenario, Santa Maria del Tule

”Tlayuda Mixta con Chorizo y Tasajo”

Next to one of the stops that you might want to make you will find this little food court market or “mercadito” where you’ll find regional food such as the tlayuda you see on the picture, mole coloradito, mole negro, empanadas de amarillo etc. I ordered a tlayuda and an empanada de amarillo ( which is kind of like a big taco with the meat of your preference and mole amarillo which actually looks more red than yellow). Scott ordered mole coloradito.

”Tlayuda Mixta con Chorizo y Tasajo. Tasajo is meat thinly sliced and salted”

Nieves de Zaachila

”Zaachila”

This is one of the best if not the best place where you can get delicious ice cream made with local fruits as well as the typical ones from Mexico. You will find nieve de mamey, tuna, (not the fish, is actually a fruit that comes from cactus or you might know it as “prickly pear”) leche quemada, beso oaxaqueño, etc. We made this stop after having visited one of the towns where they make alebrijes and on our way to San Bartolo famous for their black clay pottery.

”Nieve de Mamey”

This is just a glimpse of some of the food you could be eating right now while visiting Oaxaca. I highly recommend walking at night around Oaxaca City and eating whatever you see on the streets. You will usually find esquites(corn kernels, always have a hard time saying it), fried plantains with condensed milk, maybe some tlayudas as well. Here is also a list of other restaurants you might want to explore while in Oaxaca.

Los Danzantes http://www.losdanzantes.com/los-danzantes-oaxaca/

Criollo https://criollo.mx/

Pitiona http://www.pitiona.com

Boulenc is also a great place for delicious pastries and bread https://www.instagram.com/boulencpan/?hl=es-la

Culture

Monte Albán

”Monte Albán was declared World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987”

If you are staying in Oaxaca City it is very easy to get to this archeological site by taxi. We rented a chofer for a day so we did not have to worry about parking or how to get anywhere. I would highly recommend doing this to have plenty of energy to explore as much as possible and not stress at all.

Monte Alban was one of the most important cities in Mesoamérica and founded in 500 b.C on a hill. Monte Alban was the capital of the Zapotec Empire until 800 a.C. Teotihuacan and Monte Alban were culturally linked. If you have visited Teotihuacan before you will be able to appreciate Teotihuacan’s influence on Monte Alban’s architecture, ceramics, and mural paintings. At the end of the classical period Teotihuacán and Monte Alban broke up links and as a consequence the Zapotec Empire reached its peak. It became one of the largest cities in the Oaxacan region. In the post-classic period Monte Alban was no longer a hemogenic city. It is still unknown the real cause of its decline until this day. Some historians say they became isolated and later conquered by the Spaniards. The best way to learn and understand more is by visiting this interesting archeological site...

”Los Danzantes”

El Tule

”Arbol del Tule ”

We went to visit this beautiful tree after having a delightful lunch at the food court market. “El Arbol del Tule” it’s a cypress tree with the widest trunk in the world. Its trunk has a circumference of about 42.0 m with a diameter ranging from 9 -14 meters depending on how you measure it. The age of the tree is said to also range from 1,200 years to 3,000 years. At some point it was speculated that there were different trees but DNA tests prove it is only one tree. If you like good food and have an interest in trees then I would definitely recommend visiting this place and kill two birds with one stone..

La Guelaguetza

” View from the “Guelaguetza at night ”

On our first day we stayed just in Oaxaca City and decided to see the city at night from La Guelaguetza. You can walk from the city center which makes a nice little hike as you do tend to go uphill. The closer you get to “La Guelaguetza” the steeper it gets. If you are really tired then you could always just get a cab. La Guelaguetza it's where the eight regions of Oaxaca and 16 Oaxacan ethnic groups gather together to make an offering to the Goddess of Corn by offering their most valuable traditions such as folkloric dances, music and songs. It is usually held on the two Mondays immediately following July 16th.

Arts and Crafts

Teotitlán del Valle

Every color they use to tide the yarns is used with natural materials

This has got to be my favorite activity to do when visiting Oaxaca. Families in this region work together to make textiles with wool and turn them into tapestries, wallets, purses, and clothing. Each family member focuses on one area of the process. For the wool, they gather the wool from Alpacas and sheep, they sort of shred it and make it softer which is then followed by making the yarns with a machine called parampahue , and finally they follow the dyeing process. To dye the yarns they first need to have the ingredients to grind, then grind them, the ground colors are then taken to hot pots where they will submerge the wool, dry the wool, and make the tapestries with a machine called “telar de pedal” or pedal loom. I love seeing the locals demonstrate all the processes of how they make their textiles from the very start. I have a peaceful feeling when visiting these kinds of places, it feels like little zions, all the family members helping each other to go forward and provide for each other.

Me grinding the bacteria formed in cactus called “cochinilla”.

This is were they hang the yarns out to dry

Alebrijes in San Antonio Arrazola

Kids sanding and carving out the wood.

Alebrijes are figures made out of wood. Artisans start learning how to make them since they are very young. They first have to choose the piece of wood according to the size of the Alebrijes that will be made. They dry the piece of wood and burn it a little bit to avoid getting damaged by humidity or insects. Then, they carefully carve the wood into the desired piece. Men usually do all of the previous steps and women finalize the process by meticulously painting the Alebrijes.

Alebrijes

Black Clay Pottery in San Bartolo Coyotepec

Black clay pottery or barro negro

Aaaand last but not least black clay pottery! There are some nice crafts you will find in here. I would honestly come up with a design and see if they could make it for me. I do like the finish of the black clay but was not a super fan of the designs.

The End

Night Stroll around the Santo Domingo Cathedral

Cathedral

We ended our two day expedition soaking as much as we could before leaving and took a night stroll around the city center. I can not wait to go back and visit more places like Mitla and see how they make Mezcal(even if I do not drink). Oaxaca has some amazing beaches as well but those are a little further away. If you were coming from the other side of the globe or from afar would definitely recommend staying a week in the state of Oaxaca. Hope you get to see all the beauty Oaxaca has to offer soon! Feel free to ask any questions in the comment down below!

Last Night in Oaxaca