Days 103 Through 108: Cuernavaca And Oaxaca City

I was grateful to arrive to Cuernavaca to have the opportunity to rest after seven straight cycling days.  More importantly, after a few nights of good sleep, my stomach problems seemed to get better and I finally had an appetite again.  Luckily, I recovered just in time to enjoy a lovely lunch at Sumiya with Gonzalo's mother and her boyfriend, whose name also happens to be Gonzalo.  Sumiya is a japanese-mexican fusion fine dining establishment and is housed in the former estate of the infamous Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton and her seventh and last husband.  They designed the estate to emulate traditional Japanese architecture complete with its own kabuki theater...

Even though I was feeling better, I decided to de-parasite-ify myself with some VermoxPlus.  Approximately 7 in 10 residents of Mexico have parasites, and doctors recommend that they take VermoxPlus every six months.  It's innocuous if you don't have parasites, and at $5 a treatment, I figured it wouldn't hurt to take it just in case.  I would have been devastated had I arrived in Oaxaca, the culinary gem of Mexico, with an upset stomach and no appetite.

In Mexico, no prescriptions needed... just go to any pharmacy and ask for VermoxPlus!

Gonzalo and I decided that we would make Cancun our end point despite the fact that my deadline of September 1 would require us to "cheat" a bit and take advantage of the extensive network of buses.  We had intended on throwing our bikes on a bus from Cuernavaca to Oaxaca, but instead, Gonzalo's brother and mother decided to join us and so we road-tripped it instead.

If I had to live in Mexico, I would probably choose Oaxaca.  I fell in love with it the first time eight years ago and coming back here has only reinforced my opinion of this city.  It's not too big, just 250,000+ people.  Nestled in a gorgeous mountainous area, this city reeks of culture, diversity, education, music, art, creativity, cycling, craft beer, organic local food, grass roots activism, adventure sports, and all the good things in life.  Normally I hate crowds, but even now, during the tourist-laden Guelaguetza, the city feels welcoming and vibrant.

Guelaguetza!  It's Oaxaca's famous indigenous cultural event... it feels a bit more commercial than the first time I came to Oaxaca for the Guelaguetza, but I'm still enjoying the sights, smells, sounds, and vibrant energy the Guelaguetza brings to this city.

The buildings here burst with creativity and color.

Obligatory church photo.  Every town has at least one or ten.

Ready for the throngs of visitors.

Oaxaca is the first city I've seen in Mexico with an actual cyclist infrastructure... and it's actually being used!  We also had dinner at a restaurant where there was bicycle parking back by the bathrooms.

My favorite exhibits of Oaxaca this trip, a gorgeous photography series of Guelaguetza dancers and an interactive Calder exhibit.

No space unwasted.  Creativity abounds.... as does this young boy who dashed into my shot.

One of many random events in the streets...

The mezcal fair... this time around, I handled the mezcal tastings much more responsibly than eight years ago!

Carmen, Antonia, and Gonzalo's brother Benjamin take a sip <insert name of random mezcal>.  Carmen and Antonia are from Córdoba Spain and have had the misfortune of being adopted into our motley crew.

My spoils from the night... lil bottles of my two favorite mezcals... one infused with almond and the other with tamarind.   They were pretty cheap so whatever I don't drink between now and our next riding day is getting donated to some starving backpacker.

We decided to pile everyone into the car and head out to the nearby archeological ruins of Monte Alban, one of the earliest cities of Mesoamerica.  With the Guelaguetza in full swing, Monte Alban was swarming with people.  Benjamin snagged one of the last tour guides and off we went to explore the ruins.

View of Oaxaca from atop Monte Alban.

I used some innovative, though perhaps not the best, perspectives and techniques to take photos of this archeological site without the mobs of people.

Nothing but flowers here...

The piece on the left is an original; the ones on the right are replicas.

Benjamin finds a secret passageway which may or may not have been used to fool the masses in some ritualistic disappearing act.

I'm not entirely sure that the pretty flowering grasses hide the people well enough, but I refuse to post the typical picture of the ruins dotted with a bazillion people. 

After a long hot day wandering around the ruins, we recharged ourselves with some contemporary Oaxacan cuisine and fancy beers.  While it's been a treat to share meals with Gonzalo's family at various fine dining establishments, I'm ready for my massive fruit salads cobbled together from the best of the local market and antojitos served up by little old ladies on the street.

One advantage of the fancy restaurants is they all carry the bestest of the local Oaxacan craft beers, Teufel.  This agave honey ale is stellar and is also available on draft in some places.

Our last day in town, we got a slow start thanks to late night beers and conversations at an open air bar on the main plaza.  We still managed to squeeze in one last tourist attraction, the 2000 year-old Montezuma cypress in Tule, before Gonzalo's family headed back to Mexico City and we got ready for our night bus to Tuxtla Guttierez where we will hop back on our bikes to continue on through Chiapas.  

Oh Mexico, I love you and your double entendres.

This tree is so massive it has it's own little ecosystem inside the fence protecting it from overzealous tourists.

A few travel notes for cyclists:

• Although Oaxaca is home to dozens of hostals and economical lodging options, everything was pretty much booked up.  I considered ourselves lucky that we were able to reserve beds at the Hostal Plaza del Carmen (305 Matamoros) with just one days' notice.  While it didn't have the gregarious hostal atmosphere I like and the rooms a bit spartan, it was centrally located and quiet (they lock the doors at 11pm, but will let you in if you knock after 11pm).

• Oaxaca, much like San Miguel de Allende, has its share of upscale restaurants.  While I normally don't frequent these types of restaurants, I opened up my budget a bit to take advantage of the amazing food and to be able to eat with everyone else.  If you are going to splurge on one meal, I highly recommend Viznaga, which had a stellar craft beer selection, generous food portions, and spectacular food.  For cheap eats, head to the market on 20 de noviembre where you will find countless food stalls dishing up traditional moles and everything in between.