Hi there,
We had planned to stay several days in Mazunte, but the first night they told us that we had to leave because a hurricane was coming, and it was not safe to have us there. With how difficult and long it had been to get from Tuxtla to Mazunte by public transport, now it was time for us to leave.
The next day we grabbed our backpacks and checked out of the hotel. We got on a truck (like the ones that sold vegetables in Venezuela) that left us at the bus station. It turns out that there were no buses until midnight so we went asking in the places where there were some smaller trucks and for 100 pesos each, they would take us to Oaxaca.
That was a road of about 6 hours in the middle of the storm through the mountain between curves and curves. Diego says that he was quite scared.
We arrived in Oaxaca in the afternoon without a reservation and with some hotels seen. We went asking and they were either very expensive or ugly. In fact, in the hotel that is in the zócalo (main square), they offered us a room for 900 pesos a night, but it was very old and was not worth what they charged. It also coincided that there was a conference in the city that weekend and for that reason everything was very expensive. We ended up in a hostel with breakfast that was about a 30-minute walk from the main square. They charged us 600 pesos a night, which was expensive considering that it was horrible and that for 200 pesos in Palenque we had stayed in a much better room.
Since it was already night and we were exhausted from walking with our backpacks, plus all the hours of travel, we stayed there and the next morning, we would look for something else. It was the first time in the entire trip that Diego said it was “crap”, imagine how the room was.
The next day we asked in several places, and we found the Hotel Nacional, which was half a seedy hotel, but the guy at the reception was super nice, he gave us a discount and showed us the room without any problem. So we went back to the hostel, got our things, and left them in the new hotel.
They told us that Oaxaca is now very fashionable among Mexicans and that, especially from Mexico City, they go to visit a lot. We also went to Mexico with the idea of seeing how people lived for a future change of residence, and it was the first time, on the whole trip, that Diego said that he saw himself living there.
The first thing to note is that there are two super large markets where you can find all the food stalls you want. Our hotel was next to one of them. So, one day, instead of having lunch in a restaurant, we dedicated ourselves to trying all the food stalls that were there. Diego ate a hamburger with 3 types of cheese, sausage, and a lot of other things. Something like what a “diabla” (type of burger with a lot of ingredients) would be in Venezuela.
The main square is gigantic and full of life. There is everything: restaurants, people singing, and we even saw how they proposed to a girl with mariachis.
There are tons of museums and art galleries, most of which are free. The only one where we paid admission was the Museum of the Cultures of Oaxaca. It is super important and a “must” in this city for being one of the most important colonial buildings in Mexico and probably in all of America, due to its monumentality, its artistic value and because it was a center of evangelization and cultural promotion of this state.
I also must highlight the philately museum, which is beautiful and free.
The Casa de Juárez Museum is not worth it to me. The enclosure is very small, only 3 or 4 rooms are visited and there are few things. It does not give you the feeling of a colonial house or history and it is expensive.
We also visited the former convent of Santa Catalina, which is now a hotel. You can enter quietly and walk around, it is very well preserved, although it is sad that it is now a hotel, and you cannot enjoy it as it was in the beginning.
Here we also found the cheapest “all you can eat” of our life. It was a homemade restaurant where there were only locals and for 55 pesos you ate all you wanted, sweet and salty. There wasn’t much variety, but it was authentic homemade Mexican food.
Since we visited in October, everything was decorated for the “Day of the Dead” so everywhere you looked there were little colorful skulls and flowers.
What we liked most about Oaxaca is the tranquility that we had on the street to walk and at the same time arrive at the main square and find it full of people with music shows everywhere. It is a very livable city and without being too big, you can walk everywhere.