My main motivation to visit Oaxaca was to experience Dia de los Muertos, but there is so much more to see, do, and eat to warrant many blog posts! I tried to condense my experience into one, since I know even my own parents wouldn't read that much of my blog.
Oaxaca is an amazing city to wander around. There were a few days when I had no agenda besides just wandering around- popping in to stores, galleries, and museums and eating lots of good food. There are also plenty of wonderful organized activities you can take part in. Here's what I did:
While wandering around, you're bound to stumble on some beautiful courtyards like this one!
Tours & Activities
There are loads of tour companies in Oaxaca. I tried some of the top ones and they are all deserving of their good reputations! I could say much more about each of these (and bore you with many more photos) so if you ever go to Oaxaca and want to hear more I would be happy to share.
Cooking class with Casa de los Sabores - A cooking class was a must for me, I try to learn a bit more about local cuisine wherever I go. With this class, we shopped for groceries (and saw some special Day of the Dead items) at the Merced market, then hopped in taxis to head to the teacher (Pilar)’s home just a short ride from the center. Her house was beautiful, and the best part was she had a ceiling that retracts like a convertible for when the cooking gets smoky (or I suppose just for generally enjoying the weather)
Dried chiles. Essential in Mexican cooking!
We all helped to prepare black mole, soup, rice, and a dessert with tiny little apples. The mole was (as you’d expect) the most interesting part. It had about 1200 ingredients and so. many. steps. You cook a bunch of ingredients one by one in the same lard (like almonds, peanuts, and plantains), then take them out, and blend them all together in a blender (or by hand if you are an ancient person). Then you blend lots of other things, like tomatoes and tomatillos. You remove the seeds from dried chiles, and blend just the flesh. But you keep the seeds, and then you light them on fire under a tostada! Then you blend up that charred stuff too. And you add it all the the pan. Clearly I’m not representing the recipe accurately, but you get the idea! It was delicious and everyone in the class was super friendly which made it an extra good time.
Mole in progress. Pilar supervises Ron, who sports an adorable pink apron.
Cuajimoloyas with Tierraventura - I joined up on an already planned tour with this company, run by Claudia who is from Germany but has been living in Mexico for 20 years. We went to the mountain village of Cuajimoloyas where a local guide told us all about native medicinal plants. The climate up there was super cold! And it started raining at the end of our hike. Yikes! I was surprised to see tons of mezcal plants growing right alongside pine trees. It was a little bit slow paced for me, but was pretty cool to see a completely different climate so close to Oaxaca city. We even saw a mini parade of the village kids getting ready for Dia de los Muertos. Claudia was taking that same group on a visit to one of the cemeteries to see some of the Muertos preparations, so she invited me to tag along, which was very kind, and ended up being an awesome experience.
Can you believe this is Mexico?
Hierve el Agua with Zapotrek: Hierve el Agua is a “petrified waterfall” formed from years of mineralized water slowly dripping off a cliffside, as well as some natural pools. You can just take a bus there, but I love doing things the hard way, so decided to hike there! I went with Zapotrek, which hikes there from a nearby village about 14K away. It was just myself, one other tourist, and two guides with us, and it was an awesome way to visit the site.
Hierve el Agua
The hike took about 4 hours, winding through lush mountainside with agave fields aplenty. We stopped part of the way through and made our way up a river to a small waterfall surrounded by stunning colorful rock formations. (Bring water shoes if you ever do this. Plastic Birkenstocks don't quite do the job)
In the hidden waterfall
The trek was a bit harder than I expected- but I felt like I really earned the views at the end! The pools and surrounding mountains were really breathtaking.
Hello views!
Teotitlán del Valle with Envia - Envia is a very cool organization that provides no-interest micro loans and business education to local women to help them start a business. The take tour groups to visit some of these women and learn about their trades, which is the main source of funding for the organization. We had a Dia de los Muertos themed tour, which meant we also not only learned about weaving from a local woman, but also see how some families prepare for the holiday. Our guides were two very sweet and enthusiastic young women who helped translate and told us about the organization's work. It was awesome all around and I'd absolutely recommend them.
Juvia showing us the weaving process. I bought one of her rugs to take home!
A local family's altar for Dia de los Muertos
Jardín Etnobotánico - My first day, I didn't have much of a plan but wanted a guided tour of some kind, so I joined the tour of the Jardín Etnobotánico where I learned about a bunch of different types of plants and a bit of history, which I’ve already forgotten. It was not a must-do, but is the only way to see the gardens near the old monastery, so #noregrets.
Giant Cacti in the Jardín Etnobotánico
Monte Alban - I did NOT go on an organized tour here and regret it terribly! I thought I could just find a guide for hire once I got there by bus (that's what I'd read online in forums), but there were no guides to be found. They have signage in English which helps some, but everyone I talked to who had a guide seemed to have gotten a lot more out of it. Here's a picture, but we'll never know what it's of because I DIDN'T GET A GUIDE
Museums
I wasn't in a super museum-y mood on my trip, but I still paid quick visits to three of the city's museums. I was....not that impressed.
Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca - I am sure there is someone who finds this museum interesting but that someone is not me. Maybe it's because there were no explanations in English so I didn't understand much. It does have a treasure hoard from Monte Alban, which was cool, and the building itself is an old monastery with nice views
Treasure! From Monte Alban!
MACO (modern art) - Most of this museum seemed to be empty, signs said they were preparing for future exhibits. They had some interesting video art, and a beautiful building with a nice courtyard. Also there were plenty of places to sit down, which I liked :)
Museo Textil is a small museum that only takes about 20 minutes to check out. While I was there they had an exhibit on Mulas (which I also have seen in Colombia), quilts (boring), and some really unique and beautiful art made with wire:
Wire art at Museo Textil
Eats & Drinks
I ate a lot of meals as part of tours or sometimes was so full from a big lunch that I just had a snack for dinner. But here are the restaurants that I visited that I'd recommend! They'll all Oaxacan food unless otherwise mentioned. Most of these are in Lonely Planet, nothing terribly original :)
Casa Oaxaca - The sister restaurant to my hotel, though not in the same building. I ate here for my last night as it's widely regarded as the best restaurant in the city and seemed like a great way to end my visit. They make salsa for you right at the table, and everyone was super friendly and accommodating (they even gave me a half portion of an appetizer since I was just one person). Reservations are recommended, otherwise you'll face San Francisco-level wait times. They have an upstairs patio with outdoor seating (where I was able to see a fireworks show!) and live music. My bill for half an app, entree, 2 drinks, and dessert was $30. I love Mexico.
Los Danzantes - Another place that is considered one of the best restaurants in Oaxaca, I actually also ate here on my last day (but for lunch). It always seemed really crowded when I walked by at dinnertime, but I showed up for lunch just before they opened and had no problem getting a table. It's in a lovely and peaceful courtyard. Personally I preferred Casa Oaxaca but Danzantes is worth checking out.
Zandunga - I greatly enjoyed both my meal and drinks, and the atmosphere is cool, too. More casual than the two above. It was pretty busy, but getting a seat at the bar was no problem.
La Biznaga - Nice outdoor courtyard and good food. The drinks were strangely really, really, bad. Like, almost undrinkable. The first cocktail I had was yucky and I didn't finish it. Then I ordered a Paloma and whatever they gave me tasted like a flat sprite with no alcohol in it. So maybe stick with a beer if you go here.
Tierra del Sol - A good place, but I was really tired when I went here so I have to say it was not super memorable.
Gourmand - This is a little deli that is great for when you want to cleanse your palate from all the mole you'll surely eat in Oaxaca. I got a nice cobb salad that I think my body appreciated.
"Meat Street" at the 20 de Noviembre market - Not its official name, but that's what I call it. A hot, loud, intimidating stretch of the market where they'll grill you up some fresh meat, which you can enjoy with tortillas, salsa, and grilled veggies. You have to purchase each of these components separately, from some people walking around. It was a little bit difficult, but you can figure it out if you speak a little Spanish. And it was super delicious!
The meat!!
Boulenc - I just got a coffee and pastry to-go here, but they also have a sit-down cafe. They have Parisian style pastries that are sooooo good, and a bunch of jarred foods that would probably make lovely souvenirs if you wanted to check a bag.
Cafe los Cuiles - I ate a super rushed breakfast here but enjoyed it all the same. There is also a really cool pottery store in the same plaza where it's located.
Sabina Sabe - I went just for drinks, but the food is supposed to be good, too. They have a generous mezcal tasting, which I tried, but sipping mezcal is just not for me. It was a fun place nonetheless.
Where I stayed
I stayed for 5 nights at Casa Oaxaca, which was amazing! It was beautiful, the service was outstanding and the included breakfast was a dream. My only complaint is that the building is LOUD at night so I really put my earplugs to use. They didn't have a room for my full stay, so I had to move to the not amazing (but cheap) Hotel Santa Helena Plaza. It was definitely in a more local area; the neighboring businesses were stereo and hardware stores. It was about a 20 min walk from the tourist center, so I wouldn't really recommend it. Though I will say, the Wi-Fi there was great.
Casa Oaxaca, I miss you!
If you've made it to the end of this post, congratulations. It was a doozy. I LOVED Oaxaca and if you haven't been there already, put it on your bucket list!
