We enjoyed our first visit to Oaxaca in July 2017 so much that we made a return there in April 2018. We were traveling from Puebla and from there took the airporter bus to Mexico City and then a short flight into the Oaxaca International Airport.
At this writing there are no direct flights between Puebla City and Oaxaca city airports but there is regular bus service between the 2 cites in various classes including ADO Plantino. The ride is roughly 5-hours and costs between $240 MXN and $460 MXN ($12 USD to $24 USD) depending on class and time of service.
I should note that beginning in December 2018, American Airlines will begin service from DFW directly into the Oaxaca International Airport.
Our April 2018 trip was not timed to coincide with any festivals or special events in Oaxaca. We simply wanted to see more.
As in July 2017, we stayed at the wonderful Hotel Casona Oaxaca. This is a very well maintained older property with two levels of rooms surrounding a central courtyard. Every member of the staff was friendly and extremely helpful. At the top of that list is Francisco Rustrian (ventas@lacasonaoaxaca.com), the reservations manager who has helped us procuring tickets to the Guelaguetza festival on our first visit and in lining up an excellent driver for our 2nd.
The hotel is located one block from the Zocalo in the Historic Center and is an easy walk to lots of restaurants, bars, museums, galleries and shops including two of the larger markets in the city. The breakfast buffet was limited but of good quality and the kitchen was happy to prepare eggs to order upon request. The rooms were of decent size and include an updated bathroom. IMHO, I doubt you could do much better in Oaxaca for the cost. We plan to stay there again on our next visit to the city.
As noted in our 2018 Mezcal Run page a big part of our plan for this trip was to seek out new varieties and replenish our stock of our favorite artisanal mezcal. Towards that goal, Our driver Sr. Augustine picked us up at 8:00 AM on our first morning in the direction of San Lorenzo Albarrda, the village that is home to El Mezcal Zompantle, one of our favorite palenques we visited in 2017. On the way there, we took the opportunity of the early hour and the close by location to make a short stop at Hierve el Agua.
We arrived there around 9:30 AM well before the bulk of other visitors (tourists and locals) and made our way down the hill to the pool on a bright clear day. We found less water than the previous July but still an impressive scene. We enjoyed a few minutes in the pool with only about 8-10 other people and not-too-offensive rap music playing from a boom box from under the only waterside shade tree. As before; we were awed by the amazing views.
From there we headed back into the village of San Lorenzo Albarrda and a stop at Mezcal El Zompantle. You can read in more detail about that stop and other Mezcal adventures at our 2018 Mezcal Run page.
It was still early in the day when we finished at “El Zompantle” so on the way back to Oaxaca City we paid a visit to the Galeria y Taller of Isaac Vasquez Gutierrez known by some as “The Bug in The Rug” Studio. The name comes from the traditional red dye made from the cochineal insect used in the rugs.
As are many other textile shops, this large family operation is located in Teotitlan del Valle. We were told that work of the great Isaac Vasquez Gutierrez is referenced “in many books”. We were shown around the workshop and gallery by a “nephew”; a 28 year old man who told us he had been weaving since he was 8. He shared that traditionally rug weaving had only been done by men but now women also weave in this workshop.
As we contemplated a purchase; our host served us several shots of different mezcals produced in the area. We did not come home with one of Isaac Vasquez Gutierrez’s works but we did buy several pieces at the studio including one woven by our young host.
Our last full day in Oaxaca on this trip was a Sunday so we got another early start and had Augustine drive us about 45-minutes out of the city to the famous Tlacolula Market, one of the largest markets in the region. It is probably best known for its food, both prepared and uncooked and we did taste a few (prepared) treats and bought a variety of artisanal chocolates.
The Tlacolula Market is in the same valley as Teotitlan del Valle and the entire area shares a similar strong rug weaving tradition. As noted above we have bought rugs from some acclaimed galleries like “The Bug in the Rug” Studio and the farm/studio of Fidel Cruz Lazo and his wife María Luis Mendoza de Cruz. While nothing of what we found at the Tlacolula Market was not quite up to those standards we did see many pieces that were as good or better quality than much of what we saw in many shops in Oaxaca City and for a considerably lower price. We were happy to bring home a piece that we bought there.
There were numerous mezcal makers offering free samples at the market but we already had our mezcal plans for the day so we passed them by and headed a short 16km down Highway 190 to Santiago Matatlán, the self-proclaimed “Mezcal Capital of the World”. You can read in more detail about stops at 2 palenques there at our 2018 Mezcal Run page.
We spent the rest of our time in Oaxaca visiting galleries, museums, eating in restaurants, shopping and people watching on the square. You can read more about our experiences in restaurants on this trip on our Restaurants 2018 page.