There are quite a few places outside of Oaxaca City that we want to visit. The Tule tree, Mitla ruins, traditional villages, Hievre el Aqua, and more.
So, we decided to do them all - in one day. We found a local tour company that offers a full day tour to visit these sights and more. They promised it would be a very long day, and they delivered.
The tour started at 8a from their office near Parque El Llano. There were 16 of us, and we hopped in the very nice van for what turned out to be a long, long day.
Our first stop was the charming village of Tule. Why Tule? To visit the Tule Tree of course! This 2000 year old tree is the largest in the world, by circumference. It is said it takes 30 people holding hands to encircle the tree. It is massive. And, it is located in the nicest manicured park we have seen in all of Mexico. Stunning. On the other side of the church is the 'son' of the Tule Tree - a similarly massive tree, but this one is only 1000 years old. A mere pup.
Back to the van for a couple of visits to villages. First stop was a textile factory. Less a factory, but someone's house. The owner showed us how they prepare the wool, dye the wool with traditional items like insects, flowers, limestone, and more, and how they weave their rugs and wares. Beautiful rugs, but we are not here for shopping.
Next stop was another nearby village house that made traditional candles for weddings. Beautiful work, but again, no shopping for us.
Mitla is a very intact archaeological ruins. The buildings are beautifully decorated with carvings. Our guide at the park discussed the importance of the area and the buildings. It was very impressive.
The obligatory buffet lunch was at a traditional Oaxaca restaurant. To be honest, massive buffets are usually focused on quantity, not quality, and this one was no different. Lots of choices, and reasonably priced.
Our next stop was the incredibly cool Hierve el Aqua. This is an area in the mountains with natural mineral springs. Over the years, minerals have hardened down the side of the mountain, making it look like a petrified waterfall. The waters still have springs bubbling (the name means boiling waters, as it looks like the water is boiling).
There are a couple things you can do here. You can walk down to the pools area and soak and swim. Or, you can go for a hike. We decided on the hike. Perhaps we should have chosen the soak. It was a very steep hike down to the petrified waterfall. There was a long loop trail that got quite steep at the end.
While it was absolutely stunning and beautiful, it was also quite hot. Lisa got overheated. Badly. She barely made it back to the pools area, where a quick soak of our feat cooled us off a bit, but not enough. She struggled back to the van, where she collapsed into her seat. Thank goodness for air-conditioning.
Our last stop was a visit to a Mezcal factory. They explained the production of mezcal, and offered us some fun tastings, of both industrial mezcal and small batch wild agave mezcal. My favorite was the small batch. Lisa passed on the tasting and took it easy. It was a fun way to finish the tour.
We really enjoyed the tour. We met some interesting people, including a couple from San Francisco, four women from Denmark, and a family from Albuquerque. We returned back to Oaxaca City close to 8p. Long, fun day.
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