Oaxaca Advice

I have absolutely nothing to offer, just wanted to say that it’s on my bucket list. I have a copy of legendary culinary writer Diana Kennedy’s “Oaxaca al Gusto” and I want to eat some of that amazing food in situ one day. Looking forward to this thread.

It’s the only place in Mexico with real malaria risk.

So we just returned. I'll try to upload pics at some point, but you all have probably seen most the stuff I'd show, you. I'll stick to a quick trip report for now:

* We flew out of Northwest Arkansas around 1pm on Saturday afternoon 6/16. Went through Houston then straight to Oaxaca City. Arrived around 8pm. Not a bad bit of travel overall, especially considering a 3 hour layover in Houston. Arriving at the airport, you clear customs then pay for a taxi at a main desk in airport lobby. Then you present your ticket to a guy outside, he flags you a taxi, and you're on your way. Super easy and I liked not having to confront a hustle from the jump after a full day of travel.

* Traffic is crazy, and Oaxaca City has some really narrow one-lane roads. It felt like we were in some crazy European Fast and the Furious at times, rocketing down some little small alleyway at top speed.

* For this trip, which was fairly short (Saturday to Thursday), we opted to just stay in one place the entire time. So we chose a hotel in downtown Oaxaca City. We'd debated going to the beach at Puerto Escondido, but opted not to for this trip. That was a great decision. Oaxaca City is rather large (like 250,000) and sprawls out, but the downtown is entirely walkable with restaurants, bars, mezclaerias, cafes and vendors everywhere along a 10-20 block area. Lots of parks, cathedrals, and other cool sites within that area.

* We took a couple of day trips. One to visit a textile studio (my wife is very into textiles) and a mezcaleria for a day. The other to Hierve el Agua (petrified water falls that are pretty amazing). Both were great trips costing roughly 12 bucks an hour for taxi rental.

* Things were super cheap, especially drinks. We could have, literally, eaten for around 5 dollars a meal (for a couple) if we stuck to street food. But, of course, we also ate in some great restaurants where it got more expensive. We ate some really high quality food and still never spent more than $50 for us as a couple.

* The teacher's union was on strike and had overtaken the downtown Zocalo (the main town square, but there were plenty of other places to hang out as well in that area). It was a tent city with tarps and tents everywhere, making the area look like a refugee camp. The locals were pretty enfuriated by it, because it was bad for business. They had pretty much evacuated it by our final day, and we saw that it was a real shame because that area was gorgeous and fun when not crowded with tents and tarps.

* Know some basic spanish, even if it's just Duolingo level 3 or something if you go. Only 10% of the population speaks English (it felt much lower than that), even in the tourism and hospitality industry. My spanish is pretty basic, but we managed to communicate okay. My wife felt totally unable to communicate, though and wasn't sure she would have managed without me along.

* Oaxaca is a big tourist destination for Mexicans as well, so there are a lot of Mexico City and others there. Not many gringos at all, so it's kind of interesting. Well set up for tourists, but not really well set up for English-speaking tourist. I didn't mind the challenge, though.

* Food was amazing, and most people are aware that it's a top food destination in the world. There are some really good modern "fusion" type restaurants that would be home in NYC, and we ate at those as we tend to dine upscale/modern when in the US. We, honestly, enjoyed the more traditional Oaxacan places, though.

* We felt entirely safe at all time while in Oaxaca, even with a massive political protest in the form of the teacher's strike taking place. I did have one young punk beggar tell me "frick you" very angrily when I refused to give him some coin, but otherwise we were treated very kindly.

* If you like visiting beautiful old cities that are extremely walkable with a unique and fascinating culture, then I highly recommend Oaxaca City.

* If you want super modern amenities that cater to your needs and are "easy" (all inclusive style travel), then Oaxaca probably isn't for you.