we arrived in oaxaca city on a warm, and sunny (though hazy) monday afternoon. the bus ride was pretty cool, through some mountainous, and rugged terrain; the arid, cactus-laden landscape that one would expect from mexico. unfortunately, we couldn't stop and take any pictures, so all those mountains, rock formations, and cacti will have to remain memories in my head 
. with just one day to spend in oaxaca, we were basically locked into seeing monte alban, and doing some shopping in the markets (i never got a chance to try a grasshopper either 
).
we did a bit of wandering around town after we arrived, it's a pretty colonial town with lots of cobbled streets, and a nice big zocalo. it's touristy for sure, with lots of things to see in the region (too bad we didn't get a chance to see too much), saw the cathedral at least.
onto monte alban the next morning, catching the bus as suggested by the lp. monte alban is the only pre-hispanic site built on top of a hill (as far as i am aware), and provides some spectacular views of the valley around, albeit hazy. my understanding is that it was a zapotec ritual centre/settlement, which is what i read from the lp (we didn't have any guides). it's a pretty big site, although it took us less than two hours to get around, and has a nice breezy elevated platform (the south platform) at the southern end (obviously). climb up there and there are lizards, cacti, bugs of all sizes and shapes, and another largish structure which you can't climb. the bus to go back didn't arrive until 1pm i think, and we had finished by about 11.45am, so we had a chance to cool down in the shade (it was hot!!) for a while before our trip back.
we pretty much just spent the rest of the day chilling out, although alf and ozzy looked at some market stuff for a bit. we probably could've rested a bit more, as we had a tough overnight bus ride to get through in the evening, but it wasn't a big issue. personally, i would've loved to have spent more time in oaxaca, i really liked it, easy to get around, and lots of stuff to do in and around town, it had a real nice vibe (i liked it anyway) to it. and to finish, yes, ozzy was still feeling crap at this point, but at least good enough to take in monte alban's brilliance.
picture of a cathedral in oaxaca city, the church of santo domingo, it's north of the zocalo, just next to the botanical gardens (which were closed when we were there).
#33 dtra (david tran)
Last edited at 5:17 14th-may-2008
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