Oaxaca-for a relaxing vacation
This far south of the border, you're less conscious of being a turista and are treated more as one of Mexico's own people. Even the climate of Oaxaca is friendly, without extremes of either heat or cold at the 5,068 foot elevation.
Capital of the state of Oaxaca and set in a broad valley, Oaxaca City is at the center of a constellation of villages. Founded as Antequera in 1522 by a group of Spanish soldiers, the city was named Oaxaca a corruption of the Indian word Quauhxyacac (Place of Trees) in 1529 by Charles V, who granted the valley to Cortez as his private estate. The many colonial buildings in the city are noteworthy for their massiveness (this is earthquake country) and the lovely pale green color of the local stone used in their construction.
In contrast to Mexico City, Oaxaca's pace is lowkey, and its small town atmosphere unspoiled. Yet with a population of just over 100,000, it is the most important urban center between the capital and the Guatemalan frontier. Descendants of Zapotec and Mixtec builders of Monte Alban comprise twothirds of the state's population.
Five blocks north of the Zocalo is the incredibly beautiful Santo Domingo Church, outwardly imposing, with an interior displaying the most gorgeous baroque decoration in all of Mexico. To the left of the atrium is the Regional Museum with treasures of pre Hispanic native cultures.
Just west of the Zocalo is the market, which explodes with life each Saturday and before important holidays. It is a crowded, fascinating place where you can see Oaxacans and learn about their lives. People from surrounding districts come to barter under billowing canvas sun shades. They may bring flowers, rope, or tin can mousetraps. There may be a seller who has brought his year's work a few treasured pink and yellow mythical carved beasts or a blousemaker from the Pacific whose traditional purple designs are naturally colored from the ink of the sea dwelling caracol (snail). A sanitized, modern new market is ready, but vendors and shoppers are loyal to the old one; when and if they will move is unclear at present.
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For some of their warmest, richest memories of Mexico, many travelers are indebted to Oaxaca. Three hundred and forty miles southeast of Mexico City by way of Cuautla (a faster route than through Puebla), Oaxaca is a day's drive. If you have time, though, it is worth a stop on any trip continuing farther south in Mexico or en route to Central America. Oaxaca is about 18 hours from Mexico City by overnight train with Pullman accommodations, 12 hours by first class bus, and 45 minutes by commercial airline.
Oaxaca is not known for its night life and offers practically none of the tourist amusements available in other parts of Mexico. Instead, the main attractions are its markets, where popular arts and crafts are displayed in a richness and variety unparalleled elsewhere in Mexico, and its colorfully garbed Indian people.
Crafts. You won't have to look for handcraftsthey will come to you. Settle back in the shade of the porticos facing the Zocalo (the park at the center of town). While you sip a cool drink, vendors parade by with striped sarapes, bright rebozos, and lacy golden necklaces. You can bargain right from your table.
It is an easy walk to craft shops, found mostly in a small area north and east of the Zocalo. Here you'll discover the specialties of Oaxaca: pottery, gold and silver jewelry, skirts, blouses, men's shirts, and tablecloths. Oaxaca's knives are famous for the handcarved eagle surmounting the horn grip and for the fine steel blades often etched with a proverb.
Sights to see. One of the liveliest spots in Oaxaca is the Zocalo, where small boys do a brisk trade in shoeshines for idlers sitting on park benches. The cathedral facing the Zocalo has a clock donated by a Spanish king.
