We still had our rental car in the morning so I asked Max to drive us around Oaxaca to get a feel for the neighborhoods in case we want to come back with the kids for a family vacation. There wasn’t much open for breakfast on Christmas morning but Max spotted a lovely hotel that had a buffet breakfast. Hotel Azul was serving Oaxacan foods in a beautiful open courtyard.
Lea, Max and Alberto were headed out in a replacement van to Puerto Escondido around noon. Bill and I had signed up for an all day tour that included Monte Alban with SanTours (turismosantours.com) – a bargain for only 300 pesos each ($20). Our guide’s name ws Xitlalia – a beautifu Aztecan name. She referred to the “native indians” as First Nation culture – the indigenous people who lived in this area before the Spanish conquest. Their cultures are very strong in this area. Much of Mexican history is referenced as pre- and post conquest.
We were picked up at the hotel at 9:30. The most impressive and primary destination for the day was Monte Alban, a Zapotec city on a mountain overlooking Oaxaca Valley dating back to 500 BC. The top of the mountain where this city was built is flat and I thought I heard the guide say that it had been leveled by hand… hard to believe. The site was the center of the Zapotec culture, with palaces, administrative buildings, tombs and even a ball field.
The site was abandoned around 700 AD and archeological excavations didn’t start until the early 1900’s. The primary archaeologist who found the first “treasures” was Alfonso Caso depicted below in this three dimensional plaque.
I could have been happy just heading back to town after seeing Monte Alban but we still had a whole day ahead of us on our tour. Other stops included Cuilapam de Guerrero (a 16th century former convent), a buffet lunch of Oaxacan traditional foods at Restaurante Hacienda Cuilapam, and visits to two local crafting communities. Arrazola is famous for its alebrijes (wood carvings) and San Bartolo Coyotepec is famous for it’s black pottery.
The art form of alebrijes was created by Pedro Linares, a figurine maker born in Mexico City during 1906. He was a peer of famous Mexican artists, Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. His unique alebrijes came out of a dream he had when very ill at age 30. While he was ill, Linares dreamt of a strange place resembling a forest. There were trees, animals, clouds, sky, rocks, etc.; he felt no pain and he was very happy walking down there. Suddenly, rocks, clouds and animals turned into something strange, some kind of animals, but, unknown animals. He saw a donkey with butterfly wings, a rooster with bull horns, a lion with an eagle head, and all of them were shouting just one word: “Alebrijes.” Every animal was shouting louder and louder: “Alebrijes, Alebrijes, Alebrijes!”.
When Linares got well, he recreated the creatures of his dream with cardboard and paper mache. He painted them with intricate and vivid patterns. His creations gained a lot of notoriety during his lifetime. His craft was later adapted by Oaxacan artisans. Manuel Jimenez, a woodcarver who in the 80’s did demonstration workshops in the US with Linares, adapted the alebrijes to the abilities of people. He started to add the colors and patterns of the original alebrijes to carvings made with a local wood called copal. Nowadays, many families in Jimenez’s native Arrazola, and other towns such as San Martin Tilcajete and La Union Tejalapan, make a living selling the figures.
I don’t recall the tour guide sharing this historical information about these colorful figures but as always wikipedia is a wealth of information. At this point in our lives, we don’t really need any more cute things to put on our shelves. But every girl needs jewelry. I found some lovely little heart necklaces for my treasure.
We arrrived back to town after dark at 6.30pm. The town was hopping again. We had a light dinner and our last excellent Mexican margarita at Sabine Sabe, a trendy little restaurant on the way home. A very different way to spend Christmas. Monte Alban was the highlight of the tour, followed by lunch and my little jewelry purchases. We could easily have done just the archaeology site and spent another day exploring the town.
Tuesday is a long travel day – fly to Mexico City early and then a six hour layover before our US flight to Houston. Views from the plane leaving Oaxaca and approaching Mexico City smog and sprawl.
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