The south end of the beach at Hua Hin, Thailand.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Hua Hin, Thailand.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Maldives on March 23rd.

Monday, March 4, 2013

First impressions

We've only been in Oaxaca City for two days, but so far we're on the fence. Seems to me that everybody raves about Oaxaca City, so we were trying not to get our hopes up. Looking at the map, we saw a river running near the central part of town and figured there must be some kind of walking path along the river.

Nope.

It's a pretty dumpy looking riverside considering it runs right near the central core.

It does appear that they are trying to do something about it though. The opposite side of the roadway on the right of that dirt has now got some dying grass on it and some flowerbeds and it would seem they're going to plant where the dirt is too. But it looks like it's been that way for some time so who knows.

Busy main street near the central market.

We came back from that stroll and stopped at the grocery store. We're paying more than what we normally do for this centrally located apartment, but it has it's own kitchen so we will not be doing much in the way of restaurants. "But Oaxaca is so well known for it's restaurants." Yeah, I know, but we overdid it on the meals out last month, so we will get back to our own cooking for most of this week! Besides, Oaxaca seems slightly more expensive in general than the rest of the country. 

Kevin, having a snooze outside our apartment.

After dinner, we went for a walk to get some nighttime photos. The downtown core is very easy to get around, with alternating one way streets, and even some that are designated for pedestrians. There are a LOT of churches in Oaxaca City, and most of them have some kind of mood lighting in the evening.

The Basilica de Soledad.

Just an old building!

An old church.

The Cathedral in the central plaza.

Lots of people out enjoying the evening. That's one of the things we love about Mexico, going to the central plaza on a Sunday evening and just people watching. Kids out playing, families and friends chatting, people selling snacks, toys, and balloons...just a bustle of activity!

Lots of people in the central plaza.

A lit up fountain that actually works! If you've never been to Mexico, there are a lot of fountains. You don't see many that are actually working though!

La Compañia church.

Another old building.

Pedestrian street.

Templo Santo Domingo.

And so we reserve judgement for now. There are some things we like about Oaxaca City, but some that don't impress us. Again, quite a graffiti problem although maybe not as bad as Morelia. And it doesn't seem as "artsy fartsy" as what seems to have happened to San Cristobal since we visited four years ago, so that's good, in our opinion.

But we're thinking we'll like the outlying areas a little better. We've got a busy week planned, with visits to the famous Monte Alban ruins and some other excursions to outlying villages. Today, we are supposed to be going for a 6 km hike with the girl who is in charge of this apartment complex!

10 comments:

  1. I love the pedestrian street, and when we were there thought it looked a bit like a picture out of Europe. Oh wait, except it had no restaurants, and there wasn't much going on! Like you, I also love the the nightlife in Mexico in general (family-friendly). We also thought outside of the beautiful downtown was pretty...um...not appealing. Darn. Enjoy Monte Alban! We really enjoyed our short stay in downtown Oaxaca. Have you looked into a boat tour on the nearby-ish big river?

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    1. We are headed to Monte Alban tomorrow, looking forward to it. Not sure what boat tour it might be, we don't see anything that is reasonably closeby. Not sure we would have the time even if we did find it, we already have our time here pretty filled up with activities.

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  2. Have you guys been to Monte Alban? Another trip is Mitla, it is a lesser pyramid but it is a fun bus ride.

    There is also Hierve del Agua, which are aguas termales, it is about 40 miles outside the city, but a must see.

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    1. Hi Chris, we are headed to Monte Alban tomorrow and to Hierve del Agua on Wednesday. They were both items at the top of our to do list here. Think we will give Mitla's pyramids a miss this year though. We won't be taking the bus though, it will be more convenient in the little blue car as we plan on making a couple of other stops along the way.

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  3. That is a gorgeous header picture and the apartment looks fabulous. I can feel your non enthusiasm in comparison with your usual joy in the places you visit. Hope things look up.

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    1. We are actually enjoying Oaxaca City, I just think that Kevin is wanting to get back to Sherman and a little of that is starting to show through.

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  4. Love the idea of a sunday evening in the town center... all the people and the comfort of a warm evening and seeing folks out and about.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
    Karen and Steve
    RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com

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    1. We really love the central plazas (zocalos), day or night! There always seems to be something going on.

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  5. If you do decide to dine out, I highly recommend "La Biznaga." Really great, fresh food there in a nice open courtyard.

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