During my first full day in Oaxaca City, I went to one of the large markets to explore my food options. After having menu after menu thrust in front of me by workers as I passed each stall, I chose one that had one long table with space for 20. The table was nearly full and everyone looked Mexican so I figured this was a good spot (yes I was racially stereotyping). I sat down and ordered my meal in Spanish and smiled at the family sitting next to me. Imagine my disappointment when the father, rather than speaking Spanish to me, says hello in perfect English and tells me I’ve got to try the hot chocolate (turns out they’re from California). So much for eating where the locals eat.
I spent the day in Oaxaca City wandering around the town before my planned trip to the Pacific coast (still in the State of Oaxaca). I realized surprisingly, this would be my first real beach town time this trip so I was pretty excited. I expected to spend a week along the coast, I spent two.
My first stop was Puerto Escondido. I had heard “Puerto” was a party town which usually means the character of the town has changed to just bars and restaurants catering to the tourists. While that was partially true in sections, those areas actually just felt more beach town vibey than touristy. Much of the city still feels like a full on Mexican town. And surprisingly overall, Puerto was one of my favorite places on my trip.
Soon after arriving in town I was walking down a relatively busy street that just happened to be in a lull, all of a sudden there were no cars nearby in either direction. It was starting to get dark and there were no other pedestrians around except me. And if on cue, just then I see a man stand up on the side of the road with machetes in his hand and start walking towards me. That is the moment I realized, after all this time being safe in Latin America, this is it, this is the moment, this is the time, I know I’m…fully immersed because I didn’t give it a second thought. I was so used to seeing people walk around with machetes it was no longer concerning or unusual. As I walked past the man we said “Buenos”, and I continued on my way and he headed onto the street to prepare for his street performance, juggling machetes once cars arrived at the stoplight.
While in Puerto I ate possibly the best fish tacos in my life (I had long conversations with the owner who spoke great English having lived in the US for 14 years). The other tacos and food I ate in Puerto weren’t bad either. I frequented a rotisserie pork rib place where, because I was a gringo, the pit master couldn’t understand why I was there. He resembled the Seinfeld soup nazi in both looks and attitude towards me. One day while waiting in line, a local told me (yes in Spanish and I was able to understand him) that this was the only place in town to go for pork, it was worth the wait. Since this was my third time there in three days, I already knew he was right.
While on the coast I also made a short two day trip to Mazunte which is a town an hour south of Puerto but a world away. Mazunte was first recommended to me by friends I met traveling last year, but I also realized when I was heading down that everyone that talked highly about it was traveling as a couple. It hit even harder when I finally thought about the name of the accommodation I had chosen (after not finding any hostels on booking sites). I booked at Luna de Miel which translates to honeymoon.
Despite my boycott of tours, I signed up for a dolphin/whale watching tour in Mazunte and was very happy I did (fyi, I was the only non-couple on the tour). We saw and were up close with several humpback whales (perhaps the same ones I saw in Antarctica) and some black dolphins. Also saw some turtles.
Mazunte itself is another of the Latin American towns that has been overrun with tourists and where the character has totally changed, it’s a neo hippie town similar to San Marcos at Lake Atitlán. The new age health and wellness, organic food shops, and yoga studios definitely are not marketing to the local Mexicans. I didn’t bother heading further south to the nearby nudist community town of Zipolite.
I was happy to go back to Puerto and when I got back, my friend Job from Denver met me there. It was great hanging out with someone I knew well instead of the usual short term friendships you have while traveling. One day we just sat at a bar/restaurant on the beach enjoying cervezas and mezcal. Mexico is good.
After Puerto I jumped in Job’s truck and we drove to Oaxaca City for my return visit (oh yeah, Job has a truck in Mexico). I thoroughly enjoyed eating as much mole as I could. Although I’ve never been to Santa Fe, Oaxaca City is what I imagine Santa Fe to be like. Colorful buildings no more than a story or two high, each painted colorfully, murals and art all around town, lots of character (if you’ve been to Santa Fe and I am totally off base, don’t tell me and ruin my image).
I loved the food in Oaxaca (both the City and State) and didn’t realize it would be just as good as I continued my travels in Mexico.
Bubbles Up!!