Sunday, December 28, 2008

Oaxaca City

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Dave and I took the comfortable 6hr bus trip from Mexico City to Oaxaca this morning. The bus traveled past the outskirts of Mexico City into a dry hilly landscape that reminded me of parts of Victoria and then into the rugged cactus covered mountains of Oaxaca State. The dry and rocky mountains were spectacular as the sun was setting.

Oaxaca City is a pleasant and relaxed colonial city with old stone buildings, narrow cobblestone streets, and beautiful squares and gardens. The sun was shining and the light was bright during our stay and most of the time was spent sleeping or eating.

The food was amazing and we ate the best Mole that we tried in Mexico in Oaxaca. Mole is a type of sauce which is made with many ingredients that are cooked seperately before being combined, ground into a paste and then cooked again in oil or lard before being thinned. Mole Poblano consists of 30 or more ingredients. Making Mole is a time consuming process which creates a sauce that has multiple layers of flavor. Oaxaca is known as the 'Land of Seven Moles' including mole negro, mole colorado, coloradito, and mole verde.

The laid back lifestyle, cafes, art galleries and traffic free squares and plazas give Oaxaca a vibrant cosmopolitan feel whilst maintaining it's local character. It was nice to be out of Mexico City and we were beginning to get the feeling that Mexico is considerably more diverse than we had expected.

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