Friday, August 12, 2022
This morning I went to Los Cuiles to get some work done. I had a nice breakfast and tea. Then I went back to Casa Angel to rest for a while. I’ve been super busy recently and I’m going to be here for a while so I’m taking some time to slow things down.
In the evening I headed up to the rooftop and met some people. Eventually we headed out to La Cucaracha by a hostel worker’s recommendation. It was empty when we arrived for the most part and they started playing English music not realizing that we didn’t want to hear it. They also had a karaoke room but they wanted us to start a tab so after a while we just ended up leaving.
Despite all of that, the vibes were really good. We started a dance circle and everyone was just having a great time. It kind of felt like I was going out with my high school friends. After La Cucharacha we went to a proper club which was named Fandango. It was pretty full and the music was decent.
Saturday, August 13, 2022
I dragged myself out of bed this morning for the walking tour with the hostel. We visited places like the Santo Domingo Temple, 20 de noviembre market, la Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, and Mercado Benito Juárez. I was pretty bored with the tour to be honest but we got to try food which I probably wouldn’t have known to try otherwise so that was fun.
At the end we went to La Cosecha which is a market. We tried tepache, téjate, mémelas, and tlayudas. When you’re in Oaxaca, you have to go here! On the way back we stopped at Punta Paz for some coffee and crepes. The crepe was not very good.
For dinner the group of people I met went out to Zandunga, which is one of the restaurants that is highly recommended here, but it’s not the most expensive. I tried mole negro, which I didn’t hate but also didn’t love. Again, I find that some of the cuisine here toes the line between sweet and savory, and that’s not necessarily my favorite thing. Nonetheless, we had a great time.
We went back to Casa Angel and instead of trying to go out to a club again, we decided to listen to the live music at the bar next door. I heard the live music there several times as I walked by throughout my stay, and it always sounded great. It’s usually a mix of Spanish and English music which I really like.
Sunday, August 14, 2022
This morning I got the hostel breakfast which was really good. Then I headed out with some people to the Hierve El Agua petrified waterfalls. We contemplated going on a tour but eventually decided to figure it out ourselves.
We walked to the second class bus station (aka the shitty old bus station in a suspicious part of town) and found our way to the bus. We took the bus for a while before the driver told us to get off and hop on a colectivo. This was probably the most cramped colectivo I’ve experienced, but we had fun chatting with everyone.
This place has similar pools to the ones at Las Grutas Tolantongo, but they were bigger. You can hike around a bit to see the petrified waterfall and get some cool pictures. To be honest it takes a while to get here and there’s not a ton to do but I’m still glad I went because I haven’t seen anything like it before. I’m glad I didn’t do the tour because I would have had to do a bunch of stuff I didn’t really care for and pay more as well.
We got back and took a rest before taking advantage of the hostel grill. Then some friends told me they wanted to go out to try Chefinita so I ended up trying some tacos with them. We also stopped at a street vendor to try marquesitas, which are like a crispy crepe which we ordered with Nutella and Oaxaca cheese. It was a bit much for me, but it’s a fun treat.
Monday, August 15, 2022
This morning I’m back to work at Cafebre. I got a nice chai latte while working on some of my map guides. I couldn’t find an outlet here so I couldn’t stay too long. I took a break to eat lunch at Boulenc, where I had possibly the best sandwich I’ve ever had. It was broccoli and cheese with some toppings like onion and spicy mayo, as well as avocado (which I opted to add) on sour dough.
For dinner some people from the hostel and I went to a nearby restaurant named La Popular where I got some so-so tacos cochinita. On the way back I got another marquesita since I was still hungry.
Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Today I’m working from Cafe Brujula where I got a nice iced matcha. I’m taking the night bus so I stopped into a bakery to get some snacks. It’s right around the corner from the hostel so I’ve passed it several times and it has delicious pastries and breads. It’s called Pan con Madre.
Then I get lunch at Boulenc again because the sandwich was just that good. I say goodbye to the friends that I’m leaving behind in the hostel and take a taxi to the bus station where I wait for a while and then board my bus.
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