My Dad and I left late at night on a Friday from Toronto and touched down in Oaxaca City the following morning within five minutes of each other. Our planes pulled up right next to each other which was pretty cool.

We booked a private room in a small hostel – I typically book a dorm but since I was with my Dad, we decided to splurge a little 😂. It was still super cheap – like $30 per night. My Dad loved the hostel feel, meeting random people from all over the world. We checked in, rented some towels and then took a nap for a bit before heading out for breakfast:

I had enchiladas con carne (i.e., enchiladas with meat) that were prepared in black mole. To be honest, I don’t love mole – it’s made of chocolate and chilies but has an earthy & bitter taste to it. The enchiladas were great, but I decided to stay away from mole adventures after that. We went around the city for the afternoon and saw the city. The setting of Oaxaca is really cool, with old European buildings making up the city and mountains in the back. It also had a more chill vibe than Mexico City, just given its size (its population is only about 250,000 people). It had one central area with a park and restaurants, live music and bars surrounding it. Honestly, I could have got used to living here – it was small, so there was a more relaxed vibe but busy enough to be entertaining. I would go for a morning jog and loved it.

We ended up back at this little central square that afternoon where we had a couple beers and listened to live music while eating some roasted nuts. We roamed around a bit more and then went for dinner:

The next day, we booked a tour that took you to see the “Tule Tree”, a local fabric producer, a Mezcal factory and then to the petrified waterfalls & Hierve el Agua. This was all for roughly 200 pesos, which is like $8-10, if my memory serves:

The Tule Tree was this massive tree – that’s it… but it was something of which to be an awe.

We then went to this small village where we met a family that made carpets, rugs, clothing and other tapestries in an all-natural way. The dyes were all from a variety of plants and nuts grown in the area. Very cool! And very expensive (I think a carpet costs a few thousand Canadian).

Soon after that, we went to the Mezcal factory before stopping for lunch. They showed us how the mezcal was made from the agave grown in the region. There was a tasting tour after the factory tour, naturally. It really hits you as you try 7-8 different Mezcals in a matter of 15 minutes – so you have the equivalent of 3-4 shots really quickly! The tour group was just closer after that.

We then stopped for lunch which was an all you can eat buffet but was honestly quite hit or miss. Some of the items were great while others were average. I had not been a fan of the meals so far… much to my dismay ☹ We stopped at some ruins after that but the last stop was what the tour was all about. We went up a mountain top to see the petrified waterfalls and Hierve el Agua.

Before this, I thought it was an actual waterfall, but its just minerals left behind after water from higher up slowly dripped down the side of the cliff. It was still really cool, and we saw it all at sunset!

The second day, we took a trip to some nearby ruins – Monte Alban. This was really cool – the structures were not as tall as Teotihuacan outside Mexico City but they were more sprawling. Massive crowds and people who lived in the surrounding area would gather here thousands of years ago. It was super hot, and we took many breaks along the way as we went up and down a few of the structures.

Upon returning to Oaxaca City, we then went to the market where we had amazing cheese – really some of the best stuff I’ve ever had, and I love cheese! I also had Enchiladas Verde (no mole!) for lunch.

The last day, we kept it low key and just did a walking tour as we were going to take an overnight bus to San Cristobal that night.