After a major struggle with the Europcar website, we finally managed to make a reservation on line to pick up a Volkswagen Pointer at 9:30am on Friday, january 25 (the following morning). It took until 11am before we drove off with the car! Peit Hein's cryptic admonishment, "TTT", was very apt (Things Take Time).

We had been told there were two ways to get to Oaxaca (Wah-Ha-Kah) City --- the much better road through Salina Cruz (you first go 50 miles east along the coast to Salina Cruz and then turn through over 270 degrees and head back to the north west , and the much shorter but much twistier road that first goes a few miles north west and then directly north. Both take about 7 to 8 hours, although one is nearly twice the distance. We elected to go via Salina Cruz and return the other way.

The road started out winding around hills, following the coast. There was very little settlement,and the foliage by the coast is what is called thorn forest---it all looks very dry and dead at this time of year, but apparently it is very green during the wet season, which is essentially summer. There were views of the sea, and we could see that the wind was blowing over 20 knots, with many whitecaps. The road continued winding around hills. Near Salina Cruz, we saw Chepehua, a spectacular headland with massive sand dunes, a clear reminder of the fierce Tehuantapec winds in the Gulf of Tehuantapec. When the road turned towards the north east, we thought, "Now we'll be on the promised fast road". Wrong! The road continued twisting and turning, but now had to cross the Sierra Madre del Sur, and about four other mountain ranges, and some of the mountains are over 12,000 feet. We started seeing small patches of Agave cactus plantation, the raw material for Mezcal, which is similar to Tequila and is a specialty of Oaxaca. The road continued to grind up through mountain passes and wind down into the valleys. It was after the first pass that we noticed that we had not seen a single gas station for the entire time since leaving Huatulco, and our tank was now below one quarter full. The road continued as before, and the needle crept towards empty. Now Tane, who drove the entire trip, started to try to conserve fuel as much as possible. After an hour of this, with the needle on empty, we stopped in a small village and asked how far it was to the next gas station. The answer given was 35 kilometers. It was going to be interesting. Another high pass loomed, but luckily, the next town had the first Pemex station we had seen all day, just 10 kilometers on.

It was late afternoon when we arrived in Oaxaca city and made our way to the hotel that we had booked the previous night. We immediately walked the single block to the famous Zocalo, the town square. The Zocalo is lined with cafes and churches, and we found an open air concert in progress. From there, we made our way to a restaurant known for its mole (Moh-Lay). Mole is a traditional dish from Oaxaca state, and the most elaborate recipes have over 100 ingredients. However, a major component is chocolate, which is native to the area (the Aztecs introduced the Spanish conquistadors to chocolate as a drink). The mole at the Restauran Catedral was unlike any we have ever had---it was almost black, and with an incredibly rich flavor. This experience may have ruined us for mole anywhere else, as it is just so good!

The next morning, we walked through the streets to a cafe that served organic local coffee and breakfast, then toured the cathedral at Santo Domingo. Attached to the church is a huge Dominican monastery that is nearly 500 years old and has recently been restored and made into a museum. We spent most of the day in the museum with hand-held voice guides, learning a great deal about Mexico and Oaxaca, from the first discoveries of human habitation around 25,000 years ago through to modern times. The museum and the restored monastery and a wonderful combination, and they have done an excellent job. For dinner, we sought out another restaurant famous for its many moles. Before we got to the restaurant, Sal was diverted yet again into a store. Tane and I went ahead to the restaurant, and after waiting a while, Tane went back to collect Sal. Apparently the store was a maze of rooms, and when they got back, Tane said to Sal, "Did you see the room of religious paintings?". "No", said Sal. Tane then described them. Sal insisted on going back to see them, and when they did, Sal distracted the attendant long enough for Tane to snap a photo of one of them. The photo of the painting is among the new ones I've just added to the album named "Zihuatanejo to Huatulco" --- it gives a fresh new angle to the adoration of Jesus. Back to the restaurant --- this time sampled another Oaxacan favorite, Chapulines. These are grasshoppers, and we had to try them. They were fried in chile sauce, and apart from being spicy, were mostly just a little crunchy. After this, we noticed that Chapulines were offered on every menu and every restaurant---apparently they're a favorite for breakfast, and another delicacy is Chapulines con Chocolate.

On Sunday, we had a quick breakfast at a cafe on the Zocalo, then drove the 10 miles to Monte Alban. It is among Mesoamerica's most regal and spectacular ruined cities, perched on a hill overlooking Oaxaca city. It is the oldest of all of the cities found in Mexico, and predates the Mayans. It reigned for at least 1200 years, between 500 B.C. and 750 A.D. It was first built by the Olmecs, then taken over by the Zapotecs, and finally by the Mixtecs. It is an absolute must-see, and we hired a guide to take us around for three hours. Mario was really great, and gave us a great deal of detail. I've included a few photos in the album. One of the most interesting features is a series of huge stones with line drawings carved on them of people with various deformities, indicating how they were treated. One of the buidings at the site is oriented quite differently from all of the others, and is in the shape of an arrow. It turns out to be astronomical in nature, and displays their very detailed knowledge of astronomy and the calendar.

Back in the city, we just had to return to our first mole experience. The next morning, we set off on the return journey "the short way". On the way, about 30 kilometers outside Oaxaca city, we stopped at the town of San Martin Tilcajete. This is where the fantastic painted wooden figures are made that now seem to be available all over the world. The town seemed deserted, and we were alone as we walked around from workshop to workshop, seeing thousands of the pieces. Many of them are truly amazing, and we couldn't resist buying a few.

After about 60 miles, the road which had been considerably straighter than the one we took to go to Oaxaca City, suddenly started climbing very steeply into the Sierra Madre del Sur.