After the celebrations of death had ebbed out, Oaxaca returned to what I think is its normal pace: A couple of bustling streets and busy markets, and otherwise, calm, leisurely, with few people seeming in a rush to get anywhere. And I liked it so much better.
After a couple of nights proper sleep, and days of few musts, I was ready to take it all in. The colorful, elaborately decorated buildings. The massive stone walls and gilded inside of the church of Santo Domingo. The street art and sundrenched mountain views.
Just outside the city, there are also several pre-Columbian temples, easy to get to for half-day tours. Monte Albán was built by the Zapotecs on an artificially flattened mountaintop close to what later became the city of Oaxaca and has been around for at least two thousand years. The view from up there was stunning – I can definitely understand why one would place a civic-ceremonial center there.
The other archeological site I went to was Mitla, the main religious center for the Zapotecs. For long periods of time, after the Mixtecs took over control in the region about a thousand years ago, the religious site was shared between the two groups and influences from them both can be seen in the architecture of the temples. What I found most fascinating there was the beautifully decorated walls, with geometric patterns in the stone.
Or just having hot chocolate and bread in the bustling Mercado 20 de Noviembre market. Oaxaca is a friendly city, amazing to wander around in, or just sit and enjoy. I really liked it.
Katja Malmborg 