MEXICO
Oaxaca City 2023 - Day 2 - Monte Albán
Our first full day in Oaxaca was an early one! I didn’t intend to pack our trip with so many tours and I do think there’s plenty to do on your own. But without a rental car and with only a few days there’s just a ton to get to.
First, we got coffee and breakfast at Oaxaca En Una Taza. My mocha was strong and not too sweet and I liked the fillings in the cream and blackberry pastry. Then we headed to meet our tour for Monte Albán. You don’t need a tour to come here but a tour guide will have a lot more information as there aren’t really signs or brochures to pick up.
Monte Albán is a hilltop ruin from the Zapotec era aging back to 600 BC. Over time, Zapotec kings built new houses and temples on top of the existing structures, creating layers of bigger and bigger structures. Therefore, as time wore away top layers, older structures became visible once more.
Furthermore, archaeologists (and also looters) who dug in that area looking for stuff frequently accidentally found tombs and such from older times than they expected.
I asked our tour guide why the steps were so tall if the Zapotec were so short. He responded that it is thought to be intentional as you have to crawl up the stairs as a kind of supplication. We also learned the orientation of the temple points was used for tracking movement of the stars.
This spot is also well known for the stone carvings called Los Danzantes, or “the Dancers.” So named because the person who initially found them had really bad comprehension and thought the images were of people dancing.
Of course if you look carefully you can see they are more likely writhing in pain from being tortured and killed. We were told probably having these as decor was a way to deter travelers from causing trouble when they visited.
In its heyday, all of these structures would’ve been taller (as much has eroded away due to time). Furthermore, all the stone was actually behind plaster that was painted bright red! Really hard to imagine being here during a big religious ceremony where everyone is drunk and dancing around.
The Zapotec ruled until 900 AD, a rule of about 1500 years. They eventually fell as power consolidated elsewhere, and the Spanish came to Mexico. A few groups tried to take Monte Alban after but they couldn’t hold it due to its size and location.
Our tour lasted from about 10 to 11:30 AM or so and then we had time to wander around and look at stuff ourself. Then we headed back to the van to be shepherded back to the city.
We got back a little early for lunch but killed time before heading to Zandunga Sabor Istmeño. We got the lunch taster and the chicken soup for my cold. The taster was PLENTY of food with tamales, ceviche, taquitos and more. I also had a mezcal cocktail - because you have to in Oaxaca! - with apple and it was delicious.
We were tired and full so we headed back to the airbnb to rest for the afternoon. We had dinner planned at El Destilado at 6 PM which we would come to find out is a little early for dinner.
Initially the plan was to do the 9 course meal but we quickly discovered we were still full from lunch. Thankfully they were able to convert us to the 6 course meal no problem. Each course also comes with a paired drink so we had some really nice combos like tomato salad paired with pear cider.
The history of the building was also interesting, the waiter said it used to be a big house - we were wondering if it used to be a distillery based on the name. Apparently some patrons think the place is haunted which I could totally see.
And they gave us some goodies for dessert and to take home with us.
We were sooooo full. This would not be our last time learning the hard lesson of how filling Mexican food can be.
We went back to our Airbnb to crash as we have a big day tomorrow!