Hierve de Aqua

 

Of course I had to try the coffee in Oaxaca since the coffee beans grown in Oaxaca are supposed to be quite great. I looked up the best coffee shop in town and we took a morning walk to its location about 6 blocks away. I ordered a coffee Americana and it was just okay. Though I am a coffee snob and agree it is pretty hard to satisfy me. Afterwards we took the bike 40 minutes away to Hierve de Agua, Spanish for “the water boils”, a popular tourist destination in the mountains. Hierve de Aqua is a natural rock formation that resembles cascades of water. Actually, it is. This formation is one of two of the only petrified waterfalls in the world. In addition, there are pools of fresh water springs dripping slowly over the side of the mountain. The water is over saturated with calcium carbonate and other minerals and the appearance of the pools look very much like those at Yellowstone. Unlike at Yellowstone, however, you can swim in these! 

Fruit  Mezcal is made from laying on the side of the road

 

We got off the freeway and took a few unpaved roads leading up to the mountain and parked right outside of the entrance to the formation. We took the quick walk down to the pools, walked around the direct area, took pictures of the petrified waterfall in the distance, and settled down for a swim. There were only a few people in the water and we quickly found out why. The water was freezing! And the temperature outside wasn't hot enough to make up for the cool temperature. So instead we dipped our feet and had a small picnic while enjoying the view. 

Petrified waterfall

Eric was seeking some adventure so he decided it was a good idea to take a short cut home by taking the route of an incomplete freeway. We could see on the way back down the mountain that the road was almost done as it look picture perfect, so Eric hopped on even though there were cones blocking our entrance. It was great having a nice, new clean freeway all to ourselves until we realized why the road was blocked off in the first place. They hadn't completed the toll booth between the route yet. There were piles of sand, wire and nails that we had to work around, but a security guard on duty showed us the best route out. He didn't seem the least bit upset we took the road in the first place. I love Mexico!

 

The rest of the night we did much of the same as the night before except had a Tlayuda in mind for dinner. We ended up back at the market but at a different stand. Afterwards we enjoyed our last night in Oaxaca roaming the zocalo and listening to a band preformed by police officers. In the middle of the audience was a big open dance floor and Eric and I were just about to invite ourselves to join the crowd for a dance when we realized that each song had specific dances which we didn't know. Glad we saved ourselves the embarrassment. 

 Interesting spiralled chips we've seen all throughout Mexico

Tlayuda's are like a pizza, Mexican style. So good! Made with bean paste and some sort of sauce, cabbage, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, meats, and guacamole

We ate early so before we went home we bought this, which we probably shouldn't have, it wasn't very good.