The Real Deal (December 31)

(Map of the day.)

We made our way early in the morning to the bus terminal, to catch an 8-ish bus (there's no schedule displayed anywhere, so we just showed up hoping for the best) to the town of Zaachila. This town has a very large traditional market every Thursday, supplying goods for neighboring towns. We had our standard pastry breakfast and enjoyed the 40-odd minute ride. As we got further from Oaxaca, more and more locals (withered old ladies, stooped men, all faces deeply lined, families with small children, all clutching bags both empty and bulging with wares to sell). For the remainder of the day, until we returned back to Oaxaca, safely assume that we were the only white people. Children stared openly at us. I'm not kidding. The best part of the ride was the music pumping through the bus: classic 1990's dance music like the Vengaboys. I couldn't think of a weirder juxtaposition.

The bus pulled into a dusty lot; we got off and entered the tarp-draped marketplace. We were a little early (the market gets hoppin' between 10-11) and a few stalls were still setting up. The market was huge, and seemed to go on forever. Tables and tarps on the ground were covered with (but no limited to, by any means): piles of clothing, shoes, hats, bras, toys, furniture, tools (new ones sitting beside rusty relics), produce of every shape/size/type, seeds in large burlap sacs, dried chilies, flowers (both cut and potted). In an arena-type building, there were slabs of raw meat and sausages hanging on hooks and pig heads complete with eyeballs. Across the aisle were baked goods and chocolate. Dogs wandered through the stalls. The press of people made it difficult to walk and slightly disorientating. There were live chickens and turkeys, held upside down by their owners. Goats on ropes being lead around. We didn't even make it to the cattle corral. Raw fish lay on blocks of ice. It really cannot be described. We lasted for 2 1/2 hours.

We couldn't really get any pictures of the market, as we were already fairly conspicuous. However, we managed to get a few. Fish on ice:



A pile of cilantro:



The fabric 'stall':



There was one small archeological site in the town, and we checked it out before leaving:



We left Zaachila behind, and boarded a bus that claimed would take us near to our next stop: Monte Alban. This site was not directly on our route, but we figured we would be able to catch a second bus the rest of the way to the site. The driver dropped us at an intersection that he indicated would take us to the site. We managed to hop a second bus to take us closer to the visible mountain, but then they dropped us really in the middle of nowhere -- then, laughing, the driver pulled a U-turn and drove back the way he came. We were really stuck without any recourse, but at least he didn't charge us. Unsure how to proceed, we started walking down the road without any indication that we were moving towards our goal. A colectivo car came towards us, and we flagged it down and explained where we were trying to go.

The driver deliberated, and finally conveyed to us that it would be cheaper for us if he took us back to Oaxaca and then we take a bus from there. Apparently access to Monte Alban was on the other side of the mountain. So really, we don't know what either bus driver thought we were going to do after they each dropped us off...

At the bus terminal in the city, we asked every window and bus if they went to Monte Alban; none did. This of course made Andrew more determined to get there, and he dragged me out front of the building and began flagging down cars until he bargained one down to a semi-acceptable price. The road up the mountain was long, steep, and winding. We arrived to a lot filled with cars and tourists. We made our way inside the gates, and began our exploration of the very large site (only Teotihuacan was bigger; our pictures don't do the size justice):





Monte Alban is also a recognized UNESCO site:



The site also wasn't as restored as Teotihuacan, but it also wasn't as excavated, meaning there weren't very many temples that we could actually climb on or touch. Here's a steep one you could climb:





What stood out at this site was the number of carved obelisks, including one that was used for telling the date and time of day, sundial-style. This is an obelisks commemorating one of their rulers:



Also, on the walls of the observatory (used obviously for star-tracking) were glyphs representing the surrounding settlements, with an upside down head painted underneath. These represented successful conquests; the heads specifically represented that the people in the town had been killed.

The ubiquitous ballcourt:



We left the site, via a shuttle bus that we sprinted to secure a seat upon. The bus careened down the road and the breaks squealed the entire way.

We changed at the hotel, and made it time for our New Year's Eve dinner reservation at a italian place called Mezzaluna. When we arrived, we tried to convey that we had a reservation for the rooftop; they just gestured for us to head right up. At the top of the stairs, one server whispered urgently to the other "Senor Andrew!" We were led through the white-linen covered tables to a table for two, right on the corner of the building. Strings of light gently lit the area. We had a view of a cathedral (which had an excellent brass band playing in front of it) and also of the city lights spread out before us and up the hills. Two bottles of wine, dessert, and a brandy later, we strolled down to the Zocalo for the festivities. (They remembered what brandy Andrew had ordered from when we were there before! Best. Service. Ever.)

There wasn't a countdown, just random noise and whistle-blowing. Strange, that Mexicans would be disorganized about something....