It was awesome. The weather was perfect. The food was... interesting. My travel buddy was great! I can't imagine visiting Oaxaca and not having Spencer's Spanish skills with us. He did great.
We were there for a week and we took whatever we could shove into our backpacks... our clothing choice was a little thin at the end of the trip. Most of the time was spent in swimsuits though, playing in the ocean and getting way too much sun.
Spencer served his mission in the state of Oaxaca nearly 8 years prior so it was fun for him to go back and see the changes, and it was fun for me to order piña colada's and lay on the beach.
We ate a lot of tacos, plantains, and elote (Corn on a stick)... as well as a lot of bags of "agua de sabor" fresh fruit blended up with a little sugar and water and served in a bag with a straw hanging out. Everything was delicious, but it was nice to eat some American food after a week of Mexican.
We want on a morning dolphin ride tour and ended up jumping into the middle of the ocean to swim with a wild sea turtle. I was only in the water for a few minutes cause I really didn't want to die. Another night we swam in a lagoon with Bioluminescence. The water was extremely warm, and every motion you made the water would light up like it was full of glowsticks.
After a few days at the coast (Puerto Escondido) we traveled by van through the mountains. It was 6 hours of torture. It was definitely an authentic Mexican experience. Especially when we had to stop due to a protest on the road. The entire pueblo (village) had come out with chicken crates and anything else they could find to block the road so that their voices could be heard. We just grabbed our backpacks and as the only American's walked through the town, and got in another van on the other side of the protest and continued on our journey.
We traveled to the capital city of Oaxaca and walked through the old town square to admire churches built in the 1600's, later we had famous Oaxacan hot chocolate on the Zócalo (town square). The following day we traveled up to Monte Alban. Monte Alban was home of an ancient civilization that lived on the top of a mountain, everything is in really great condition, considering how old it is. It was unlike any American national park or reserve. You are left to travel around pyramids and structures built in 500BC with no rules, no guides. It was awesome.
Spencer served his mission in the state of Oaxaca nearly 8 years prior so it was fun for him to go back and see the changes, and it was fun for me to order piña colada's and lay on the beach.
We ate a lot of tacos, plantains, and elote (Corn on a stick)... as well as a lot of bags of "agua de sabor" fresh fruit blended up with a little sugar and water and served in a bag with a straw hanging out. Everything was delicious, but it was nice to eat some American food after a week of Mexican.
We want on a morning dolphin ride tour and ended up jumping into the middle of the ocean to swim with a wild sea turtle. I was only in the water for a few minutes cause I really didn't want to die. Another night we swam in a lagoon with Bioluminescence. The water was extremely warm, and every motion you made the water would light up like it was full of glowsticks.
After a few days at the coast (Puerto Escondido) we traveled by van through the mountains. It was 6 hours of torture. It was definitely an authentic Mexican experience. Especially when we had to stop due to a protest on the road. The entire pueblo (village) had come out with chicken crates and anything else they could find to block the road so that their voices could be heard. We just grabbed our backpacks and as the only American's walked through the town, and got in another van on the other side of the protest and continued on our journey.
We traveled to the capital city of Oaxaca and walked through the old town square to admire churches built in the 1600's, later we had famous Oaxacan hot chocolate on the Zócalo (town square). The following day we traveled up to Monte Alban. Monte Alban was home of an ancient civilization that lived on the top of a mountain, everything is in really great condition, considering how old it is. It was unlike any American national park or reserve. You are left to travel around pyramids and structures built in 500BC with no rules, no guides. It was awesome.
We flew home to happy babies that had a great time spending the week at Grandma Orton's house. I'm not sure when we will head back to that part of Mexico, if ever, but I'm glad Spencer was able to go see his mission as a non-missionary before he becomes a slave to his law firm next year.
5 comments:
You guys look great and it sounds like you had the best trip!
Love you!
Hahaha!! Sounds like a blast!! I did something similar along the peninsula back in my single days. We spent a 15 hour bus ride riding with the locals -- definitely an authentic experience -- but not one I wish to repeat!! :)
I am glad your trip went so well. I would love to take a vacation with just me and Lyndon before the baby comes. Someday.
I will be your new travel buddy while Spencer and Taylor slave. And Drew can babysit the girls.
Oh cool!! I'm so glad you guys got to take a vacation together. So well deserved! I've actually been to Oaxaca and Monte Alban - way back in 2005 when I was teaching English in Teuahcan. Anyway . . .
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