3/24/2009
mi amor por oaxaca
Hace algo asi como 23 años me invitaron a pasar unas vaciones en Oaxaca, fue de lo mejor que pudo haberme pasado, apartir de ese momento mi vida cambio, cuando llegue proveniente de un pequeño poblado en Veracruz me enamore de Oaxaca y decidi que queria vivir aqui, fue una buena elecciòn como Oaxaca no hay 2, sus casas antiguas, sus calles empedradas, sus iglesias, su zocalo, los textiles, la comida , los colores, las tradiciones, la guelaguetza (que cuando vine por primera vez fui directo a verla), y lo mejor.......su gente, si yo una mexicana normal se enamoro a primera vista de Oaxaca ahora entiendo lo que sucede con tantas personas que nos visitan de otras partes del mundo, apesar de haber crecido Oaxaca sigue siendo una buena ciudad para vivir, yo he hecho aqui mi vida y no me ha ido mal, estoy orgullosa de esta ciudad y por eso siempre que puedo la promuevo, la cuido todos los dias y trabajo por ella, invito a todos a que vengan a conocerla estoy segura que se enamoraran igual que yo. Ahora tengo una familia hermosa Oaxaqueña a los cuales amo y he aprendido su oficio, trabajamos en lo que mas nos gusta, dar a conocer a oaxaca, recibimos amigos en nuestras casas, le mostramos oaxaca desde su comida, textiles, artesanias y los orientamos para sus visitas por los lugares de mayor interes, cuando vengan a méxico no dejen de visitarnos no se arrepentiran..........gracias........Lorena
3/23/2009
Recicado from the Mixteca Alta: Part II in a series about mezcal production in rural Oaxaca
SHORT ESSAYS ON RURAL OAXACA MEZCAL PRODUCTION
Part II: Recicado from the Mixteca Alta
Alvin Starkman M.A., LL.B
It won’t win any contests for being a quality spirit. And in fact residents of the region don’t even call it mezcal, but rather “recicado,” a Mixteco name, they say. But after a five hour drive from the city of Oaxaca, deep in the Mixteca Alta one encounters agave distillation which does take the prize for giving the true aficionado as genuine a glimpse as possible, into the means and materials of production likely encountered by the Spanish at the beginning of the Conquest: clay pots; carriso (river reed) tubing; mud and stone still; pulverizing using a tree burl and wooden trough; fermenting in an animal skin; and of course traditional baking in an in-ground oven.
Pueblo Viejo is a tiny hamlet an hour’s drive from San Juan Mixtepec, along a badly potholed dirt road. The tranquil valley leading to the settlement is known as Rio Azucena, and for good reason … the Sánchez Cisneros family lives alongside a river, a pre-requisite for producing recicado in this part of the state.
Nineteen year old Hilda Sánchez Cisneros lives with her sister, Natividad Sánchez, 47, and four of Natividad’s six children. The other two live and work in the countryside in North Carolina. Fernando, Natividad’s husband, is away this day, doing tequio (community service). Their 10 old son Esteban, and daughter Dália, 16, are fully trilingual, because they and their mother spent several years living in the US, and accordingly they had an opportunity to attend American public school. But here they are, eking out the most modest of existences, producing recicado for Friday sale in the San Juan Mixtepec weekly marketplace.
The family also subsists by growing squash, corn and beans. It’s clear that meat and fowl are not staples in their diet, not unusual for families in the most rural communities in the state.
The stream is an occasional provider, supplying the family with small fish at certain times of the year. And then there is rabbit, squirrel, possum, and fox. “I know that city folk won’t eat small animals like squirrel and possum,” Natividad explains, “but we do up here, when we can get it, and it’s actually quite good.” Esteban proudly adds that occasionally you can also come across coyote and wolf, but more often than not it’s higher up in the mountains.
Hilda and Natividad learned to distill from their parents and grandparents. However during the early years, the plants used in production were wild varieties of agave that had to be collected by climbing the hillsides. Then a couple of years ago Fernando went to Matatlán, the acknowledged world capital of mezcal, and brought back a number of baby agave espadín plants. Espadín continues to be the only type of maguey that is successfully cultivated throughout the state. So now the family is able to grow its own agave in this fertile yet sparsely populated valley, part of which forms the homestead. But the degree of knowledge of family members concerning scientific process and function, seems to be lacking, or rather basic.
The appearance of the chiote (stalk) is the first sign that the maguey has fully matured. Allowing the stalk to shoot up and produce baby plants should be the primary means of reproducing agave espadín. But Fernando and family harvest before the chiote ascends from the heart of the plant. This inhibits their ability to increase the number of fields under cultivation (the plant does produce “hijos” or children through the root system, but this is a secondary means of reproducing and is not relied upon in commercial enterprises). Equally important is that harvesting the plant prematurely, by not awaiting the chiote, cutting it, and then allowing the natural sugars an opportunity to gather in the base or “piña” of the plant, adversely impacts the quality of the finished product.
But just as traditional mezcal production dictates, the piñas are baked in a pit perhaps eight feet deep and six feet across, atop firewood and river rock. Rather than use synthetic material to cover the “oven,” a layer of palm leaf topped with earth is utilized. However the similarity between customary mezcal production, and recicado, stops here.
Instead of crushing the baked agave using a mule or pony pulling a limestone wheel over it, around a circular enclosure, the cooked plant is pulverized by human power, using a tree burl or hand hewn long wooden mallet to pound the baked agave into a pulp in a five foot long canoe-shaped wooden receptacle. Four posts --- thick, straight tree branches --- support a large “bag” made out of bull hide, at about four feet off the ground. Covered with plastic, the mash is left out in the sun to ferment,for four to five days.
Distillation takes place in an area sheltered by laminated metal roofing, located 20 yards from the home. The family employs four igloo shaped stills, aligned in a straight row. Fashioned from stone and mud, each is virtually identical to the next. Beginning from the bottom, the opening where firewood is placed contains a tubular stone which supports a clay cylinder into which the fermented juices and fiber are placed. Vapor rises from it into a bottomless clay pot. The pot is covered with a bowl, or whatever else is available for use.
Water from a halved and hollowed out tree trunk runs above the stills, and fills each of the four bowls through concave pieces of agave leaf leading from four exit holes in the canal above. As the vapor rises and reaches the bowl, by now cooled by the water, condensation takes place. Liquid drips onto another piece of agave leaf, this one affixed to the inside middle of the clay pot, and angled down to a small hole in the side of the container. The liquid exits the vessel through the hole. A hollowed length of river reed, tightly inserted into the hole and pointing downward ensures that the recicado flows slowly out of the pot and into an urn.
The primitive process does mirror many of the steps and adheres to some of the principles required to produce mezcal in the more artisanal technique. But key elements are lacking, no doubt reflected in the quality of the spirit:
1) as noted, the piña is not harvested at the optimum time;
2) fermentation is complete after only a third of the time usually required to adequately ferment espadín for mezcal production in Oaxaca’s central valleys, although exposure to the sun on a continual basis assists, as does the sheltered lowland semi-tropical environment;
3) recicado is distilled only once.
The result is a relatively low alcohol content watery beverage, almost sour to the taste. Yet the local populace buys it and drinks it, and pays about double the price it costs to acquire traditional 40 – 46 percent alcohol by volume mezcal in the towns and villages surrounding the city of Oaxaca. To be sure, I did try the recicado produced by a competitor up the road, and found it to be only marginally less displeasing.
On my return visit to Pueblo Viejo, I intend to bring two or three liters of my favorite village mezcals for the Sánchez Cisneros family to sample. The hope is that Fernando, Natividad and Hilda will embrace the opportunity to experiment with production, and conceivably begin to distill a spirit more acceptable to the palate … and with at least a bit of a kick. Then who knows, the family may even begin to market it as mezcal, leaving recicado to die a slow, and perhaps even welcomed death.
However care should be taken to not disrupt the basic means and materials currently used in production. They hold a strong attraction for the enthusiast willing to make the trek to Pueblo Viejo. But more importantly, the principles of distillation adhered to must remain for time immemorial, to bear witness to the proposition that the manufacture of spirits, beyond the mere fermentation of the juices of the agave, developed in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca prior to the Conquest, and independent of the science and technology of the Western World.
Alvin Starkman has a Masters in Social Anthropology from Toronto’s York University, and a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. Alvin ceased practicing law in 2004, when he and his wife began living permanently in Oaxaca. Since that time, Alvin has written over 80 articles about life and cultural traditions in and around Oaxaca and its central valleys, for newspapers, magazines, and websites promoting tourism in Mexico and abroad. Alvin takes couples and families to off-the-beaten track sights such as the quaintest of mezcal factories, within the context of touring Oaxaca’s central valleys. The Starkmans operate Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.oaxacadream.com ), a unique bed and breakfast lodging combining the best in service of a fine Oaxaca hotel, with quaint and country inn style accommodations.
Part II: Recicado from the Mixteca Alta
Alvin Starkman M.A., LL.B
It won’t win any contests for being a quality spirit. And in fact residents of the region don’t even call it mezcal, but rather “recicado,” a Mixteco name, they say. But after a five hour drive from the city of Oaxaca, deep in the Mixteca Alta one encounters agave distillation which does take the prize for giving the true aficionado as genuine a glimpse as possible, into the means and materials of production likely encountered by the Spanish at the beginning of the Conquest: clay pots; carriso (river reed) tubing; mud and stone still; pulverizing using a tree burl and wooden trough; fermenting in an animal skin; and of course traditional baking in an in-ground oven.
Pueblo Viejo is a tiny hamlet an hour’s drive from San Juan Mixtepec, along a badly potholed dirt road. The tranquil valley leading to the settlement is known as Rio Azucena, and for good reason … the Sánchez Cisneros family lives alongside a river, a pre-requisite for producing recicado in this part of the state.
Nineteen year old Hilda Sánchez Cisneros lives with her sister, Natividad Sánchez, 47, and four of Natividad’s six children. The other two live and work in the countryside in North Carolina. Fernando, Natividad’s husband, is away this day, doing tequio (community service). Their 10 old son Esteban, and daughter Dália, 16, are fully trilingual, because they and their mother spent several years living in the US, and accordingly they had an opportunity to attend American public school. But here they are, eking out the most modest of existences, producing recicado for Friday sale in the San Juan Mixtepec weekly marketplace.
The family also subsists by growing squash, corn and beans. It’s clear that meat and fowl are not staples in their diet, not unusual for families in the most rural communities in the state.
The stream is an occasional provider, supplying the family with small fish at certain times of the year. And then there is rabbit, squirrel, possum, and fox. “I know that city folk won’t eat small animals like squirrel and possum,” Natividad explains, “but we do up here, when we can get it, and it’s actually quite good.” Esteban proudly adds that occasionally you can also come across coyote and wolf, but more often than not it’s higher up in the mountains.
Hilda and Natividad learned to distill from their parents and grandparents. However during the early years, the plants used in production were wild varieties of agave that had to be collected by climbing the hillsides. Then a couple of years ago Fernando went to Matatlán, the acknowledged world capital of mezcal, and brought back a number of baby agave espadín plants. Espadín continues to be the only type of maguey that is successfully cultivated throughout the state. So now the family is able to grow its own agave in this fertile yet sparsely populated valley, part of which forms the homestead. But the degree of knowledge of family members concerning scientific process and function, seems to be lacking, or rather basic.
The appearance of the chiote (stalk) is the first sign that the maguey has fully matured. Allowing the stalk to shoot up and produce baby plants should be the primary means of reproducing agave espadín. But Fernando and family harvest before the chiote ascends from the heart of the plant. This inhibits their ability to increase the number of fields under cultivation (the plant does produce “hijos” or children through the root system, but this is a secondary means of reproducing and is not relied upon in commercial enterprises). Equally important is that harvesting the plant prematurely, by not awaiting the chiote, cutting it, and then allowing the natural sugars an opportunity to gather in the base or “piña” of the plant, adversely impacts the quality of the finished product.
But just as traditional mezcal production dictates, the piñas are baked in a pit perhaps eight feet deep and six feet across, atop firewood and river rock. Rather than use synthetic material to cover the “oven,” a layer of palm leaf topped with earth is utilized. However the similarity between customary mezcal production, and recicado, stops here.
Instead of crushing the baked agave using a mule or pony pulling a limestone wheel over it, around a circular enclosure, the cooked plant is pulverized by human power, using a tree burl or hand hewn long wooden mallet to pound the baked agave into a pulp in a five foot long canoe-shaped wooden receptacle. Four posts --- thick, straight tree branches --- support a large “bag” made out of bull hide, at about four feet off the ground. Covered with plastic, the mash is left out in the sun to ferment,for four to five days.
Distillation takes place in an area sheltered by laminated metal roofing, located 20 yards from the home. The family employs four igloo shaped stills, aligned in a straight row. Fashioned from stone and mud, each is virtually identical to the next. Beginning from the bottom, the opening where firewood is placed contains a tubular stone which supports a clay cylinder into which the fermented juices and fiber are placed. Vapor rises from it into a bottomless clay pot. The pot is covered with a bowl, or whatever else is available for use.
Water from a halved and hollowed out tree trunk runs above the stills, and fills each of the four bowls through concave pieces of agave leaf leading from four exit holes in the canal above. As the vapor rises and reaches the bowl, by now cooled by the water, condensation takes place. Liquid drips onto another piece of agave leaf, this one affixed to the inside middle of the clay pot, and angled down to a small hole in the side of the container. The liquid exits the vessel through the hole. A hollowed length of river reed, tightly inserted into the hole and pointing downward ensures that the recicado flows slowly out of the pot and into an urn.
The primitive process does mirror many of the steps and adheres to some of the principles required to produce mezcal in the more artisanal technique. But key elements are lacking, no doubt reflected in the quality of the spirit:
1) as noted, the piña is not harvested at the optimum time;
2) fermentation is complete after only a third of the time usually required to adequately ferment espadín for mezcal production in Oaxaca’s central valleys, although exposure to the sun on a continual basis assists, as does the sheltered lowland semi-tropical environment;
3) recicado is distilled only once.
The result is a relatively low alcohol content watery beverage, almost sour to the taste. Yet the local populace buys it and drinks it, and pays about double the price it costs to acquire traditional 40 – 46 percent alcohol by volume mezcal in the towns and villages surrounding the city of Oaxaca. To be sure, I did try the recicado produced by a competitor up the road, and found it to be only marginally less displeasing.
On my return visit to Pueblo Viejo, I intend to bring two or three liters of my favorite village mezcals for the Sánchez Cisneros family to sample. The hope is that Fernando, Natividad and Hilda will embrace the opportunity to experiment with production, and conceivably begin to distill a spirit more acceptable to the palate … and with at least a bit of a kick. Then who knows, the family may even begin to market it as mezcal, leaving recicado to die a slow, and perhaps even welcomed death.
However care should be taken to not disrupt the basic means and materials currently used in production. They hold a strong attraction for the enthusiast willing to make the trek to Pueblo Viejo. But more importantly, the principles of distillation adhered to must remain for time immemorial, to bear witness to the proposition that the manufacture of spirits, beyond the mere fermentation of the juices of the agave, developed in the Mixteca Alta region of Oaxaca prior to the Conquest, and independent of the science and technology of the Western World.
Alvin Starkman has a Masters in Social Anthropology from Toronto’s York University, and a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School. Alvin ceased practicing law in 2004, when he and his wife began living permanently in Oaxaca. Since that time, Alvin has written over 80 articles about life and cultural traditions in and around Oaxaca and its central valleys, for newspapers, magazines, and websites promoting tourism in Mexico and abroad. Alvin takes couples and families to off-the-beaten track sights such as the quaintest of mezcal factories, within the context of touring Oaxaca’s central valleys. The Starkmans operate Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast (http://www.oaxacadream.com ), a unique bed and breakfast lodging combining the best in service of a fine Oaxaca hotel, with quaint and country inn style accommodations.
3/15/2009
Oaxaca´s treasure, the Etnobotanic Garden
"Centro Cultural Santo Domingo" houses an etnobotanic garden that contains a variety of trees and plants that can be found all over the regions of Oaxaca.
3/11/2009
Holy week in Tlalixtac de Cabrera,Oaxaca.
In Tlalixtac de Cabrera where Casa Adobe B&B (www.casaadobe-bandb.com) is located, this year as in centuries past, preparations are already beginning for Holy Week, when on ‘Good Friday’ the Passion of Christ is re-enacted. Jesus' final days are evoked in the rituals that take place during the week.
Hundreds of visitors and pilgrims pour into our village, watch the procession and join in the festivities.
Holy week starts with Palm Sunday or Domingo de Ramos where woven palms are sold outside the church, according to the Bible Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people in the streets laid down palm branches in his path.
Holy Thursday or Jueves Santo commemorates the washing of the feet of the apostles, the Last Supper and Jesus' arrest in Gethsemane. Oaxacans visit seven churches to recall the vigil the apostles kept in the garden while Jesus prayed and they finish with Holy Communion.
Good Friday or Viernes Santo recalls the crucifixion of Christ. On this day there is a solemn religious procession in Tlalixtac. A man from our village is selected to portray Christ, he carries and then is later hung (fastened with ropes) on the cross, during this procession he is accompanied by participants dressed in costumes to evoke the time of Jesus.
Sabado de Gloria or Holy Saturday in Tlalixtac and in Oaxaca city is the custom of burning Judas in effigy because of his betrayal of Jesus, cardboard figures are made, sometimes with firecrackers attached, and then burned.
Easter Sunday or Domingo de Pascua in Tlalixtac is generally a day when people go to Mass and celebrate quietly with their families.
Throughout the week typical food and drink, such as quesadillas, memelitas, tejate and regional sweets are enjoyed by all as old Mexico is on display.
Hundreds of visitors and pilgrims pour into our village, watch the procession and join in the festivities.
Holy week starts with Palm Sunday or Domingo de Ramos where woven palms are sold outside the church, according to the Bible Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and the people in the streets laid down palm branches in his path.
Holy Thursday or Jueves Santo commemorates the washing of the feet of the apostles, the Last Supper and Jesus' arrest in Gethsemane. Oaxacans visit seven churches to recall the vigil the apostles kept in the garden while Jesus prayed and they finish with Holy Communion.
Good Friday or Viernes Santo recalls the crucifixion of Christ. On this day there is a solemn religious procession in Tlalixtac. A man from our village is selected to portray Christ, he carries and then is later hung (fastened with ropes) on the cross, during this procession he is accompanied by participants dressed in costumes to evoke the time of Jesus.
Sabado de Gloria or Holy Saturday in Tlalixtac and in Oaxaca city is the custom of burning Judas in effigy because of his betrayal of Jesus, cardboard figures are made, sometimes with firecrackers attached, and then burned.
Easter Sunday or Domingo de Pascua in Tlalixtac is generally a day when people go to Mass and celebrate quietly with their families.
Throughout the week typical food and drink, such as quesadillas, memelitas, tejate and regional sweets are enjoyed by all as old Mexico is on display.
3/09/2009
¡Domingos de Jazz en Casa Colonial!
El pasado Domingo 15 de Febrero como cada mes, tuvo acontecimiento uno de los eventos mas esperados para Casa Colonial....nuestra tarde de Jazz.
Como cada uno de los proyectos de nuestro b&b, la idea es realizar un programa sin fines de lucro, para ayudar a lugares como La Estancia Fraternidad o a los Hijos de la Luna, asociaciones civiles con objetivos sociales muy importantes.
Es por ello que como siempre contamos con la presencia de grandes músicos , como es el caso de Miguel Samperio, Memo Porras, Charles Grey, entre otros mas. La tarde trascurria muy amena con grandes interpretaciones de la mejor época de Jazz, cuando repentinamente apareció entre el público, la gran cantante Mexico-americana Lila Downs al lado de su esposo Paul Cohen, no tardo mucho tiempo en que el público presente le pidiera que cantara al lado de la banda, a los cual el maestro Samperio accedió sin dudarlo; lo mismo hizo el Sr Cohen a través de se saxofón y fue una de las tardes mas espectacuales que hemos tenido en la Casa Colonial.
Después del concierto nos transladamos a nuestro pequeño "Agave bar" en dónde a la luz de las velas continuamos degustando deliciosas margaritas.
Muy pronto subiremos fotos al blog para que puedan darse una idea como es el "Sunday Jazz"
La próxima fecha para nuestro Domingo de Jazz es este 15 de Marzo a las cuatro de la tarde en punto; están cordialmente invitados. La cita es en Miguel Negrete 105 Centro Oaxaca, entre las calles de División de Oriente y Calzada Madero.
Como cada uno de los proyectos de nuestro b&b, la idea es realizar un programa sin fines de lucro, para ayudar a lugares como La Estancia Fraternidad o a los Hijos de la Luna, asociaciones civiles con objetivos sociales muy importantes.
Es por ello que como siempre contamos con la presencia de grandes músicos , como es el caso de Miguel Samperio, Memo Porras, Charles Grey, entre otros mas. La tarde trascurria muy amena con grandes interpretaciones de la mejor época de Jazz, cuando repentinamente apareció entre el público, la gran cantante Mexico-americana Lila Downs al lado de su esposo Paul Cohen, no tardo mucho tiempo en que el público presente le pidiera que cantara al lado de la banda, a los cual el maestro Samperio accedió sin dudarlo; lo mismo hizo el Sr Cohen a través de se saxofón y fue una de las tardes mas espectacuales que hemos tenido en la Casa Colonial.
Después del concierto nos transladamos a nuestro pequeño "Agave bar" en dónde a la luz de las velas continuamos degustando deliciosas margaritas.
Muy pronto subiremos fotos al blog para que puedan darse una idea como es el "Sunday Jazz"
La próxima fecha para nuestro Domingo de Jazz es este 15 de Marzo a las cuatro de la tarde en punto; están cordialmente invitados. La cita es en Miguel Negrete 105 Centro Oaxaca, entre las calles de División de Oriente y Calzada Madero.
3/02/2009
Women potters of San Marcos Tlapazola, Oaxaca
Alvin Starkman M.A., LL.B.
Every Sunday Gloria awakens at 3 am, and begins preparing tejate, a frothy, tasty corn and cacao based drink, which she will offer for sale in the Tlacolula market. A couple of hours later her sister-in-law María and Maria’s daughter Luci follow suit, but in preparation for their own day of vending pre-Hispanic-style figures and masks, comals, and an assortment of other fired clay bowls, cups, plates and containers. Sundays, the women laugh, is their day of rest, when they don’t have to worry about scrounging for firewood, tending fields, lugging raw material for kneading into clay --- the lifeblood of their economic existence --- and in the case of María, looking after preparing breakfast for Luci and her older brother and getting them off to school.
The family of four lives in a modest yet fair sized dirt-floor compound in San Marcos Tlapazola, a Zapotec village about an hour outside of Oaxaca. Nearby Tlacolula is known by tourists and native Oaxacans alike for the pageantry of its Sunday marketplace, its bakeries’ wonderful chocolate-filled buns, the church, proximity to fields of agave and mezcal factories, and products offered for sale by the women of San Marcos.
Gloria, María and Luci are 40, 38 and 12 years old respectively. While in the market, their traditional dress, consisting of brightly colored and embroidered taffeta dresses and head-dresses, easily sets them and others from nearby villages apart from the rest. Luci confesses that she also likes wearing regular clothing.
In her lifetime, only once has Gloria been to Oaxaca. The mere thought of venturing into the big city intimidates her.
Clumps of hard earth are soaked. On a concrete floor in an almost barren dark room, María kneads the then softened mud with water and a bit of sand, while kneeling and working her magic, until a buttery smooth clay is ready to be fashioned into a vase. With her hands raised to just about head level, she molds a cone, pounds out the inside to create a funnel, then places it on a small hard piece of plastic atop a flat stone, with a bit of sand as a buffer. The sand enables her to spin the form into a sphere. She uses rolls of clay to build up it up. A piece of corn cob is used to make the outside surface even, and another piece of plastic to cast the inside. A small round segment of hardened gourd assists in producing the desired, final exterior shape. A strip of soft leather facilitates the creation of a smooth finish. Then onto the next one.
Gloria is sitting a few feet away, beginning to burnish a small bowl she has removed from under a cloth covering several others. She’s using one of two almost golf ball sized highly polished river stones given to her by her grandmother. She has already coated the series of bowls with a mixture of a different, much redder clay, and water, so as to create a terra cotta colored paint tone. Once hard and dry, all that Gloria and María have produced over the course of days, is ready for baking.
Some alfareros in the town of Atzompa use above-ground brick and cement ovens. Others in San Bartolo Coyotepec and Ocotlán use below-ground brick-lined pits. Manuel Reyes in Yanhuitlán constructed his own twin kilns out of clay brick, lengths of re-enforced steel, and mud. But the women of San Marcos, each and every time they want to bake their clay pieces, build a makeshift enclosure at ground level, made variously of discarded bed spring, pieces of rusted through wheel barrow, bent bicycle tire rim, old sections of otherwise unusable laminated metal, and broken pieces of pottery which have not survived a prior firing.
A cousin sometimes comes by in a truck to sell Gloria and María a load of twigs, branches and rotted out logs, for anywhere between 400 and 1200 pesos, depending on the load size. Sometimes he brings by dried agave leaves, stock, and pieces from the heart or piña which have for some reason not been harvested for mezcal production. The women themselves often gather up similar pieces of potential fuel while in the course of walking the hills outside of their village, and tie them up to both sides of their mule before heading back home.
A day of baking can usually proceed smoothly if there is no rain, and any earlier precipitation has not left the wood wet; if it’s not too windy; and of course if there is a sufficient supply of burnable product on hand, and not too much of the scrap metal has been rendered unusable through the beginning stages of decomposition / disintegration.
Typically, María is in charge of process, while Luci assists, and Gloria divides her time between doing other household chores such as cooking tortillas and being called upon when María tires or has been affected by the intense heat, or a stage in production is time-sensitive.
All the pottery to be baked is assembled outside, in close proximity to the area where the “oven” will be built: a series of rustic clay pots --- an order for a client who makes and sells piñatas; three comals which were not sufficiently fired on a previous occasion; numeral clay figures of different sizes and forms, for the Tlacolula tourist trade; and an assortment of functional pots, bowls and plates, as well as a few small spoons and tiny colanders.
A circular base approximately two meters in diameter is created, using preferably bed spring placed atop a couple of staggered layers of brick, since such a foundation provides for aeration. Broken pots, old metal receptacles, roofing tile, and whatever else is close at hand creates a confining perimeter. Small twigs and pieces of agave heart are placed underneath. María cuts agave leaves with a machete. With the aid of an extremely heavy, meter-and-a-half long crow bar known as a barreta, Gloria pitches in by splitting log pieces and lengths of dried agave stock. María and Luci build a flammable base atop the spring. With gingerly proficiency, María both directs and assists in placement of the pieces. From her years of experience she knows how to best achieve even firing and avoid breakage.
More of each class of burnable, as well as dried tumbleweed, is carefully placed on top of the clay pieces. Hot ash from making tortillas is shoveled into crevices to facilitate incineration, while a couple of matches set to a few special added twigs, a natural kindling, assures a quick light. A fairly strong wind fuels an initially fledgling fire, and within seconds the blaze is raging and smoke is billowing. More branches and died agave parts are tossed on, with the upmost care since multi-directional wind tunnels have been created. Gloria must fully cover her head to ensure that spark does not ignite her hair. Each takes a turn extricating herself from the swirling, seemingly out-of-control flames. Finally, sheets of rusted metal are strategically placed alongside, and atop, to control the entry of air being drawn to the inner portions of the enclosure.
The morning’s work completed, flames are left to dissipate, while Gloria, María and Luci sit, have a drink of fresh fruit juice, and rest. After about 45 minutes baking will have been completed. The area will be left to cool, while Gloria and María return to their simple work room, add a bit of water to their drying clay, and begin kneading before once again beginning production of another diverse lot. Later in the day the oven will be disassembled, pottery removed with hopefully a minimal amount of breakage, ash dusted off. The women of San Marcos Tlapazola will then wrap and box their merchandise in preparation for their next trip to market.
Most Sundays María can be found sitting on the ground with Luci, with an array of rustic clay figures and masks, as well as a selection of traditional Zapotec cooking and serving utensils displayed in front of them, on one side of an outside aisle in the Tlacolula marketplace. Gloria will be directly across from them, pouring cups of tejate to thirsty passersby.
Alvin Starkman has a Masters in anthropology and a law degree. Now a resident of Oaxaca, Alvin writes, tours travelers to the sights --- including excursions to visit San Marcos Tlapazola --- and owns Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ), a unique Oaxaca bed and breakfast experience providing Oaxaca accommodations which combine the comfort and service of Oaxaca hotels with the personal touch of quaint country inn style lodging.
Every Sunday Gloria awakens at 3 am, and begins preparing tejate, a frothy, tasty corn and cacao based drink, which she will offer for sale in the Tlacolula market. A couple of hours later her sister-in-law María and Maria’s daughter Luci follow suit, but in preparation for their own day of vending pre-Hispanic-style figures and masks, comals, and an assortment of other fired clay bowls, cups, plates and containers. Sundays, the women laugh, is their day of rest, when they don’t have to worry about scrounging for firewood, tending fields, lugging raw material for kneading into clay --- the lifeblood of their economic existence --- and in the case of María, looking after preparing breakfast for Luci and her older brother and getting them off to school.
The family of four lives in a modest yet fair sized dirt-floor compound in San Marcos Tlapazola, a Zapotec village about an hour outside of Oaxaca. Nearby Tlacolula is known by tourists and native Oaxacans alike for the pageantry of its Sunday marketplace, its bakeries’ wonderful chocolate-filled buns, the church, proximity to fields of agave and mezcal factories, and products offered for sale by the women of San Marcos.
Gloria, María and Luci are 40, 38 and 12 years old respectively. While in the market, their traditional dress, consisting of brightly colored and embroidered taffeta dresses and head-dresses, easily sets them and others from nearby villages apart from the rest. Luci confesses that she also likes wearing regular clothing.
In her lifetime, only once has Gloria been to Oaxaca. The mere thought of venturing into the big city intimidates her.
Clumps of hard earth are soaked. On a concrete floor in an almost barren dark room, María kneads the then softened mud with water and a bit of sand, while kneeling and working her magic, until a buttery smooth clay is ready to be fashioned into a vase. With her hands raised to just about head level, she molds a cone, pounds out the inside to create a funnel, then places it on a small hard piece of plastic atop a flat stone, with a bit of sand as a buffer. The sand enables her to spin the form into a sphere. She uses rolls of clay to build up it up. A piece of corn cob is used to make the outside surface even, and another piece of plastic to cast the inside. A small round segment of hardened gourd assists in producing the desired, final exterior shape. A strip of soft leather facilitates the creation of a smooth finish. Then onto the next one.
Gloria is sitting a few feet away, beginning to burnish a small bowl she has removed from under a cloth covering several others. She’s using one of two almost golf ball sized highly polished river stones given to her by her grandmother. She has already coated the series of bowls with a mixture of a different, much redder clay, and water, so as to create a terra cotta colored paint tone. Once hard and dry, all that Gloria and María have produced over the course of days, is ready for baking.
Some alfareros in the town of Atzompa use above-ground brick and cement ovens. Others in San Bartolo Coyotepec and Ocotlán use below-ground brick-lined pits. Manuel Reyes in Yanhuitlán constructed his own twin kilns out of clay brick, lengths of re-enforced steel, and mud. But the women of San Marcos, each and every time they want to bake their clay pieces, build a makeshift enclosure at ground level, made variously of discarded bed spring, pieces of rusted through wheel barrow, bent bicycle tire rim, old sections of otherwise unusable laminated metal, and broken pieces of pottery which have not survived a prior firing.
A cousin sometimes comes by in a truck to sell Gloria and María a load of twigs, branches and rotted out logs, for anywhere between 400 and 1200 pesos, depending on the load size. Sometimes he brings by dried agave leaves, stock, and pieces from the heart or piña which have for some reason not been harvested for mezcal production. The women themselves often gather up similar pieces of potential fuel while in the course of walking the hills outside of their village, and tie them up to both sides of their mule before heading back home.
A day of baking can usually proceed smoothly if there is no rain, and any earlier precipitation has not left the wood wet; if it’s not too windy; and of course if there is a sufficient supply of burnable product on hand, and not too much of the scrap metal has been rendered unusable through the beginning stages of decomposition / disintegration.
Typically, María is in charge of process, while Luci assists, and Gloria divides her time between doing other household chores such as cooking tortillas and being called upon when María tires or has been affected by the intense heat, or a stage in production is time-sensitive.
All the pottery to be baked is assembled outside, in close proximity to the area where the “oven” will be built: a series of rustic clay pots --- an order for a client who makes and sells piñatas; three comals which were not sufficiently fired on a previous occasion; numeral clay figures of different sizes and forms, for the Tlacolula tourist trade; and an assortment of functional pots, bowls and plates, as well as a few small spoons and tiny colanders.
A circular base approximately two meters in diameter is created, using preferably bed spring placed atop a couple of staggered layers of brick, since such a foundation provides for aeration. Broken pots, old metal receptacles, roofing tile, and whatever else is close at hand creates a confining perimeter. Small twigs and pieces of agave heart are placed underneath. María cuts agave leaves with a machete. With the aid of an extremely heavy, meter-and-a-half long crow bar known as a barreta, Gloria pitches in by splitting log pieces and lengths of dried agave stock. María and Luci build a flammable base atop the spring. With gingerly proficiency, María both directs and assists in placement of the pieces. From her years of experience she knows how to best achieve even firing and avoid breakage.
More of each class of burnable, as well as dried tumbleweed, is carefully placed on top of the clay pieces. Hot ash from making tortillas is shoveled into crevices to facilitate incineration, while a couple of matches set to a few special added twigs, a natural kindling, assures a quick light. A fairly strong wind fuels an initially fledgling fire, and within seconds the blaze is raging and smoke is billowing. More branches and died agave parts are tossed on, with the upmost care since multi-directional wind tunnels have been created. Gloria must fully cover her head to ensure that spark does not ignite her hair. Each takes a turn extricating herself from the swirling, seemingly out-of-control flames. Finally, sheets of rusted metal are strategically placed alongside, and atop, to control the entry of air being drawn to the inner portions of the enclosure.
The morning’s work completed, flames are left to dissipate, while Gloria, María and Luci sit, have a drink of fresh fruit juice, and rest. After about 45 minutes baking will have been completed. The area will be left to cool, while Gloria and María return to their simple work room, add a bit of water to their drying clay, and begin kneading before once again beginning production of another diverse lot. Later in the day the oven will be disassembled, pottery removed with hopefully a minimal amount of breakage, ash dusted off. The women of San Marcos Tlapazola will then wrap and box their merchandise in preparation for their next trip to market.
Most Sundays María can be found sitting on the ground with Luci, with an array of rustic clay figures and masks, as well as a selection of traditional Zapotec cooking and serving utensils displayed in front of them, on one side of an outside aisle in the Tlacolula marketplace. Gloria will be directly across from them, pouring cups of tejate to thirsty passersby.
Alvin Starkman has a Masters in anthropology and a law degree. Now a resident of Oaxaca, Alvin writes, tours travelers to the sights --- including excursions to visit San Marcos Tlapazola --- and owns Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ), a unique Oaxaca bed and breakfast experience providing Oaxaca accommodations which combine the comfort and service of Oaxaca hotels with the personal touch of quaint country inn style lodging.
FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DEL ORGANO HISTORICO DE OAXACA
LA ACADEMIA MEXICANA DE MUSICA ANTIGUA PARA ORGANOPRESENTA LA AGENDA DE LOS CONCIERTOS PARA ESTE 2009, EN LA BASILICA DE NUESTRA SEÑORA DE LA SOLEDAD, EN EL MARCO DEL FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DEL ORGANO HISTORICO DE OAXACA.
El Festival Internacional del Órgano Histórico de Oaxaca que año con año realiza la AMMAO, es el pionero en su tipo en México, inicio en febrero del 2001, con conciertos en la Basílica de la Soledad presentándose todos los sábados primeros de cada mes. Desde esta fecha la AMMAO ha presentando numerosos conciertos ininterrumpidamente.En este sentido el Festival es un foro donde organistas internacionales, nacionales y locales ofrecen un repertorio que va de la música gótica a la contemporánea, es un espacio para todos y todas, en pro de la recuperación de la cultura del órgano en Oaxaca. Por ello el Festival se ha caracterizado por el nivel de excelencia que siempre se ha intentado mantener, así como la gratuidad que se ofrece en los conciertos.En este marco se presenta la agenda del Festival Internacional del Órgano Histórico de Oaxaca para este año ofreciendo un extraordinario programa, que inicia este sábado 3 de enero a las 17:00 horas, en la basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad.
Estos conciertos se realizan con el apoyo de la autoridades eclesiásticas de la Basílica de Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, así como el de diversas instituciones como: el Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo Social (INDESOL), el Centro Nacional de las Artes (CENART), la Escuela Nacional de Música (ENEM-UNAM), Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (CONACULTA), la Embajada de Portugal, Embajada de Polonia en México y Fomento Musical. En este sentido expresamos nuestro agradecimiento a todos los colaboradores y a las entidades patrocinadoras que hacen posible que se lleve a cabo el Festival Internacional del Órgano de Oaxaca.Basilica de la Soledad. Deseamos que este programa sea de su interés y agrado.
CONCIERTOS PARA EL 2009:
- Sábado 3 de enero, 17:00 horas Héctor Cruz y Elizabeth Castañeda (Oaxaca)
- Sábado 7 de febrero, 17:00 horas José Martín Panting (Estado de México)
- Sábado 7 de marzo, 17:00 horas Ana Laura Cerón y Tonatiuh Gonzáles (ENM-UNAM)
- Sábado 4 de abril, 17:00 horas Javier Estrella y Eric Omar (ENEM-UNAM)
- Sábado 2 de mayo, 17:00 horas José Manuel Tapia (Michoacán)
- Sábado 6 de junio, 17:00 horas Soledad Hernández, Ricardo Vargas e Hildeberto Jiménez (Oaxaca)
- Sábado 4 de julio, 17:00 horas Angélica Guerrero y Hernán Cortes (Michoacán)
- Sábado 1 de agosto, 17:00 horas Gustavo Delgado Parra y Ofelia Gómez Castellanos.
Oaxaca to San Cristóbal de las Casas and Palenque, and more: a driving tour
Alvin Starkman M.A., LL.B.
Introduction
This 2,000 kilometer driving tour serves the needs of vacationers to Oaxaca who also want to take in the sights in central Chiapas, as well as those who want to at least consider visits to the Pacific coastal resorts in Oaxaca and the Gulf beaches and cultural sights in the state of Veracruz … all without foreclosing a side trip to Puebla. The south central circuit of Mexico provides travelers with a leisurely and culturally diverse driving segment within the context of a two or three week vacation, with virtually no backtracking.
For this particular trip, our first day took us from Oaxaca to Tuxtla de Gutiérrez, then to Chiapa de Corzo. After visiting the impressive lookouts at the Parque Nacional Cañón del Sumidero the following morning, we carried on to San Cristóbal de las Casas where we spent two days in the city and visiting nearby villages. The following morning we drove to Agua Azul, and then on to Palenque, touring the ruin the following morning. That afternoon we continued through Tabasco, then Veracruz, spending our final night at Orizaba. Our sojourn concluded with a return home to Oaxaca, via Puebla. As a result of personal time constraints the excursion lasted only six days. It easily could have been extended by a week or more, taking in many additional sights and cities. Accordingly, while we saw many of the highlights noted in the tour books, a close examination of all that is available is highly recommended, in particular for those with time to spare.
For most of the drive the highways were excellent. We passed through 14 toll booths and nine military checkpoints, at the latter having been stopped, questioned and required to pop the trunk, only once. We did experience, however, one disturbing incident involving state police, in Acayucan, Veracruz, noted as an Addendum. It convinced us to deviate from our otherwise steadfast rule against night-time driving.
Distinct from Oaxaca, in Chiapas there is signage encouraging drivers to use the paved, wide, right hand shoulder; warning that physical abuse of women is met with jail time; cautioning that the fine for littering is ninety times your (daily) wage; and along many stretches of two lane highway there are small home-made signs indicating where gasoline is for sale (from householders; sometimes in plastic 10 or 20 liter containers out front as your notification). In addition, one encounters checkpoints aimed at regulating and policing the transport of animals.
Oaxaca to San Cristóbal de las Casas
The drive from Oaxaca to San Cristóbal takes about 8.5 hours, but is best done in two segments, with an overnight, assuming you want to visit more than one sight en route.
As you leave Oaxaca for the drive towards Mitla along Highway 190, fill up with gas, since there are lengthy stretches of highway without stations after you turn off and head towards the coast. You’ll approach that first interchange after close to a half hour of proceeding along straight, essentially flat highway. Take the 190 cut-off to Tehuantepec / Matatlán. After about five kilometers of rolling hills, you’ll reach the “world capital of mezcal,” Matatlán, with production facilities and shops peppering the roadsides for about three kilometers. The billowing smoke is from deep pits being readied for baking agave, and to a lesser extent the stills fueled with firewood.
For the next hour and a half you’ll be climbing, at times considerable inclines, then descending into fertile river valleys, along curvy, well-paved yet at times repaired highway. If you hadn’t filled up for gas earlier, do so just beyond the first military checkpoint, an hour into the drive, at San Pedro Totalapan.
The predominant vegetation is agave under cultivation --- occasionally on the steepest of hillsides --- and mixed brush, with pole cactus and palm interspersed. Towns are encountered, with small stores, restaurants, pharmacies, mechanic shops, and even a guest house at about the two hour mark, in San José de Gracia. In the area around El Camarón you’ll one again encounter a few fábricas de mezcal.
Your final descent towards the coast begins at about three hours into the drive, when you’ll finally find yourself speeding along straight-aways. Once you reach Marilú, you’ll feel you’re in the tropics, with signs offering fresh fish (mojarra) and cold coconut milk.
You’ll then have the option of heading up the coast to Huatulco, or down towards Salina Cruz, Juchitán and Tehuantepec.
The new toll road to Chiapas, along Highway 200, has an interchange which can potentially create a bit of confusion. At kilometer 240 of the trip, more or less, you’ll encounter a traffic circle with signs which do not assist in terms of reaching your destination. Take the exit which includes the words María Romero, and then ask to ensure that you have the right highway. Traffic and pedestrian activity, at least as of early 2009, are sparse. You’ll be heading towards La Ventosa, so when you see a sign so directing you, you’ll know you’re on the right road. At about four hours into your trip, near kilometer 270 of your day’s drive, you’ll pass through the La Ventosa toll booth, with clean washrooms and a gas station close by. From this point, until your arrival at Tuxtla, you’re home free.
For the next 60 kilometers you’ll be driving across flat winding plains. There’s a stretch of 15 kilometers with two sets of large white windmills, very unusual and impressive to the eye, the second set with power generating equipment apparent. There are thereafter a couple of provisional checkpoints along sections of new, and then old and badly pot-holed road in the process of being repaved.
Your arrival at San Pedro Tapanatepec follows along good highway traversing mango orchards, with a bit of ranching. In town you’ll find a gas station, Banamex, etc. After passing through the next military checkpoint, once again you’ll begin your climb into the mountains, arriving in Chiapas approximately six hours into the drive.
The approach to Tuxtla is uneventful, marked by continuing periods of ascent and descent, stretches of plains, and traveling through a couple of small cities. Upon arriving you’ll encounter a traffic circle, easy enough to navigate. You are not required to enter the city, but rather, will be traversing a number of overpasses in the course of about 20 minutes. You’ll be passing high above and to the left of the city, then descending towards the fork in the road leading you to Chiapa de Corzo. Note that the cut – off is not well marked, so when you see the choice to veering to the right or left, turn off to the right.
The two main attractions which you may find at Tuxtla and / or Chiapa de Corzo are the zoo and the Cañon del Sumidero. Both are easily accessible via Chiapa de Corzo, but could require a bit of backtracking. The advantage of staying in Chiapa de Corzo is that it’s quaint, you do not have to enter the metropolis of Tuxtla de Gutiérrez, and it makes for an easy morning beginning for a boat tour of the canyons. However, if you wish to take the boat trip as opposed to driving through the national park, you may have to wait an hour or two in the morning until there are sufficient tourists to fill up one of the many waiting vessels. It all depends on the time of year in terms of level of tourism. We arrived at the docks shortly after the 8 am opening, only to be told that we’d likely have to wait at least an hour. We therefore hopped back in the car and drove to the lookouts in the Parque Nacional Cañon del Sumidero. The site, via boat or drive, should not be missed.
The highway from Tuxtla to San Cristóbal de las Casa is perhaps the best quality stretch of roadway and most pleasant to navigate on the whole trip. Unfortunately the drive takes only about 35 minutes. It begins immediately after you pass through the toll booth as you leave Chiapa de Corzo. Almost all of the drive is ascent with easy curves. You’ll descend to San Cristóbal over the final five minutes of the brief ride. “Must” visits while in the area of San Cristóbal, preferably with a guide notwithstanding that you’ll have your own vehicle, include Chamula and Zinacantán.
San Cristóbal to Palenque
Although along the basically good, two-lane highways descending from San Cristóbal to Palenque there are several homes and businesses offering gasoline for sale, and at Ocosingo you’ll find gas stations, it’s best to fill up as you leave San Cristóbal. Don’t worry about your departure time, since with stops en route you’ll probably be too late to take the tour of the ruin, and in any event it’s best to visit the site during the early morning hours before the afternoon sun and heat preclude enjoying your visit to the maximum. Without stops, the trip takes about 4.5 hours, over the course of about 200 kilometers.
About 11 kilometers into the drive you’ll find a cut-off to the left, onto highway 186 to Ocosingo. Take it, even though there is no sign for Palenque or Agua Azul. Notwithstanding several ascents, you’ll gradually descend into the hot jungle environment characterizing Palenque, a stark contrast to the relatively cold climate of San Cristóbal you’ve just left
You’ll pass through pine forests and lumber mills, ranches, quaint roadside eateries, and stalls offering local produce for sale. At about 65 kilometers into the day’s drive, a “don´t miss” stop is at one of the two or three amber outlets, in an area where the mineral is mined and then worked into predominantly silver accented jewelery. If you’re in the market for amber, wait until your arrival here. You will have likely visited the Amber Museum in San Cristóbal, so by the time you’ve reached these workshops you will have learned how to detect the real thing from the glass and plastic imitations. These stalls boast true amber, and for the asking you’ll be shown pieces in the rough, how to identify the fakes, and how raw amber is fashioned into fine jewelery.
On the approach to Ocosingo you’ll have an opportunity to also stop at craft and coffee outlets. In the course of the decent you’ll encounter cultivated bromiliads used as impressive garden borders, and produce changing to tropical varietals such as bananas, coconut palms, sugar cane, and perhaps surprisingly, still some corn.
Almost immediately you’ll then begin to encounter more switchbacks and peaks and valleys, with once again a net descent into a lush, green forest environment with streams, waterfalls and even a water park and an ecotourism site. After the military checkpoint just over 100 kilometers into the drive, your descent will be characterized by predominantly straight-aways for close to 40 kilometers as you arrive at the cut – off to the left, for Agua Azul, another “must” on your trip. Don’t be surprised to find that you have to pay two separate tolls or entrance fees. In the parking area, you’ll be asked by a youngster if he / she can guard your car. We declined. Later we found that our car aerial had gone missing. Give the kid 10 or 20 pesos, both here and at Palenque.
The ride from Agua Azul to Palenque takes about two hours. A few kilometers into the drive you’ll pass through a stretch of stalls on both sides of the highway, selling hand embroidered skirts, blouses, dresses and shirts. From here on, until Palenque, the highway descends, with easy curves and lengthy straight-aways, featuring corn, sugar cane and plantain.
Get an early start to your day at the ruin. The gates to the park open at 7:30 am, with tickets to the site available for purchase at 8 am. You can secure a guide while waiting to buy tickets. Suggest that you wait for a group of about eight people to make the cost more reasonable. You’ll be given a per person rate on the basis of eight or ten in the group. In our case, the guide decided to take us for his per person rate for eight, with only six of us, presumably anticipating that it would take a fair bit of time to get the other two, and preferring to finish the tour before the hottest time of the day … or perhaps anticipating being able to fit in another tour if he finished with us early enough.
Palenque to Orizaba, or other stopovers in Veracruz
If you intend to spend the night in Córdoba or Orizaba, you might want to consider leaving Palenque early the following morning because of the driving time involved. Of course if you intend to head to the city of Veracruz, another plan might be in order. Between Palenque and Orizaba you’ll encounter at least three cut – offs leading to Veracruz, and at one point you’ll only be about 50 kilometers away from the city.
Choose carefully from your various lodging options, if for no other reason than to reduce the likelihood of encountering the problem which beset us … feeling compelled, at dusk, to change our plan regarding where to spend the night, and as a result having little choice but to drive at night, not the optimum way to enjoy any trip through Mexico.
Leaving Palenque along route 186 you’ll immediately encounter palm and sugar cane under cultivation as well as cattle, on both sides of a good, two lane highway with flat curves and straight-aways. After about 25 kilometers, immediately after passing through your first checkpoint you’ll turn left. During 2009, the highway was being converted from one lane in each direction, to a lane and a half, quite common throughout southern Mexico. As noted earlier, this wide shoulder is perfectly legal to drive on, and in fact speeds up traffic flow as long as drivers are prepared to yield to the right. Aside from this construction, the highways for the rest of the trip back to Oaxaca, or to Puebla, are excellent.
Within an hour or so the highway will be solid four lane, minimum. It will be basically toll road for the rest of the journey. About 125 kilometers into the day’s trip you’ll have the option of staying at an impressive Hilton Hotel & Conference Center, easily visible from the highway. Just before that complex you’ll see a large underpass where there’s a gas station. About 25 kilometers further, as you enter Villahermosa, take the Cárdenas cut off and proceed along highway 180. You’ll be continuing along a highway with plantations of bananas, coconuts and sugar cane, and fields of familiar tropical flowers. Consider a brief stop at La Venta, a small town known for its Olmec ruin. But the site closes at 4 pm, so keep that in mind if interested in a visit to the site.
After about a half hour, roadway curves will once again begin, and less crops will be apparent, now with more herds grazing. You’ll pass through river plains and over a large suspension bridge. Based upon the recommendation of at least one tour book, we had planned to spend the night in Acayucan, Veracruz, but as noted earlier felt compelled to continue on to Orizaba, after dark (see Addendum). The saving grace, at least in our minds, was somewhat of a comfort in passing through four toll booths over the next 2.5 hours, between Acayucan and our ultimate stop for the night, Orizaba. The cut – offs are clearly marked and leave little room for error. From Acayucan, just continue along the highways marked for one or more of Puebla, Mexico City, Oaxaca, since it’s well after Orizaba that you’ll actually be turning off for Oaxaca.
For those interested in floriculture, plants, cactus and succulents, consider a stopover at Fortín de Las Flores, perhaps as a taking – off point for a diversion to Veracruz. Córdoba is a reasonable option for spending the night, close to Fortín de Las Flores, and with many more hotel options as well as daytime sights. But Orizaba also has a number of interesting options worthy of consideration for a stopover, and a visit to its tourist office makes for a good start for a short, pleasant visit to the city before continuing on to Oaxaca.
Orizaba to Oaxaca
The drive from Orizaba to the Oaxaca / Puebla interchange is extremely scenic, climbing dramatically for all but the final few minutes. The snow-capped peak of Orizaba is particularly impressive. You’ll pass by areas of large, ornamental agave, used as property boundary lines. Simply follow the signs indicating Puebla / Mexico for about 30 - 40 minutes, until you finally see the Oaxaca cut – off, at which point you’ll either carry on to Puebla, or return to Oaxaca.
The home stretch of your journey should take about 2 ½ hours, without stops other than to rest and gas up. However, there are couple of worthwhile sights to consider. Unless you want to spend time in Tehuacan, your first stop will be at the onyx / marble village of San Antonio Texcala. Take the second Tehuacan exit (after the Tehuacan toll booth), onto highway 125 leading to Huajuapan. After 6 km you’ll arrive at the village, with several factory outlets where you can by almost anything into which onyx and marbel can be shaped --- tequila sets, plates, sinks, lamps, tables, bowls, boxes, unicorns, fish, hash pipes, and of course a number of diverse ornaments with religious imagery. Prices are about half of what you’ll pay elsewhere.
Next is the Museo de Agua, or water museum, actually a misnomer because it is so much more. Take the well-marked next exit after your return to the toll road, for Sangabriel and Chilac. There will also be signage for the museum. You’ll be given a tour (in Spanish) in the main building, and of the outside surrounding landscapes. You’ll learn how progress is being made to teach villagers in desolate regions where water is scarce and soil fertility is lacking, to conserve and recycle water; to use compost, worm culture and other techniques to enrich the land; and to grow and market nutritious produce such as amaranth.
In terms of the land use and sights, near Tehuacan you’ll see long narrow white-topped buildings where poultry is produced and then trucked throughout the state of Puebla and other nearby states. There will be a couple of lookouts demarcated as stops for tourists to pull over and appreciate and photograph the deep valleys and high mountaintops. Long, well-marked expansion bridges showcase the valleys and mountains. You’ll pass over a geological fault. There will be several kilometers of impressive pole cactus. Close to the approach to Oaxaca you’ll see vendors on each side of the highway selling brightly colored miniature wooden trucks.
The last of several toll booths is Huitzo. About 15 - 20 minutes later you’ll approach Oaxaca. A few minutes after entering the city, you’ll be given two opportunities to turn to the left (one of the signs is difficult to interpret), but unless you’ve been provided with specific instructions to get to your hotel or B & B, and know it’s in a northern suburb, best is to just keep driving straight, eventually entering onto a one-way street which will lead you to the core of the downtown area and the zócalo.
Addendum
We had planned to spend our last night in Acayucan, Veracruz, having noted three hotels, one of which piqued our interest because it appeared to be the only middle-of-the-road and acceptable option, at least for us. Immediately upon entering the town, at about 6:30 pm, we were pulled over by two state troopers, and asked to produce some type of sticker about which we knew nothing. I produced license and ownership without a request to do so. The more belligerent of the officers, Taurino Santiago Ramas (Santiago) insisted he would phone for a tow truck, and did pull out his cellular and make a call.
After ten minutes of heated banter, I told me wife to just ask him “how much?” Santiago said he didn’t want money. This was a shock, since my initial assumption was that it would just be a matter of how long, and how much. He became more testy, almost as much as we had become.
Out of the blue, Santiago’s mood suddenly changed. He asked us about our plans for the night. We indicated that we intended to stay in town. He immediately mentioned his hotel recommendation and how to get there. It was the same hotel at which we had planned to stay. We assured him we would indeed lodge there, whereupon he told us that we would have to pay a 1,000 peso fine the next day. In the same breath, in a softer tone, he proposed “but since I’m a nice guy, and have a kind heart, if you like, instead you can pay something to me.”
I pulled three fifties and a twenty peso bill from my pocket, and offered him one hundred pesos. Santiago demanded, “I’ll take them all.” So 170 pesos lighter we got back in the car, hearing Santiago’s loud laughs, directed at his partner, us, and anyone else on the crowded street within earshot.
But I think we got the last laugh. Santiago certainly assumed that we were going to stay at his suggested hotel, and in fact we drove off in that direction with he and his sidekick watching. He had probably called not for a tow truck, but the hotel, and advised that we’d be coming by, and confirmed the amount of his commission for the referral. Otherwise, he probably would have demanded a bigger bribe. Of course we did not want to stay anywhere he suggested. We were concerned that overnight our belongings might be snatched from the car. We decided it would not be prudent to stay in Acayucan at all, so we high-tailed it out of Dodge, and drove a further 2 ½ hours, during the night, until bedding down in the city of Orizaba.
Alvin Starkman received his Masters in Social Anthropology in 1978. After teaching for a few years he attended Osgoode Hall Law School, thereafter embarking upon a successful career as a litigator until 2004. Alvin, a good-standing member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, now resides with his wife Arlene in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he writes, leads small group tours to the villages, markets, ruins and other sights, is a consultant to documentary film companies, and operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ), providing the comfort and service of lodging in a Oaxaca hotel, with the personal touch of a small country inn.
Introduction
This 2,000 kilometer driving tour serves the needs of vacationers to Oaxaca who also want to take in the sights in central Chiapas, as well as those who want to at least consider visits to the Pacific coastal resorts in Oaxaca and the Gulf beaches and cultural sights in the state of Veracruz … all without foreclosing a side trip to Puebla. The south central circuit of Mexico provides travelers with a leisurely and culturally diverse driving segment within the context of a two or three week vacation, with virtually no backtracking.
For this particular trip, our first day took us from Oaxaca to Tuxtla de Gutiérrez, then to Chiapa de Corzo. After visiting the impressive lookouts at the Parque Nacional Cañón del Sumidero the following morning, we carried on to San Cristóbal de las Casas where we spent two days in the city and visiting nearby villages. The following morning we drove to Agua Azul, and then on to Palenque, touring the ruin the following morning. That afternoon we continued through Tabasco, then Veracruz, spending our final night at Orizaba. Our sojourn concluded with a return home to Oaxaca, via Puebla. As a result of personal time constraints the excursion lasted only six days. It easily could have been extended by a week or more, taking in many additional sights and cities. Accordingly, while we saw many of the highlights noted in the tour books, a close examination of all that is available is highly recommended, in particular for those with time to spare.
For most of the drive the highways were excellent. We passed through 14 toll booths and nine military checkpoints, at the latter having been stopped, questioned and required to pop the trunk, only once. We did experience, however, one disturbing incident involving state police, in Acayucan, Veracruz, noted as an Addendum. It convinced us to deviate from our otherwise steadfast rule against night-time driving.
Distinct from Oaxaca, in Chiapas there is signage encouraging drivers to use the paved, wide, right hand shoulder; warning that physical abuse of women is met with jail time; cautioning that the fine for littering is ninety times your (daily) wage; and along many stretches of two lane highway there are small home-made signs indicating where gasoline is for sale (from householders; sometimes in plastic 10 or 20 liter containers out front as your notification). In addition, one encounters checkpoints aimed at regulating and policing the transport of animals.
Oaxaca to San Cristóbal de las Casas
The drive from Oaxaca to San Cristóbal takes about 8.5 hours, but is best done in two segments, with an overnight, assuming you want to visit more than one sight en route.
As you leave Oaxaca for the drive towards Mitla along Highway 190, fill up with gas, since there are lengthy stretches of highway without stations after you turn off and head towards the coast. You’ll approach that first interchange after close to a half hour of proceeding along straight, essentially flat highway. Take the 190 cut-off to Tehuantepec / Matatlán. After about five kilometers of rolling hills, you’ll reach the “world capital of mezcal,” Matatlán, with production facilities and shops peppering the roadsides for about three kilometers. The billowing smoke is from deep pits being readied for baking agave, and to a lesser extent the stills fueled with firewood.
For the next hour and a half you’ll be climbing, at times considerable inclines, then descending into fertile river valleys, along curvy, well-paved yet at times repaired highway. If you hadn’t filled up for gas earlier, do so just beyond the first military checkpoint, an hour into the drive, at San Pedro Totalapan.
The predominant vegetation is agave under cultivation --- occasionally on the steepest of hillsides --- and mixed brush, with pole cactus and palm interspersed. Towns are encountered, with small stores, restaurants, pharmacies, mechanic shops, and even a guest house at about the two hour mark, in San José de Gracia. In the area around El Camarón you’ll one again encounter a few fábricas de mezcal.
Your final descent towards the coast begins at about three hours into the drive, when you’ll finally find yourself speeding along straight-aways. Once you reach Marilú, you’ll feel you’re in the tropics, with signs offering fresh fish (mojarra) and cold coconut milk.
You’ll then have the option of heading up the coast to Huatulco, or down towards Salina Cruz, Juchitán and Tehuantepec.
The new toll road to Chiapas, along Highway 200, has an interchange which can potentially create a bit of confusion. At kilometer 240 of the trip, more or less, you’ll encounter a traffic circle with signs which do not assist in terms of reaching your destination. Take the exit which includes the words María Romero, and then ask to ensure that you have the right highway. Traffic and pedestrian activity, at least as of early 2009, are sparse. You’ll be heading towards La Ventosa, so when you see a sign so directing you, you’ll know you’re on the right road. At about four hours into your trip, near kilometer 270 of your day’s drive, you’ll pass through the La Ventosa toll booth, with clean washrooms and a gas station close by. From this point, until your arrival at Tuxtla, you’re home free.
For the next 60 kilometers you’ll be driving across flat winding plains. There’s a stretch of 15 kilometers with two sets of large white windmills, very unusual and impressive to the eye, the second set with power generating equipment apparent. There are thereafter a couple of provisional checkpoints along sections of new, and then old and badly pot-holed road in the process of being repaved.
Your arrival at San Pedro Tapanatepec follows along good highway traversing mango orchards, with a bit of ranching. In town you’ll find a gas station, Banamex, etc. After passing through the next military checkpoint, once again you’ll begin your climb into the mountains, arriving in Chiapas approximately six hours into the drive.
The approach to Tuxtla is uneventful, marked by continuing periods of ascent and descent, stretches of plains, and traveling through a couple of small cities. Upon arriving you’ll encounter a traffic circle, easy enough to navigate. You are not required to enter the city, but rather, will be traversing a number of overpasses in the course of about 20 minutes. You’ll be passing high above and to the left of the city, then descending towards the fork in the road leading you to Chiapa de Corzo. Note that the cut – off is not well marked, so when you see the choice to veering to the right or left, turn off to the right.
The two main attractions which you may find at Tuxtla and / or Chiapa de Corzo are the zoo and the Cañon del Sumidero. Both are easily accessible via Chiapa de Corzo, but could require a bit of backtracking. The advantage of staying in Chiapa de Corzo is that it’s quaint, you do not have to enter the metropolis of Tuxtla de Gutiérrez, and it makes for an easy morning beginning for a boat tour of the canyons. However, if you wish to take the boat trip as opposed to driving through the national park, you may have to wait an hour or two in the morning until there are sufficient tourists to fill up one of the many waiting vessels. It all depends on the time of year in terms of level of tourism. We arrived at the docks shortly after the 8 am opening, only to be told that we’d likely have to wait at least an hour. We therefore hopped back in the car and drove to the lookouts in the Parque Nacional Cañon del Sumidero. The site, via boat or drive, should not be missed.
The highway from Tuxtla to San Cristóbal de las Casa is perhaps the best quality stretch of roadway and most pleasant to navigate on the whole trip. Unfortunately the drive takes only about 35 minutes. It begins immediately after you pass through the toll booth as you leave Chiapa de Corzo. Almost all of the drive is ascent with easy curves. You’ll descend to San Cristóbal over the final five minutes of the brief ride. “Must” visits while in the area of San Cristóbal, preferably with a guide notwithstanding that you’ll have your own vehicle, include Chamula and Zinacantán.
San Cristóbal to Palenque
Although along the basically good, two-lane highways descending from San Cristóbal to Palenque there are several homes and businesses offering gasoline for sale, and at Ocosingo you’ll find gas stations, it’s best to fill up as you leave San Cristóbal. Don’t worry about your departure time, since with stops en route you’ll probably be too late to take the tour of the ruin, and in any event it’s best to visit the site during the early morning hours before the afternoon sun and heat preclude enjoying your visit to the maximum. Without stops, the trip takes about 4.5 hours, over the course of about 200 kilometers.
About 11 kilometers into the drive you’ll find a cut-off to the left, onto highway 186 to Ocosingo. Take it, even though there is no sign for Palenque or Agua Azul. Notwithstanding several ascents, you’ll gradually descend into the hot jungle environment characterizing Palenque, a stark contrast to the relatively cold climate of San Cristóbal you’ve just left
You’ll pass through pine forests and lumber mills, ranches, quaint roadside eateries, and stalls offering local produce for sale. At about 65 kilometers into the day’s drive, a “don´t miss” stop is at one of the two or three amber outlets, in an area where the mineral is mined and then worked into predominantly silver accented jewelery. If you’re in the market for amber, wait until your arrival here. You will have likely visited the Amber Museum in San Cristóbal, so by the time you’ve reached these workshops you will have learned how to detect the real thing from the glass and plastic imitations. These stalls boast true amber, and for the asking you’ll be shown pieces in the rough, how to identify the fakes, and how raw amber is fashioned into fine jewelery.
On the approach to Ocosingo you’ll have an opportunity to also stop at craft and coffee outlets. In the course of the decent you’ll encounter cultivated bromiliads used as impressive garden borders, and produce changing to tropical varietals such as bananas, coconut palms, sugar cane, and perhaps surprisingly, still some corn.
Almost immediately you’ll then begin to encounter more switchbacks and peaks and valleys, with once again a net descent into a lush, green forest environment with streams, waterfalls and even a water park and an ecotourism site. After the military checkpoint just over 100 kilometers into the drive, your descent will be characterized by predominantly straight-aways for close to 40 kilometers as you arrive at the cut – off to the left, for Agua Azul, another “must” on your trip. Don’t be surprised to find that you have to pay two separate tolls or entrance fees. In the parking area, you’ll be asked by a youngster if he / she can guard your car. We declined. Later we found that our car aerial had gone missing. Give the kid 10 or 20 pesos, both here and at Palenque.
The ride from Agua Azul to Palenque takes about two hours. A few kilometers into the drive you’ll pass through a stretch of stalls on both sides of the highway, selling hand embroidered skirts, blouses, dresses and shirts. From here on, until Palenque, the highway descends, with easy curves and lengthy straight-aways, featuring corn, sugar cane and plantain.
Get an early start to your day at the ruin. The gates to the park open at 7:30 am, with tickets to the site available for purchase at 8 am. You can secure a guide while waiting to buy tickets. Suggest that you wait for a group of about eight people to make the cost more reasonable. You’ll be given a per person rate on the basis of eight or ten in the group. In our case, the guide decided to take us for his per person rate for eight, with only six of us, presumably anticipating that it would take a fair bit of time to get the other two, and preferring to finish the tour before the hottest time of the day … or perhaps anticipating being able to fit in another tour if he finished with us early enough.
Palenque to Orizaba, or other stopovers in Veracruz
If you intend to spend the night in Córdoba or Orizaba, you might want to consider leaving Palenque early the following morning because of the driving time involved. Of course if you intend to head to the city of Veracruz, another plan might be in order. Between Palenque and Orizaba you’ll encounter at least three cut – offs leading to Veracruz, and at one point you’ll only be about 50 kilometers away from the city.
Choose carefully from your various lodging options, if for no other reason than to reduce the likelihood of encountering the problem which beset us … feeling compelled, at dusk, to change our plan regarding where to spend the night, and as a result having little choice but to drive at night, not the optimum way to enjoy any trip through Mexico.
Leaving Palenque along route 186 you’ll immediately encounter palm and sugar cane under cultivation as well as cattle, on both sides of a good, two lane highway with flat curves and straight-aways. After about 25 kilometers, immediately after passing through your first checkpoint you’ll turn left. During 2009, the highway was being converted from one lane in each direction, to a lane and a half, quite common throughout southern Mexico. As noted earlier, this wide shoulder is perfectly legal to drive on, and in fact speeds up traffic flow as long as drivers are prepared to yield to the right. Aside from this construction, the highways for the rest of the trip back to Oaxaca, or to Puebla, are excellent.
Within an hour or so the highway will be solid four lane, minimum. It will be basically toll road for the rest of the journey. About 125 kilometers into the day’s trip you’ll have the option of staying at an impressive Hilton Hotel & Conference Center, easily visible from the highway. Just before that complex you’ll see a large underpass where there’s a gas station. About 25 kilometers further, as you enter Villahermosa, take the Cárdenas cut off and proceed along highway 180. You’ll be continuing along a highway with plantations of bananas, coconuts and sugar cane, and fields of familiar tropical flowers. Consider a brief stop at La Venta, a small town known for its Olmec ruin. But the site closes at 4 pm, so keep that in mind if interested in a visit to the site.
After about a half hour, roadway curves will once again begin, and less crops will be apparent, now with more herds grazing. You’ll pass through river plains and over a large suspension bridge. Based upon the recommendation of at least one tour book, we had planned to spend the night in Acayucan, Veracruz, but as noted earlier felt compelled to continue on to Orizaba, after dark (see Addendum). The saving grace, at least in our minds, was somewhat of a comfort in passing through four toll booths over the next 2.5 hours, between Acayucan and our ultimate stop for the night, Orizaba. The cut – offs are clearly marked and leave little room for error. From Acayucan, just continue along the highways marked for one or more of Puebla, Mexico City, Oaxaca, since it’s well after Orizaba that you’ll actually be turning off for Oaxaca.
For those interested in floriculture, plants, cactus and succulents, consider a stopover at Fortín de Las Flores, perhaps as a taking – off point for a diversion to Veracruz. Córdoba is a reasonable option for spending the night, close to Fortín de Las Flores, and with many more hotel options as well as daytime sights. But Orizaba also has a number of interesting options worthy of consideration for a stopover, and a visit to its tourist office makes for a good start for a short, pleasant visit to the city before continuing on to Oaxaca.
Orizaba to Oaxaca
The drive from Orizaba to the Oaxaca / Puebla interchange is extremely scenic, climbing dramatically for all but the final few minutes. The snow-capped peak of Orizaba is particularly impressive. You’ll pass by areas of large, ornamental agave, used as property boundary lines. Simply follow the signs indicating Puebla / Mexico for about 30 - 40 minutes, until you finally see the Oaxaca cut – off, at which point you’ll either carry on to Puebla, or return to Oaxaca.
The home stretch of your journey should take about 2 ½ hours, without stops other than to rest and gas up. However, there are couple of worthwhile sights to consider. Unless you want to spend time in Tehuacan, your first stop will be at the onyx / marble village of San Antonio Texcala. Take the second Tehuacan exit (after the Tehuacan toll booth), onto highway 125 leading to Huajuapan. After 6 km you’ll arrive at the village, with several factory outlets where you can by almost anything into which onyx and marbel can be shaped --- tequila sets, plates, sinks, lamps, tables, bowls, boxes, unicorns, fish, hash pipes, and of course a number of diverse ornaments with religious imagery. Prices are about half of what you’ll pay elsewhere.
Next is the Museo de Agua, or water museum, actually a misnomer because it is so much more. Take the well-marked next exit after your return to the toll road, for Sangabriel and Chilac. There will also be signage for the museum. You’ll be given a tour (in Spanish) in the main building, and of the outside surrounding landscapes. You’ll learn how progress is being made to teach villagers in desolate regions where water is scarce and soil fertility is lacking, to conserve and recycle water; to use compost, worm culture and other techniques to enrich the land; and to grow and market nutritious produce such as amaranth.
In terms of the land use and sights, near Tehuacan you’ll see long narrow white-topped buildings where poultry is produced and then trucked throughout the state of Puebla and other nearby states. There will be a couple of lookouts demarcated as stops for tourists to pull over and appreciate and photograph the deep valleys and high mountaintops. Long, well-marked expansion bridges showcase the valleys and mountains. You’ll pass over a geological fault. There will be several kilometers of impressive pole cactus. Close to the approach to Oaxaca you’ll see vendors on each side of the highway selling brightly colored miniature wooden trucks.
The last of several toll booths is Huitzo. About 15 - 20 minutes later you’ll approach Oaxaca. A few minutes after entering the city, you’ll be given two opportunities to turn to the left (one of the signs is difficult to interpret), but unless you’ve been provided with specific instructions to get to your hotel or B & B, and know it’s in a northern suburb, best is to just keep driving straight, eventually entering onto a one-way street which will lead you to the core of the downtown area and the zócalo.
Addendum
We had planned to spend our last night in Acayucan, Veracruz, having noted three hotels, one of which piqued our interest because it appeared to be the only middle-of-the-road and acceptable option, at least for us. Immediately upon entering the town, at about 6:30 pm, we were pulled over by two state troopers, and asked to produce some type of sticker about which we knew nothing. I produced license and ownership without a request to do so. The more belligerent of the officers, Taurino Santiago Ramas (Santiago) insisted he would phone for a tow truck, and did pull out his cellular and make a call.
After ten minutes of heated banter, I told me wife to just ask him “how much?” Santiago said he didn’t want money. This was a shock, since my initial assumption was that it would just be a matter of how long, and how much. He became more testy, almost as much as we had become.
Out of the blue, Santiago’s mood suddenly changed. He asked us about our plans for the night. We indicated that we intended to stay in town. He immediately mentioned his hotel recommendation and how to get there. It was the same hotel at which we had planned to stay. We assured him we would indeed lodge there, whereupon he told us that we would have to pay a 1,000 peso fine the next day. In the same breath, in a softer tone, he proposed “but since I’m a nice guy, and have a kind heart, if you like, instead you can pay something to me.”
I pulled three fifties and a twenty peso bill from my pocket, and offered him one hundred pesos. Santiago demanded, “I’ll take them all.” So 170 pesos lighter we got back in the car, hearing Santiago’s loud laughs, directed at his partner, us, and anyone else on the crowded street within earshot.
But I think we got the last laugh. Santiago certainly assumed that we were going to stay at his suggested hotel, and in fact we drove off in that direction with he and his sidekick watching. He had probably called not for a tow truck, but the hotel, and advised that we’d be coming by, and confirmed the amount of his commission for the referral. Otherwise, he probably would have demanded a bigger bribe. Of course we did not want to stay anywhere he suggested. We were concerned that overnight our belongings might be snatched from the car. We decided it would not be prudent to stay in Acayucan at all, so we high-tailed it out of Dodge, and drove a further 2 ½ hours, during the night, until bedding down in the city of Orizaba.
Alvin Starkman received his Masters in Social Anthropology in 1978. After teaching for a few years he attended Osgoode Hall Law School, thereafter embarking upon a successful career as a litigator until 2004. Alvin, a good-standing member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, now resides with his wife Arlene in Oaxaca, Mexico, where he writes, leads small group tours to the villages, markets, ruins and other sights, is a consultant to documentary film companies, and operates Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast ( http://www.oaxacadream.com ), providing the comfort and service of lodging in a Oaxaca hotel, with the personal touch of a small country inn.
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