Some pictures from Oaxaca. All taken within the past few days.

Go here for eight more.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28582775@N05/

Never did this Flikr thing before. Hope it works.

Edit: Thanks Traveller! So much easier than the code I was trying. Hopefully I can remember this.

Camera: Canon Eos Rebel. Two models down. Lens: stock piece of crap. I couldn't borrow the "L" series lens, and close inspection of the photos shows that the stock lens just sucks. It's soft and low contrast compared to a "real" lens, but the fringing was minimal, and it made for some nice snapshots. Only one new battery was needed, as I never used a flash, (broken), and I never filled my 2 gig memory card. Unfortunately most of my prep time was spent in the emergency ward, (long story, but I'm fine), so I only had time to grab a body, lens, battery, memory, get in the cab, go to the airport, and off.

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Oaxaca

What a place. Southern Mexico, down by where it gets skinny, a couple of hours south of Mexico City. Oaxaca is part of a vast Police State. There were political disturbances down there a couple of years ago, and according to locals over 20 were killed. Issues related to their very unfair educational system. It seems that the Mexican ruling class simply does not want the little people educated properly. The final results were mixed, with the teachers and their supporters essentially caving in. Too bad, but the sentiments are still alive. You will encounter somewhere between 5 and 8 various police entities during your stay. But since you are a tourist, and bring money, you will find yourself in an extremely safe environment.

Grafitti is everywhere. Kids think nothing of tagging walls that are thousands of years old. Music is everywhere. A quartet of excellent musicians serenaded us with Central American/South American flute/guitar/drum music that sounded like it came off a CD. A jazz trio was knocking out Bird, Dizzy and Cannonball Adderley tunes one night in a small bar/café that remlnded me of a North Beach coffee shop circa 1964- 67. Their musicianship was stunning. Perfect time. Perfect tone. Another night the stage was commanded by a 24 yr. old folk singer who was equally talented.

Drink the Mescal. There are many types, and Mescal was invented here thousands of years ago. I had somewhere around 10 kinds, getting me pretty drunk on three occasions. My favorite, and I highly recommend it, is Mezcal Tobala. Although perfectly clear and without the worm, this stuff is the smoothest. We visited agave farms and fields, and two manufacturing facilities, one large although not mechanized, and another put up by a farmer on the side of a hill. Mescal is the drink of the gods.

Hotel rooms are pretty cheap, if you hunt around. I wanted to save money so I rented some $20 and some $45 dollar rooms, with shared bath and with private bath. So, I'm calculating, if I could simply rent out my joint next summer, I could go down, stay in modest rooms and eat at modest restaraunts, and actually come out ahead or break even on the deal.

No visit is complete unless you eat bugs. In the mercados you will find various spicy grasshoppers. I stayed away from the big ones, but the most popular are the small grasshoppers, cooked up and spiced up in different ways.I had a dish that was a fine, soft white cheese covered with tiny black bugs. Quite rich and tasty. And the Mescal worm, the one that lives in the Agave boll when growing, and gets put in many of their bottles of Mescal, not only tastes good, but supposedly has anti-depressive qualities. Nice balance for a very serious alcoholic drink.

Anybody considering going there? I've got tips. Nine days. Airfare from Los Angeles - $900. Everything else - $600. I must go back. Bone up on your Spanish. Most of the folks down there are bilingual, but English ain't on the agenda down there, as their second language is usually some indigenous dialog spoken by hundreds or thousands of people.

Most of the tourists I encountered were Mexican, although I ran into numerous Germans, English and Dutch. Americans are not an overwhelming influence down there.

My target date for another Oaxacan adventure is in two years. That's when the new highway to the southern Pacific coast will be done.

Cheers!

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Me: We! -- Ali