Oaxaca, a beautiful colonial city

Today, we took the bus to Oaxaca, which is further east and on our way to Guatemala, a place we’re also planning to visit. The bus ride lasted 6 and a half hours and cost 344 pesos per person, which isn’t exactly cheap. They showed movies along the way—four in total, but only one was in English; the rest were dubbed. :( The scenery was absolutely stunning. It changed constantly—distant volcanoes, massive mountains, giant cacti, and vast plains. Oaxaca is nestled among mountains on all sides and has incredibly charming streets and squares. We’re staying close to the center at Hostel Rochen. It costs 250 pesos for a double room, which includes breakfast, free bike rentals, and free internet. We arrived around 3 PM and were pretty hungry since we hadn’t eaten anything yet, so we headed straight into town. We found a square adorned with floral decorations, surrounded by restaurants. Today’s menu featured spinach soup, steak, cake, and water for just 50 pesos. It was pure bliss, only slightly interrupted by a “crazy/drunk man” sitting with a plastic gun, pretending to shoot people. :) Otherwise, the city is said to be safe to walk around in, so tonight we can skip the taxi rides back and forth. We can just stroll around until we find a good restaurant. Our hostel is run by a French woman and an Israeli man who met each other here in Mexico and never went back home. They both spoke English, which made it easy for us to get information about recommended restaurants, safety in the city, and tours we’d like to take. People in Mexico tend to have dinner late, usually after 8:30 PM and often until around 11 PM. We decided to try a platter with various Mexican specialties... we’re still getting the names down. There was a sweet spicy sausage, meat wrapped in banana leaves, shrimp with tomato salsa, little breads with spicy tuna and parmesan, and small pieces of meat in a spicy sauce with flatbread on the side. Our taste buds had to adjust to the sweet meat flavor, but overall, it was a great experience. Different regions in a country often have a dish that’s their specialty. Oaxaca is known for its chicken with chocolate and chili. It sounds a bit strange, but it’s supposed to taste really good. We’re looking forward to trying it. We ended the evening in the bar street, where we struck up a conversation with an American girl and a Mexican guy who live together here in Oaxaca. He has his own little shop selling art, and she teaches English.