Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Oaxaca City (I) - 6 C's of Oaxaca, Mexico (January 2024)

After we stayed in Guadalajara for three weeks, we flew to Oaxaca de Juarez, the capital city for the State of Oaxaca in the southern area of Mexico.

Oaxaca is known for many things, but they may be summarized into 6 C's: Church, Climate, Coffee, Cuisine or Comida, Culture, and Color.  

Church

There are more than 20 churches in the city, the most in light of the population. Two are noteworthy: The first one is Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzman, the most famous and popular one in Oaxaca.




and the other one is the Catedral Metropolitana de Oaxaca, located right next to the Zocalo. The interior was somewhat dark, unlike many other churches I have seen in Mexico.





Climate
Oaxaca is located at the height of 1,580 meters or approximately 5,000 feet from the sea level, an ideal height for us similar to the heights of Denver and Kigali, Rwanda where we used to live. This altitude located close to the equator provides the eternal spring climate, ranging between 70-80 F throughout the year. Not bad at all.

Coffee

Another characteristic of the areas with the high altitude, plus with the latitude of 15 degrees from the equator, is that it provides an ideal climate for growing Arabica coffee. Oaxacan coffee is well known for its aroma and smooth taste, along with the coffee from the state of Chiapas.

Cuisine or Comida

Oaxaca is famous for its moles and mezcal. Oaxaca has seven moles that include negro (black and the most popular), green, red, Colorado (dark red), yellow, Chichilo, and Manchamantel. We tasted five of them. They have a little sweet and smooth taste and add a flavor to the food.

Mezcal is a liquor made from agave pineapples. It is a distilled drink and depending on the period of storing in oak barrels, the value rises. Tequila is a kind of Mezcal, but made only from blue agave grown only in five states in the middle. There are many mezcal tasting shops like the photo below. We went to two Mezcal distilleries during out stay as part of two daytrips we made. More in another blog post. 

There are a lot of other Oaxacan cuisines that are popular. Everywhere in Mexico, there are food vendors that proudly display the signs of Oaxacan Cuisines, indicating the popularity of Oaxacan foods. 

Culture

This is a catch-all for anything that has not been mentioned above. This includes the strong culture of Festival for Dead People. There are so many dead people murals and skeletons, all over the city. Other Mexican cities also have similar cultures, but Oaxaca seems to outweigh all others.

Color

Oaxaca is full of colors. The murals on the walls and clothes all display a variety of colors. The Oaxacan colors are as diverse as the Colombian colors, particularly Cartagena. 




We both enjoyed our stay in Oaxaca and we agreed to return to Oaxaca in time, perhaps living for months. - Jeffrey

Friday, January 19, 2024

Guadalajara (IX) - San Juan Cosala, Mexico (January 2024)

Lake Chapala is the largest lake in Mexico. It is located approximately one hour drive from the City of Guadalajara. To the north of the lake is a mountain range called Sierra San Juan Cosala. Between the mountains and the lake is a residential area that includes Chapala, Antonio, Ajijic, San Juan Cosala, and Jocotepec. Ajijic is famous for a large expat community from the U.S. and Canada.  Since Ajijic is getting more and more expensive, other towns are also getting attention from expats. 


Several years ago, we stayed in Antonio for several days and explored the area. So, this time we decided to visit San Juan Cosala where thermal springs spas are famous. 


We hired a tour guide and drove around the various communities of Guadalajara and asked him to drop us off in San Juan Cosala.  


Before we unpacked ourselves at the lodging, we had dinner at a local restaurant called Viva Mexico. Apparently it is popular among the expats. All customers looked like the expats. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner. The meals were delicious and the price tag was surprisingly very reasonable.  







The vacation home we rented had a panoramic lake view. The sunset was breathtaking. 




In the morning, the sunrise was also beautiful and we felt so freed and relaxed by the view.
 




The vacation home was a studio unit, but it was built very functionally and we enjoyed our stay, although it was for only one night. I felt like returning to this place some other time. Having breakfast with the lake view was close to heavenly.





We went to Balneario (meaning Spa) Hotel which had a huge area of thermal springs and pools with equally impressive large picnic area. I could easily guess that the place will be packed with visitors over the weekend. Since we went there during the weekdays, it was less crowded and we thoroughly enjoyed the place. Sitting down in a hot springs jacuzzi was relaxing and swimming in a warm mineral water pool was pleasant.  










We met a Cambodian American couple, Michael and Bo, from California. They live in Alameda where Joyce is living. It was fun to meet Asians in a place it is rare to see Asians. We agreed to meet up when we go to Northern California in February. We will see.

Our experience was so good that we made another trip to spend time there. The second time, the trip was relatively easier than the first time of return because the buses (Chapala Plus Premium) were more comfortable and the buses stopped right in front of the hotel. It was nice! 


We agreed that this hot springs would be a bonus if we would stay in the Guadalajara area. - Jeffrey

Guadalajara (VIII) - Tequila, Mexico (January 2024)

Tequila is an alcoholic beverage well known for drinkers. It is a Mexican spirit and it originated from the Town of Tequila. We took a public bus to get there and walked around the town. 


Mexico produces many kinds of Mezcals made from agaves. Among all Mezcals, Tequila is made only from blue agaves also grown only in five states including Jalisco. 


Museo de Tequila - The Town of Tequila has a museum that shows the history of Tequila. I have seen the manufacturing process else where, but it was a different perspective to read and see the contents at the museum.  



The Town of Tequila is a small and cute town. It has a relatively small church and a plaza before and behind the church. All shops are surrounding the plazas and many sales people for tourist programs were actively soliciting tourists.  Despite their solicitation, it was relaxing to stroll the town plaza. On the streets, many tourist vehicles of interesting shapes were roaming around with a loud music. It was a bit annoying, but understandable. 
















Among many brands for Tequila, Jose Cuervo is the most famous and most popular. Reportedly, Jose Cuervo is supplying approximately 75% of the world's Tequila consumption. Jose Cuervo has a distillery plant in the Town of Tequila. I made a visit and the expensive Tequila brand was as high as US$3,000













The shops have many different types of souvenirs people can buy. 






The Town of Tequila has a huge area of fields where blue agaves are growing. We visited one of the fields before we reached Guadalajara in the Gate 1 Colonial Mexico Tour. Also, we already made a tour to one of the Tequila Distilleries so we skipped the Tequila tasting tour.  






It was a fun day to visit  the place of origin for Tequila drinks. - Jeffrey