Home
10-day Mexico Experience
Itinerary
DAY 1 DEPART
After arriving in Oaxaca City you will be transported to the UNESCO World Heritage historic center of Oaxaca City. After meeting your local guide and talking about the upcoming adventure you will have a traditional Oaxacan dinner and spend the evening relaxing in the hotel.
DAY 2 OAXACA
In the morning, enjoy a walking tour of the 450-year-old city center, with its vibrant market, gorgeous central park or zócalo, churches and shops. After a filling lunch you’ll spend the afternoon exploring the fabulously restored exconvent of Santo Domingo, now an excellent regional museum featuring, among other things, the spectacular finds of Tomb Seven from Monte Alban.
DAY 3 OAXACA
Early in the morning you’ll travel 1,500 years back in time to visit the greatest of the Zapotec cities and one of Mesoamerica's most important and spectacular ruins – Monte Alban, with its ancient pyramids and palaces. Then you’ll walk down the back of the mountain, following trails walked by Zapotecs for thousands of years, to the small village of Arrazola. Here you’ll have the chance to meet local artisans who carve wonderful figures in wood. Enjoy free time in Oaxaca later that afternoon, and a relaxing evening
at the Hotel Maela.
DAY 4 OAXACA
Sunday is market day in the town of Tlacolula, one of the biggest and most colorful markets in the Oaxacan valleys, and not to be missed. Like everyone else going to market today, you’ll get there by public bus. Along the way, you’ll visit the famous and gigantic cypress tree known as the Tule, which has one of the largest diameters of any tree on earth. After lunch you’ll return to Oaxaca and the afternoon is yours to do with as you like. Evening at Hotel Maela.
DAY 5 ROAGUIA
Breakfast in the neighborhood of La Merced market means you can enjoy local treats all made fresh before your eyes. Then you’ll travel by vanto the 2,000-year-old Zapotec pottery village of San Marcos Tlapazola where you will learn how pots have been made in his village for 100 generations. Next, a visit to the ruined palaces of Mitla, which were still occupied by elite warriors at the time of the Spanish conquest in 1521. Afterwards you will head to the hills to the rural village of Roaguia, where you will spend the next three days getting a taste of what life is like in a quiet Mexican village.
DAY 6 ROAGUIA
This morning you will meet with local host friends to make a traditional meal of corn tortillas, tamales, beans and soup. You may need to head to the hills to gather firewood, and the resulting meal will be eaten for lunch. Afterwards, you’ll take a trip to the spectacular Hierve el Agua mineral springs, to explore the pools and rock formations, swim and gaze at the amazing views.
DAY 7-8 ROAGUIA
For the next two days you’ll continue your explorations in rural living. You’ll learn how to harvest and weave the palm leaves that are used here to make baskets, fans and sleeping mats. You will also be doing some farming over these two days, which is likely to include plowing with oxen, shucking corn, or taking the goats out to graze. You’ll have the afternoons free to practice more palm weaving, spend time with your local hosts, explore the mineral springs or take it easy at the hostel.
DAY 9 OAXACA
This morning you’ll say farewell to your adopted village and the friends you’ve made here and head back to the city. Along the way you’ll stop at the ancient ruins of Yagul, with its palaces and fortress. Then you’ll visit Teotitlan del Valle, a village of 5,000 weavers, where you will learn how the colorful wool rugs are woven and dyed. After a good Zapotec lunch it’s back to the hotel in Oaxaca. You’ll have the chance for some final gift-shopping before a farewell dinner.
DAY 10 HOME
Depart for the US.