Heirve el Agua and Feria de Mescal

…And thus the weekend begins! After a long, yet inspirational week at the clinic, we decided to take our next-to-last “fin de semana” and do a little exploring… We started early Saturday morning by catching a taxi to the town of Mitla, then a “camioneta” (truck with seats and a tarp over the bed) up the winding, barrier-free dirt roads to Hierve el Agua. It is a national landmark known for its sandstone and limestone petrified waterfalls and pools—a refreshing, all-natural “spa” treatment in the heart o’ Mexico. We wished we had brought our bathing suits!!

Contemplating a swim??

One of many “escaleras” to the falls.

So majestic.

Sandstone/limestone falls

On top of the world…

the maguey plants had names carved into every surface, just like tree trunks!

What goes up, must come down…

Petrified waterfall! We hiked all the way to the bottom!

Ahhhh…

Views of the pools from afar

Limestone/sandstone pools

 

Breathtaking valley views from Hierve el Agua

A pool at Hierve el Agua

The mountain cliffside, the source of our adrenaline trip 🙂

The bumpy ride up the mountain!

The view southward from the Crusero, the spot on the main highway outside of Teo where we caught a cab to Mitla! A mescal distillery with men chopping maguey plants in the front…

After a few hours of exploration around the cliffs of Hierbe de Agua, we ran into some linguist friends who had stayed at Las Granadas last week—what a small world! AND it just so happens that they were heading back to Oaxaca City with their host family brothers with extra seats in their SUV’s… so naturally we hitched a ride! The Guelaguetza festival was starting in the big city, a yearly event in which different pueblos from around the state of Oaxaca are represented in parades and dances, and Saturday marked the beginning of a two week frenzy of events…

                                         

     

     

After the parade, we tagged along for another festival of a different breed in honor of the notorious MEZCAL, the strapping juice of the maguey plant… It was held in Parque Llano and consisted of dozens of vendors from around the state handing out endless tastes of their most prized flavors of mezcal.

New friends!

Try one, try ’em all!

Met up with Dr. Pablo, as promised!

Mezcal samples!