Oaxaca, land of chocolate

At Erin's urging, we ascended the hills on a bus and entered the land of chocolate. Here, sweet brown stuff is expertly stuffed into sauces, and drinks - both hot and cold.  We purchased our second large block of chocolate - a kilogram - for under $9 and mix it with boiled water to make a rich, velvety, liquid dark chocolate. Whenever we walk down to the famous 20 de November market, we necessarily pass by many competing chocolate factory/retailers that give us chocolate samples as a matter of company policy.  Yum!

The city of Oaxaca is a relaxing mix of clubs, restaurants, huge markets, and ancient architecture. The Mezcal, like tequila but mild and a bit smokey is quite good here. It occupies the space between vodka and scotch quite nicely. It is sold in specialized stores that offer tastings and many brands or only one in stores next to eachother and competing. The tradition with tequila still holds in thd drinking of Mezcal, so limes and seasoning salt often accompany an order in the bar.

We went for a hike up the hills on the south side of town near a suburb called San Filipe. The hill is a mixture of cactus and scrub with more than its share of shiny leaved oak. The view from what we surmised is a wedding altar drank the city basin in in a eloquent summary much better than our previous reference of the hostel roof.  We half expected snakes, spiders, or scorpions but our expectations were not consummated in our brief stay in the hills.  Perhaps if we ride out of here we will see more dangerous wildlife.

An ornate church doorframe in the culture museum

There are innumerable comidors selling meals including drinks for 35 pesos, or abou 3 dollars canadian.  Though our hostel does come with a kitchen which we are relearning to use more and more despite the convenience of a ready cooked meal. Making what you want instead of having what someone else decided to make (as is the case in comidors) is a necessity sometimes.
We have made several friends here - Michael, Zoe, David, Elenna - but Leo has been with us here the longest and loves to share time with us for company during meals and to catch leads on stories in Canada.  He is a travelling journalist from Sweden trying to make a living on the road and resist the urge to return home to the drudgery of an easy job and an easy life without adventure.  At his urging, we are considering an alternate route through the eastern jungles of Chiapas for a richer journey and an opportunity to write an interesting piece if only for our own consumption.  These lesser known regions are not well documented in terms of border crossings and the routes seem to be an interesting hybrid of some of the greater challenges we have yet faced - like 200km of a road through the Amazon might be. Still, the opportunity to visit a unique biome rather than transiting quickly through regions all too familiar is certainly very alluring.

Leo and Erin talking and drinking beer

Regardless, we are likely facing one more bus ride due to the time we've spent enjoying beaches and chocolate over the last month. The jungles and mountains await!