We’re quickly approaching the two-week mark here in Tule and the Greater Oaxaca de Juarez (Oaxaca City) area. We were looking forward to making it to this part of the country (our farthest point south so far), and so far it hasn’t disappointed.
Weather-wise, our first week was relatively nice, considering we’re still in the throws of wet season. But this week, we’re getting pounded with loads of rain and chilly temperatures from a couple of big cold fronts battering coastal Mexico.
Despite the bad weather, there’s been an endless stream of families coming through the RV park, which has been keeping the boys very busy.
Our Mexico-USA RV Journey 2024-25
There was a Dutch family with two little girls here when we arrived. Then a Canadian family arrived mid-week with a 9, 11, and 13 year-old.
There was also a French and Spanish family who passed through briefly. Quite a change from the past several months.
Lori and I chuckled the other night when we realized that the boys have played with dozens of kids at RV parks across Mexico over the past six months, but not a single other American kid.
Even here in the next country over, RVing American families seem to be rare. On the other hand, the boys have played with kids from Mexico, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Poland, Germany, New Zealand, Hungary, and even India.
Saying goodbye is never easy, but a part of life for everyone here. If we’re lucky, sometimes our paths cross again farther down the line.
Our little perch earlier on when things were a bit drier.
The pool area and playground in the morning, before the kids descend on it.
Leaving the compound to go anywhere is not an easy task these days.
The town’s famed Arbol del Tule. This Montezuma cypress is the widest tree in the world and is thought to be at least 1,200 years old.
We’re fighting a mad case of cabin fever these days, and convinced that there must be an easier route into town.
This alternative route doesn’t seem to be much better.
It’s a muddy 15-minute walk from El Rancho RV Park to the place where we catch the buses and colectivos into Oaxaca City. From there, the trip takes around 20-30 minutes to the edge of town. Then, it’s another 20-30 minutes of walking from the bus stop into central Oaxaca. That’s over an hour of travel time each way.
Not exactly what we expected staying at an RV park a mere five miles outside of town, but not surprising in Mexico, either.
Today, we thought we’d try the home school coffee shop thing, just to change it up.
It always seems like a great idea in theory, but usually ends up not being a great use of our time. Which is probably why this is only our second or third time in six months attempting it.
The worst part might be knowing what’s in store for us at the tail-end of the long return journey.
Rainy afternoon, so it’s a movie day. Then, maybe we’ll break out the cards.
A lull in activity at the RV park.
Haircuts!
Yep, mosquitoes are pretty bad these days. Another reason why we’re hunkered down in the RV in the evening. These guys are vicious.
Sunday, we decided it was time to take a little day trip to somewhere other than Oaxaca City. The market town of Tlacolula de Matamoros has been on our list for a while, and it seemed easy enough to figure out.
We made our way to the main road and hopped on a bus with “Tlacolula” on the front. Thirty minutes later, we hopped off and followed the crowd south.
Right off the bat, one of things that struck us about this town was the number of India-style tuk-tuks zooming around town. It’s something we haven’t seen much in other parts of Mexico.
The town’s got a picturesque church and plaza. But the majority of people milling about today are here for one thing: The Tlacolula Sunday Market, one of the oldest and largest continuously operating markets in Latin America.
We’ve been told we hit the market at a good time. In the dry season, the market gets extremely crowded. Today, it’s just moderately crowded. But it’s also on the early side.
There are several sections of the market. This one is for families who want to buy their fresh meat from one of the stalls, then cook it themselves on one of a dozen large charcoal grills, right in the middle of the aisle.
No part of the animal is off limits in Mexico.
We’re not here to DIY. We’ve come to sample the main attraction for which this market is known far and wide: BARBACOA. The taco filling of the gods (literally: Sacred Fire Pit).
After four years living in Mexico, there are a few taco fillings I can do some level of justice to. Barbacoa is one I simply will not attempt. Watch a master at work like the woman here for a minute and you’ll get what I mean. Anyone can make Birria. The skill, effort, and materials involved in making authentic barbacoa, on the other hand, is unreal.
The verdict? Probably the best barbacoa I’ve ever had. No joke. And the atmosphere just adds to the experience. This is where Mexicans from across the region make a pilgrimage to sample some of the country’s very best.
And if you’re looking for a bit of bathtub hooch to go along with your meal, you’re in luck. This guy and his repurposed plastic bottle’s got you covered (seriously).
We’re hoping to sample some local mezcal today, but this stuff might be a bit too local for us.
I could have left happy right then and there. But there’s much more to sample at the market. Next up, a cup of Tejate, a Oaxacan beverage similar to atole that combines corn, cacao beans, and a rich, hand whipped foam from the two ingredients.
We tried it at two places, a more artisan-style stall, and a more traditional stall later on.
It’s an interesting texture. I wouldn’t say any of us would crave it in the future. But it certainly wasn’t bad. Just a bit different.
The tejate from the more traditional place was a bit more powdery and heavy, and the portions were huge. But it was more or less drinkable between the four of us. An acquired taste, perhaps.
By the time we passed back through the center of the market, the DIY grilling was in full swing.
Leaving the main market building, we found ourselves behind this woman and her featured friend. Soon, we discovered where she was headed. If you’re looking for FRESH poultry, this is your place.
Next, we ducked into this building and found ourselves in the bakery section.
In Mexico, the pastries almost always look better than they taste. But we thought we’d sample a few anyway. Not as sweet and moist as we’d like, but a good snack (though honestly, I wasn’t craving much of a snack after all that barbacoa).
However, when I told Lori I’d be up for a small bite or two, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.
Lori’s been trying to get us all to try chapulines forever. Here seemed to be as good a place as any, as local legend says, if you eat chapulines in Oaxaca, you’ll return to Oaxaca (worked for Lori).
So we finally gave her the satisfaction and got the smallest bag possible. We had a choice of flavors. You can’t go wrong with salt, lime, and chili, right?
So, what are chapulines, you may wonder? Fried grasshoppers, of course! Lori’s had them before on visits to Mexico predating me, but this was the first time for the rest of us.
My feelings on our little snack were probably somewhere in between these two. Don’t think any of us were totally sold on the grasshoppers, even smothered in Michelada garnish. But we all agreed they were worth trying.
Before leaving town, we had one last item of business to attend to. Like Tule, Tlacolula is on La Ruta del Mezcal. Tule has several bodegas where you can taste the stuff, but no farms or distilleries. Tlacolula has a couple that are easily accessible to town. So, we made like the Tlacolulans and flagged a mototaxi.
Rancho Blanco isn’t the type of hooch you’re likely to run into at the corner liquor store. But that’s sort of the point. The sign on the front even says “No Chingaderas!” (i.e. no B.S.!).
The place evokes more curiosity shop than distillery, which only added to its down-home charm. The important thing is the quality of the product, which we’ve learned can be pretty much anywhere on the scale at a place like this.
We also heard that they give tours of their operations, so we thought the boys might enjoy that.
But first, it was clear we needed to sample the product. With the boys occupied with a little Pokemon, it’s time to get down to business with the Dueña.
The exchange went something like this (in Spanish):
Dueña: How can I help you guys?
We’d like to try some of the house mezcal.
Dueña: Well, I have lots. I have this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one…
The generous pours kept coming. At one point, we actually had to stop her. It took a few friendly attempts, but she eventually respected our plea for mercy. She was well on her way to offering all four shelves worth for us to sample if we hadn’t.
Some of the offerings were quite good, while others had more than a hint of firewater going on. We ended up leaving with a bottle of Cuishe, but no tour to speak of. But in a way, I guess we got the tour.
There were no tuk-tuks plying the route when we left, so we flagged a taxi back to Tlacolula. Half way there, we asked the driver if he could just take us back to Tule. Between all the food and mezcal, we didn’t really feel like piecing it all together again.
On the way back, the boys both passed out. And they weren’t even the ones doing the moonshine tastings.
Of course, the taxi driver refused to take us all the way back to the RV park. No driver in their right mind would choose to do that to their vehicle.
Strangely, a good ‘ol fashioned trudge in the mud seemed just what the doctor ordered to shake all of us out of our afternoon languor.
