Itinerary

Day 1

This is a rather specialized tour offered by Alvin Starkman of Casa Machaya Oaxaca Bed & Breakfast, for those who want to get off the beaten track, and are willing to put their faith in a guide with experience, who takes care, and has common sense.After touring the ancient pre-Hispanic ruin of Mitla, with its in-tact dry construction, intricate friezes and massive lintels, and of course its tombs, we're heading into the mountains.First stop is the 3,000 - 10,000 year old pictographs, accessed by securing the services of a local Zapotec resident of Xaagá, a dusty cotton textile producing village. We'll walk across desolate fields, and finally arrive at a series of shallow caves. Photos can be taken from here, or if you're agile enough, after climbing the steep rock precipice. Our guide, a weaver in his own right, will offer the wares of his family for purchase ... scarves, shawls, rebosos, and maybe shirts and blouses. This is a marginal community, the residents of which you would only have an opportunity to meet in such a touring context.Continue on up the mountainside on good highway, and pass by a couple of the quaintest mom-and-pop mezcal "factories" you could imagine. Take photos, watch the ancient process unfold, learn and ask questions, and sample ... from each of three locations. If you're lucky you'll be able to taste as the mezcal drips from the still.Continuing, our third small distillery operation is actually a combined roadside eatery. No menu here, and in fact no electicity. But the freshest of grilled meats, tortillas, quesadillas and more, all cooked on an open flame. Since this is also a mezcal outlet, there's as much as you want to drink with your meal, all gratuitously provided by the warmest of owners you could imagine.Now we head off of the main highway, heading towards Hierve el Agua, the natural bubbling springs, driving through another small town laden with again, marginal cottage industry (and of course a couple more mezcal operations --- by now you'll be expert at discerning flavors, degrees of smokiness, aging, and varieties of agave used in the process). Our final destination is San Isidro Roguia, home of the bubbling springs. Climb down the rock pathway, and if you're so inclined, up to the petrified mineral waterfalls. Taste the water as it bubbles from deep down in the earth. Swim in one of two poolings of water reaching a depth of over six feet, in an exquisite mountain setting.And of course, there are additional optional stops en route!

Extra Information

Extras -

This tour may delete some stops, and add others, depending on the passions and interests of the client. For example, non-drinkers might wish to spend only minimal time sampling mezcal, and those we a fear of a roadside comedor might opt for a more traditional restaurant. The cave painting village can be visited, and textile workshops entered without hiking anywhere, and similarly textile stops can be eliminated. A full day with a diversity of stops is guaranteed, based on client wishes.