One of the reasons we decided to spend time in Central America is to improve our Spanish language skills so when we find ourselves in a minibus of mostly Mexican tourists, with a driver who speaks no English and plays Mexican soft rock all day, we throw ourselves into the experience. Thankfully, for the morning at least, a guide named Angel is on a second minibus and will explain, in both Spanish and English, the sites we’ll see before lunch. After that… hablaremos español. 

Our first stop once we leave Oaxaca is the nearby town of Santa Maria Del Tule which is famous for its giant tree of over 2000 years old, named El Ahuehuete. It’s in the Guinness Book of Records for the widest trunk in the world at over 58 metres and it would take more than 40 people to link arms and encircle it. The trunk is incredible and very impressive, full of gnarls and knots that many people claim look like a wide variety of animals. We can definitely spot one part that’s similar to a lion’s mane but beyond that it’s just a very big trunk. 

We continue on for 30 minutes through utterly beautiful countryside with mountains on the horizon and fields of agave plants, before we arrive at a Zapotec farm where the inhabitants make wool rugs. We’re all led into a room where a Zapotec woman explains how they have prepared the raw wool for centuries, demonstrating their techniques for softening the fibres into yarn and then how they spin them on a wheel. 

We’re talked through an array of natural roots, leaves, fruit, flowers, seeds and more which are used to dye the wool. But it’s the colours from the cochinile parasite that lives on cactus plants which are most impressive. A Dutch woman from the second minibus is chosen to have her hand stained with the bright red colour it produces when crushed. Her palm instantly looks like it’s dripping with blood.

Lime juice is then squeezed on to her hand and it transforms immediately into a vivid orange. Her hand is then rubbed with limestone and becomes a deep purple colour. Apparently over 60 different colours can be produced from the tiny parasites by using a variety of mixers. It’s natural magic. 

In the next room, men demonstrate how to use the intricate looms. The roles are strictly gender defined and boys start learning the techniques at just six years old. There are no written patterns or pre-prepared designs so all the intricate geometric designs come from the weaver’s imagination, and it can take over a week just to re-string the loom to prepare it to create what the weaver has dreamed. And then up to sixty days of weaving to actually create it. So each piece has to be done from start to finish by the same weaver. 

Next up is the historic site of Mitla, called the ‘place of death’ by the blood-thirsty Aztecs after they conquered the Zapotecs, who originally called it the rather more gentle ‘place of rest’, as it was a giant funeral site. And of course, just 70 years after the Aztecs marched into town, the Spanish conquistadors came along and started tearing down the beautiful temples to build the church which still stands next door. 

The site is quite small and dominated by the one remaining temple, with its unique and intricate designs, a mix of Mixtec art and Zapotec construction. Originally built 1100 years ago, its design has survived the numerous earthquakes that shake the region far better than the later Spanish buildings which are regularly destroyed. But it’s the terror of the Conquistadors that reduced the site to the remnants we see today. Of the four grand temples surrounding the main plaza, only one was still remaining by the time the decree came back from Spain to preserve as much of the existing culture in the Americas as possible. 

Photos duly snapped we are all taken for a buffet lunch at a nearby tourist restaurant and then we and our minibus of Mexican tourists say goodbye to Angel and the more mobility-challenged contingent before we climb high into the mountains through vast forested slopes. Turning off the main highway we set off on a bumpy, windy road, that’s little more than a dusty track in parts, through little villages and past donkeys in the fields. Every so often tiny family roadside shacks appear with horses walking round and round in a circle driving a stone wheel to crush the roasted agave plants to make mezcal, rather dangerously offering bottles for sale to passing drivers. 

At the end of the track lies our destination, Hierve el Agua. An amazing and huge petrified waterfall it sits in the most incredible panoramic vista, like something from the age of the dinosaurs. Rather than spend 90 minutes hiking all the way there and back in the hot sun we opt for the more relaxed option of bathing in the picturesque pools perched on the edge of cliffs that afford perfect views of it. 

They’re somewhat crowded with backpackers and locals alike taking posed photos for their Instagram feeds, and who are we to judge, grabbing our snaps in front of the jaw-dropping natural backdrop. At one stage two huge Mexican vultures swoop down and land in one of the pools to drink next to startled bathers before taking flight. The water is bracingly cold but super refreshing in the heat and the mind-blowing location has been worth every second of the journey. 

On the way to our final stop for the day we get chatting to our bus-mates Diego and Leslie, who are on holiday from Merida, the capital of the state of Yucatán, which we are due to visit in a few week’s time. She’s a psychologist and he’s a musician and graphic designer, as well as a massive mezcal fan and collector. He has come on this day trip mainly for this next stop and laughs “For me, Oaxaca is like Disneyland”. We talk about Mexican politics and music as we go and Diego gives Coman further recommendations for his Mexican playlist. He also insists we look them up when we get to Merida and they’ll show us a night out. 

At El Rey de Matatlan, the mezcal distillery that rounds off our tour, all our new Mexican friends on the minibus get a young Spanish speaking guide, whilst Coman and I get the rather grizzled Sergio, who has worked there for years and is the designated English speaking guide. To be honest, with his mumbling accent and rather limited knowledge of English we’d have been better off with the Spanish guide. But we have an entertaining time nevertheless learning the process of distillation, trying the pulp of the agave plant, and of course sipping the many different types of mezcal on offer. Despite having a strict “no souvenirs” rule due to the limits of our luggage, we buy a small bottle of creme de cappuccino mezcal to accompany us on our travels. 

It’s 7pm before we finally arrive back in Oaxaca, and despite the fact we’re meant to be watching the pesos and living a more stripped-down, backpacker style lifestyle, the quality of Oaxaca’s culinary reputation means we can’t resist pushing the boat out once more. Damien at Comeré Oaxaca had told us that we really must go for dinner at Cobarde, which he thinks is the best restaurant in Oaxaca. So having made a reservation yesterday we are seated on their rooftop terrace and served a quite phenomenal meal, which is amongst the best we’ve eaten anywhere in the world and at a fraction of what we’d pay in London. 

We choose three vegetarian starters of roasted broccoli, garlic, honeycomb and dried fruit; a garden salad with apricots, goats cheese and golden raisins and a genuinely mind-blowing dish of braised cheese, walnuts, brown butter and cranberries. It’s absolutely delicious and we retire for the night feeling very lucky indeed.