After yesterday’s trip to Mitla, this morning sees us visiting the massive and hugely important Zapotec site that preceded it. Only 25 minutes drive out of Oaxaca, and 500 metres above it, sits Monte Alban which was one of the most important pre-Hispanic cities in the whole of the Americas, and contemporaneous with the great sites of Teotihuacan and Palenque. At its height it boasted a population of more than 45,000 people, and was occupied from 800BC until the inhabitants mysteriously left around 800AD. 

One of the most remarkable aspects of the site is that the Zapotecs not only built their city at the top of a mountain, but that they completely levelled the land, effectively slicing the entire top off the mountain to create a giant plateau. Considering this was done by hand using just small stone tools, without any metals, animals or machinery, it’s an almost impossible feat of engineering and one of the wonders of ancient Mexican archaeology. 

While the Mixtecs briefly rediscovered the city in 1100AD, and the Aztecs still knew of its existence in 1450, by the time the Spaniards arrived seventy years later it was an overgrown hilltop and, seeing nothing of note, they thankfully didn’t destroy it or plonk another cathedral on top. 

It was the Mexican archaeologist Alfonso Casa who eventually started excavations in 1930 and quite literally struck gold in 1932 by finding the Latin American equivalent of the great treasures of Tutankhamen. More than 500 exquisite items of jewellery, including golden breastplates, necklaces, precious stones, bracelets, earrings and even golden fingernails, were discovered in what is now named Tomb 7. One of the greatest finds in history they are now housed in the museum next to Santo Domingo church, which is closed today to our huge frustration. 

Miguel our guide, however, is very good at bringing the haul vividly to life, and his explanations of what we see as we continue around the site are fascinating. He tells us that many theories relate to Monte Alban’s sudden abandonment, from the threat of constant earthquakes to famine to disease. But he favours the idea that after 1500 years of the population continuously having to carry water 500 metres up the mountain from the valley below they just gave up and moved somewhere more sensible, with its own water source. 

The site is jaw dropping in scale and beauty, but Miguel tells us that only a small fraction is uncovered, despite there being numerous mounds around us, all of which contain ancient buildings. The Mexican government pulled all funding from archaeological exploration as a result of the pandemic and are not showing any interest in starting again, preferring to invest in the country’s huge petro-chemical reserves at the behest of the president and the men who control Mexico’s transportation networks.

Ironically Monte Alban is so important that its image actually features on Mexican currency, appearing on the back of the 20 peso note. For some strange reason that version is now being discontinued and shiny new $20 notes are being printed without it on. But it’s not just Monte Alban that is running short on money. We’re told the same thing at Palenque and other sites we visit. The government have used Covid as an excuse to divert money away from archaeological and ecological expenditure and towards their own benefits and agendas. Just like the Conservatives back home!

Despite this depressing news, Monte Alban is a real gem with spectacular pyramids, vast plazas, palaces, a ball court, an observatory and more on display. And who knows what other precious treasures and gold and silver jewellery are just waiting to be discovered on top of the mountain once excavations can start again.

We go on our own treasure hunt when we return to Oaxaca, replacing the silver commitment rings we lost a couple of months ago with brand new versions from the local silversmiths. We then celebrate with lunch at Del Jardin on the Zocalo, soaking up the sunshine and atmosphere of our last few hours in Oaxaca. It’s a great spot to people watch as couples, families, children and tourists all wander past us, while the festive celebrations are being taken down and cleared away. 

We’ve noticed quite a lot of young Mexican same sex couples over the past few days here, walking openly hand in hand, and a few in Mexico City and Puebla too. Attitudes are definitely changing in this previously very traditional country and Tania also mentioned as much when we walked through the streets a couple of days ago, discussing how a new generation are rejecting the macho posturing of old and moving towards supporting women’s, gay and trans rights. 

Even though there is a huge mix of races and 63 different languages amongst Mexico’s diverse population of 130 million people, there aren’t really any issues of racism in the country; the divides and social problems are far more based around economic and gender equality. And while economic issues are still very much evident, with widespread poverty on display especially in rural areas, there’s definitely an evolution towards a more open and tolerant society under way with the next generation rejecting the rigid and out-dated doctrines of the Catholic Church.  

One of our fellow travellers on the minibus yesterday, an older teenager called Jose, had cheerfully asked us yesterday, “Hey, are you guys married?” Admittedly it was whilst we were posing for him to take our photo at the mezcal factory in a cardboard cutout of us as a man and woman, so we may have given him a rather big clue. And when we said yes, and told him how long we’d been together, he exclaimed “Wow, that’s so cool, man!!” 

Once we’ve finished lunch, including an un-needed but delicious dessert, we head back to our hotel, stopping on the way to buy a couple of  wide brimmed hats as the sun is already burning here and only going to get hotter as we head into the tropics further south. 

We’ll be spending tonight on a twelve hour bus ride to the highland city of San Cristóbal de las Casas, but it doesn’t depart until 10.30pm so we go for a final wander in search of a light bite to eat. By chance, on a little backstreet, we stumble upon an amazing vegan restaurant called Hierba Dulce, so can’t resist ordering delicious mushroom tacos and enchiladas de hoja santa. Eduardo, our waiter tells us they’re ranked the number one vegan restaurant in the whole of the city, but we’ve not really seen any others in Oaxaca. 

However when we arrive in a cloudy San Cristóbal the following morning after a long and winding drive, eased by sleeping tablets and eye masks, we discover that Hierba Dulce would have serious competition here. There are vegan restaurants all over the city. San Cristóbal is a major destination for backpackers, the vast majority of whom are young and environmentally aware, so we’re in heaven!

And of course, despite the current overwhelming appetite for meat (and sugar) from modern Mexicans, a vegan diet was for millennia the traditional cuisine in the whole of the Americas, as the population had no cows, sheep, pigs, horses, chicken or other domesticated animals, and there were no eggs or dairy in their diets. 

On the coasts they ate seafood and while snakes and birds were considered sacred, in the jungle hunters would bring back wild animals such as tapirs and rodents, but these would be an occasional element of their diets. For 90% of the time they lived on fruit, vegetables, pulses, seeds and nuts, which is why corn was such a revered part of their lives.  

So as soon as we’ve disembarked from the bus and dumped our bags at the somewhat more characterful Hotel Mansion de Los Angeles we walk around the corner and have a delicious veggie brunch at a little restaurant called La Frontera with a cute garden, followed by a much needed coffee and juice at a vegan cafe called Kukul-Pan, situated on a little street corner. 

We can already tell that this is a far more laidback town of locals and travellers than the splendour and crowds of Oaxaca and, having very little pre-planned for our three days here, we start to feel ourselves finally relaxing into “travelling” mode after what’s been far more of an action-packed holiday vibe so far. 

While we drink our coffee we watch a couple of leader-led backpacking groups wandering the streets and presume that we’ll become part of a similar pack when we join our Intrepid Travel group to venture into Belize and Guatemala in a couple of weeks. And with that thought in mind, it reminds us that we need to find a launderette nearby as, despite any photos to the contrary, we have packed light and need some clean underwear ASAP!