Day 302 – Group Tour of Mitla Ruins

After yesterday’s enjoyable tour of Monte Alban (Day 301), we decided to go on another tour with Lescas Co Tours.

After Monte Alban was abandoned by the Zapotec people, the site of Mitla came to its prime. The Mitla Ruins, will be the main attraction for today’s tour.

Before the tour, we walked to the ADO bus station and bought some tickets to San Cristobal de las Casas (San Cristobal for short). Our bus tickets cost 554 MXN / $41.59 AUD per person, because we had booked the ADO GL Bus Service, which is better than 1st class. It was a night bus, so we would be saving on accommodation.

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After having breakfast at a local establishment, which didn’t have the greatest food and buying some water, we walked to Lescas Co Tours office near the Zocalo. Here we paid 150 MXN / $11.26 AUD per person for the tour. We left for the tour just after 10am in a van full of tourists. The total price including admission tickets and lunch was 445 MXN / $33.22 AUD per person.

World’s Widest Tree

When we started the tour, we actually had no idea that we would be visiting the World’s Widest Tree. The tree, called Arbol del Tule is massive, and it looks like there are several trees in one (apparently, DNA testing shows it’s not). Since it’s a massive tree, you can see it from a distance. However, if you want to go and have a slightly closer look (still behind a barrier) you can pay 10 MXN / $0.75 AUD per person, to have a peek, which we did. 

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After a very quick explanation by the guide, we were given around 15 minutes of free time. There is a nearby Catholic Church and some nice gardens to see in adjoining grounds.

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The translation from the sign above (aided by Google Translate);

Arbol Del Tule
Common Name: Ahuehuete or Sabino
Technical Name: Taxodium Mucronatum
Family: Taxodiacea
Gender: Taxodium (no idea what a trees gender is?)
Age: More than 2,000 years old
Thickness: 58 metres
Height: 42 metres
Diameter: 14.05 metres
Volume: 816.829 cubic metres
Weight: 636.107 tonnes
Source: Sedaf. (no idea what this means either?)

Mezcal Distillery

Our next stop was a Mezcal Distillery, called El Rey de Matatlan. Here a guide, went through the process of making the alcoholic drink Mezcal. It’s made from certain cactus plants, in a process similar to tequila, but less processed.

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After the explanation we were taken into the store for actual tasting! We got to try shots of various ages of mezcal and an expensive type of mezcal made from wild varieties of cactus. To sober up, we were provided with a type of citrus fruit, potentially oranges.

After the standard mezcal, we were allowed to taste the flavoured varieties. There are well over 20 varieties. We ended up buying two 250ml bottles of flavoured mezcal for 240 MXN / $17.93 AUD. 

Textiles workshop

After the mezcal distillery, we had a short drive to a textiles workshop (at least it felt short, but I may have been slightly effected after the tastings). The place was called Casa Vasquez Galeria de Tapetes. The owner gave us a demonstration on how he makes various colours using natural elements. It was a very nice demonstration that was followed with a demonstration of making a rug on a loom.

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After the demonstration they took us to a showroom where we saw their designs. There were some very nice designs inspired by Zapotec architecture and a large rug would be around 7,000 MXN / $ 522.90 AUD. Since we don’t have a house right now, we didn’t even consider it.

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Mitla Ruins

We then proceeded to the highlight of the tour, which is the Zapotec Ruins of Mitla. Here the guide walked with us through a maze of souvenirs and food stalls to the site. Entrance tickets were not included with the tour and cost 75 MXN / $5.60 AUD per person.

The ruins are quite ruined, except for one building that has been heavily reconstructed. This one building is very cool. The designs on the walls are very unique. You can walk up the stairs into the Hall of Columns, which leads to some decorated rooms. The rest of the buildings around the plaza are just rubble.

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There are also two tombs that you can descend into but watch your head and sunglasses. Since I was lacking sunglasses (sent them back to Aus to fix peeling lenses), my wife was kind enough to lend me hers. As I went into the tombs with the sunglasses on my head, I lifted my head into the low stone ceiling, scratching the glasses. Ooops.

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“Optional” Lunch

With our experience from yesterday, we were expecting a poor lunch. However, today’s Mexican buffet was really good. Once again drinks are not included, but the restaurant Donaji had a really good spread. We were thoroughly happy with the meal. If you wanted to skip the meal, you can eat a BYO lunch outside under some shelter. The lunch cost 150 MXN / $11.26 AUD per person.

As we were leaving the restaurant, the guide took 60 MXN / $4.51 AUD per person to pay for the toll road to Hierve el Agua.

Hierve el Agua

Our final destination was Hierve el Agua. The site is famous for two reasons. The first, is the rock formations that look like a waterfall, and the second, is pools of turquoise water. There is also a pool of really green, slimy water that you can also swim in. 

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As my string of bad luck continued, I took my GoPro Hero 4 into the slimy water, with just the standard cover on. The camera fried itself instantly. Not my day 🙁

That being said, the views from the pools were amazing. We didn’t walk towards the rock formation due to time limitations. but you can actually walk right next to and under it. It’s basically a decision between hiking there, or taking a long dip in the water. Unless you rush, you won’t be able to do both.

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Once we were driving back into town, it started to rain heavily again. The highway was flooding like crazy and mini landslides were blocking portions of the road. The driver didn’t seem to bothered, as he drove.

Once back in town, we were dropped off by the Zocalo. We decided to walk back to our Airbnb after another dinner at Casa Taviche. The staff remembered us and were super friendly once more.

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