Sue Style, Food, Wine and Travel Writer

WINTER ESCAPES: OAXACA, MEXICO

(FT Weekend)

‘A well-regulated, systematic and precise person always detests Mexico and can rarely bring himself to say a kind word about anything in it, including the scenery’, wrote Charles Macomb Flandrau in his classic book Viva Mexico, first published in 1908. ‘But if one is not inclined to exaggerate the importance of exactitude and is perpetually interested in the casual, the florid and the problematic, Mexico is one long, carelessly written but absorbing romance.’

<>Precision has never been Mexico’s strong suit and problems are as florid as ever. It’s the romance of this magnificent land that draws you back. The best time to visit is between November (when the rains are over and the countryside is still green and lush) and Easter, the peak holiday period when temperatures are at their highest and driest.
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<>For most visitors the trip begins in Mexico City. In 1521 the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan that the Spaniards stumbled upon was one of the largest in the sixteenth-century world. History, evidently, repeats itself: estimates of the population of twenty first-century Mexico City range from 16 to 22 million (but who’s counting?). It’s a daunting prospect, and you may be tempted to make an immediate and unconsidered dash to the country. Resist the temptation and at the very least, take time to visit the Anthropological Museum. Under one magnificent roof you have a potted introduction arranged in chronological order to the many and varied civilisations and ethnic groups which have shaped the country, with models of many of the major archaeological sites.

Suitably primed, you can then do a runner for Oaxaca. How to get there? The fainthearted and short of time will probably get airborne, the more adventurous will be up for the bus ride. If the latter, head for the TAPO, the bus station on the east side of town. At the check-in point, a notice in Spanish advises all passengers taking the 17-hour ride to Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo that the transporting of boxes of eggs is strictly prohibited, and that anyone with the temerity to flout such a rule does so at their peril. (Oaxaca is a mere 6 hours away, and you’re not carrying eggs, so that’s OK.)

<>The bus winds its way steadily up out of the city onto the altiplano on the brand-new Mexico City-Oaxaca highway, passing shacks, sheep, scrubby pines, and booths selling anything from tacos to spare exhaust pipes. People wander about randomly on the hard shoulder beside the highway. Hanging on for dear life to a snail-like truck in the slow lane you can spot the occasional cyclist, hitching a free ride uphill. It’s a great trip, with some extraordinary landscapes and heart-stopping stretches of motorway up on stilts straddling ravines.
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<>The plane ride is pretty exciting too: you soar up out of the smog and head south over the volcanoes, craning over the edge of the still smoking crater of Popocatépetl (‘Smoking Mountain’) and sidling past his partner Ixtaccihuatl (‘Sleeping Woman’).

Just before arrival in Oaxaca, the pilot treats you to a bird’s eye view of the enchanted site of Monte Albán (500 BC to 750 AD). One of the great archaeological wonders of the world, it is almost more astounding when viewed from above than when seen from the ground. Finding a mountain to work with, the Zapotecs who built the city simply sliced off the top and placed on it their pyramids, tombs and ball courts. Make a mental note to come back once you touch ground, best of all either at 8 in the morning, or at 5 just before sundown.

Mitla, another Zapotec site a little farther out from the city, is also breathtaking. Smaller and more intimate than Monte Albán, it was inhabited between about 100 and 650 A.D. and seems to have served principally as a burial site. The pedestals of the buildings are of volcanic rock. The upper parts are of intricately chiselled, shaped and sculpted hunks of dazzling white stone laid, mortar-less, like dry stone walls, to withstand the shocks of the frequent earthquakes which shake up this rugged, dry, poverty-stricken state. The well-versed guides available at all the main sites are full of fascinating facts and creative hypotheses (rather than tedious statistics), and imbued with a quiet pride in their wonderful heritage.

Where to stay

Town mice who don’t want to miss out on the buzz of Oaxaca’s historic centre with all its (considerable) action, noise and bustle will relish the intimate, 7-room Casa Oaxaca. This 200-year old town house in the colonial style is within walking distance of the superb Santo Domingo museum and the Zocalo (main square) with its balloons and marimbas, and people on their evening paseo.

Another tiny downtown hotel is the Casa Cid de León, with just 4 suites with terracotta floors, beamy ceilings, period antiques and hand-embroidered linen bedwear to snuggle into.

Country mice will prefer the peace and quiet of Hacienda de los Laureles up at San Felipe del Agua, set in its own garden with tropical birds chattering from the treetops, a huge pool, temazcal bath-house and gym. Don’t miss chef Horacio Reyes’ wonderful chicken in spicy almond sauce.

<>Hotels

Casa Oaxaca, Calle Garcia Vigil 407, Oaxaca. Tel. +52 951 44173,
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<>casaoax@prodigy.net.mx, www.casaoaxaca.com.mx

Hacienda Los Laureles, Hidalgo 21, San Felipe del Agua, Oaxaca
Tel. +52 951 501 53 00
pkaiser@prodigy.net.mx, www.haciendaloslaureles.com

Casa Cid de Leon, Avda. Morelos 602, Oaxaca. Tel. +52 951 418 93
ciddeleon@mexicoboutiquehotels.com

And don't forget to take with you a copy of Viva Mexico by Charles Macomb Flandreau, Como agua para chocolate by Laura Esquivel and (if you can still find a copy) Mexico: Places and Pleasures by Kate Simon