Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 67

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 67

Mexico 

3/9/09  - Oaxaca – Tours

Today we decided that if there is progress on Brutus, they can reach us by cell phone or through Gabriel, who will be guiding us today on our tour.  We get on a bus (we are getting to like buses) and off we go.  We do some general sightseeing, but the major first thing was a live two thousand year old tree.  Live.  Huge.  I have picture after picture, as I cannot get the whole personality, trunk, bird residents, etc. into one snap.  Huge.  The following is the information on this very antique antiquity:

Next to the tree are rows of artisans selling their wares, and a really nice topiary/statuary garden.  It was very bright and colorful, while peaceful.  Mexico-like.

We then went to Velesquez Carpet-making ranch.  We watched demonstrations on how they turned llama wool into fiber strands.  Then how they gave them the many different colors (including bug red - Sam did not eat any of these bugs). They then showed us the looms and demonstrated how they got their designs into the rugs.  It was probably a good thing that we had gone on peso-saving mode due to Brutus, because we both loved these very expensive rugs.

Carpet Making Ranch

We are really hitting the sights today.  We then go to the famous black pottery factory.  We received an informative demonstration on how the black pottery is made and fired.  The man who owns the ‘factory’ learned the technique from his mother, who apparently discovered the method.  The pottery is beautiful, but cannot hold real flowers, as moisture breaks it down, taking the shine off of the shiny black pottery. 

Black Pottery

Next, we went to a Mezcal Factory/Restaurant.  We ate first and I was surprised with a birthday cake.  Boy – my birthday was sure celebrated a long time!  (Big, Big, Grin) The smell of fermenting agave (a-gauv-vi) cactus preceded our tour of how the plant is turned into tequila.  Many of the steps at this location were quite rustic.  They gave free shots of tequila with all the different flavors that they mix with it.  I passed on all but one.

Fermenting Agave

 While we were here, we were contacted by the mechanico.  They think they know what the problem is and think they can get the parts locally, but need pesos up front to buy them.  They are going to try and get it ready by the time we leave tomorrow, and estimated that it would be about $850 (US). The cab driver picked up the pesos to buy the parts and we tried not to worry. 

Pretty

Next, we went to the Mitla Ruins.  These were very different from prior ruins.  These had flat tops, intricate designs in the bricks, and they were used primarily for tombs.  I have pictures of Indiana Sam going down and into the tombs, but he did not come out - before I got side-tracked.

Coming Back?

Sam and I were glad when this tour was over – so we could worry in peace about what we were going to do if we were left behind. We were set to have the trailer moved to a regular RV park nearby at no extra cost (Thanks for the offer Harold and Denise).  At about 8 pm, we were notified that the mechanicos were not quite done with Brutus.  They were going to try to finish by 11 pm, and if they did, they would deliver it to us.  They delivered it before 10 pm.  Brutus was purring.  Just wanted attention.  How amazing that these mechanics were able to totally overhaul the transmission in this amount of time, for this cost.  They were wonderful!!! We will not be left behind.