Bienvenido! Welcome to Oaxaca! 

Today you arrive on either an afternoon or evening flight to Oaxaca, Mexico.  We will arrange to pick you up at the airport and bring you to our lodgings. There will be no official tour events on this day, but be prepared for some spontaneous margarita drinking.

Oaxaca City

Let's venture into Oaxaca City and explore the Santo Domingo Museo & Church, including treasures from Monte Alban Tomb 7. There will be time to help you get familiar with the El Centro plazas and churches along the way. 

We will return to our hotel for a special Textile Talk & Exhibit of various Oaxacan textile artists, including a backstrap weaver, a clothes weaver with traditional embroidery skills and a rug weaver who also creates bespoke contemporary embroidery clothing designs. You’ll now have some familiarity with these cultural textiles which will help as you explore museums and markets during the week, offering plenty of opportunity to purchase textile items.

After a day filled with so many sights, let’s gather at our hotel Rooftop for Happy Hour & snacks included. It's time to hand out the Oaxaca Journey Bag KAL and cast on. 

A Day to Explore Mitla and Tlacolula

Tlacolua on Sundays is an immersion in Zapotec market life. One day a week locals and tourists flock to this World Heritage area for the tiangues: a once-a-week open air indigenous market offering the opportunity to socialize, sell and buy a wide variety of market goods, attend mass, acquire a new yoke for your oxen and so much more. Next stop is the Mitla archeological site - an important treasure to the Zapotec culture located in a town renowned for cotton weaving. To cap off the day, we’ll stop at the Tule tree, a Montezuma cypress that has the stoutest tree trunk in the world before returning to the city. 

Textile Museum of Oaxaca

We’ll start with an enjoyable, relaxed breakfast followed by a walk to the Textile Museum and along the same block, visit the San Pablo Convent; both museums offering exceptional exhibits. You’ll have the afternoon to continue exploring this culture-rich city. If you are a photography buff or into antique silver or more textiles and local jewelry, we'll provide ideas, routes and help to get you where you'd like to go! This is the day to indulge in our Seven Mole lunch extravaganza. Oaxaca IS mole central; let's taste, discern and taste some more! 

Teotitlan del Valle

It’s going to be another impressive, full day with a visit to Teotitlán del Valle, home to the renowned rug weavers of Oaxaca. Natural dyes predominate these stunning weavings so get ready to fall in love with the cochineal; match this little insect with wool and the results are a stunning red. Tip: you will want some room in your luggage to take home these beautiful pieces of art. 

 NUANCED OAXACA 

After enjoying another wonderfully prepared breakfast at a local eatery, we’ll stop at the Museo De La Filatelia Stamp Museum (it’s not what you think) and then you’ll have the option to visit the Rudolfo Tamayo museum, rich with pre-Columbian artifact or visit the expansive city markets. The group will enjoy another lunch together with free time to explore or take a siesta. This evening, dinner is on your own and we will have an optional mezcal tasting on the rooftop.  

OCOTLÁN DE MORELOS, COYOTEPEC, SAN MARTIN TILCAJETE

Today we visit a series of small villages and learn about the unique folk art specific to each village. Coyotepec is famous for black pottery and home to an exceptional Folk Art Museo. Onwards to Ocotlán, which was the home village of beloved painter Rudolfo Morales. Last but not least, we visit San Martín Tilcajete for the fanciful wood carvings known as alebrijes. A lovely outdoor lunch will be served while we are traveling between these villages.

Monte Albán

We set off this morning to have a guided tour of Monte Albán, the most significant pre-Columbian archeological site and once home to around 5,200 people, founded in approximately 500 BCE!  After returning for lunch back in the city there will be free time to pack...  or shop ...  or shop and pack!  We'll close our week together with a final group la cena (dinner) and a mezcal toast.

Homeward Bound

It’s time to say hasta luego, amigos and return home filled with the colors and memories of Oaxaca!

Colleen is knitting multiple projects right now, spinning hand-blended fibers on her Lendrum DT, and has found it difficult but not impossible to knit and watch a South Korean show on Netflix with subtitles at the same time. She is curious about makers' stories of the lineage and evolution of their craft and where to find truly awesome pie.  Her professional background in outdoor tour guiding and small business ownership makes a great match with RTT. Colleen loves to drive a convertible, swim in natural waters and hula hoops.

Janie has traveled in Mexico literally all her life, and feels inexplicably drawn to the place.  Mexico causes something tight in her shoulders to relax, her heart to open, and her mind to explore, question and delight.  She hopes the same happens for you!  By profession, she was a clinical social worker specializing in child welfare and no doubt you will see that ethos influencing her tour guiding.  When not working or traveling, she likes to read books, dance, volunteer in her community, hike, practice her foodie habits, and plan her next Mexico sojourn.