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Oaxaca Guidebook Viva Oaxaca An Insider's Guide to Oaxaca's Charms |
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Getting around the city and region The 12 best things to do in Oaxaca ----------------------- Website features SITE MAP FOR EASIER NAVIGATION Brand new--pizza on the zocalo! Capulalpam named Oaxaca's first Pueblo Magico Semana Santa with striking new photos New culinary experience: STONE SOUP! Oaxaca news, analysis, and updates Commentary: It's time to come back to Oaxaca! Flash! A great new restaurant to check out! New: Preview handmade Oaxacan crafts online! Oaxaca's world-class international festival of organ and ancient music Click here for more information. Albuergue Infantil Josefino--a shelter for orphaned or abandoned children |
Viva Oaxaca is the guidebook we wish had been available before our first trip to Oaxaca. We've tried to include just about everything useful that we've learned during our many stays there. Thousands of visitors to Oaxaca have used Viva Oaxaca to make the most of their time in this beautiful, colorful colonial city. Now you can too. We want to provide visitors to Oaxaca with the most useful, insightful and up-to-date information about the city of Oaxaca and the attractions that surround it. Click on Contents or the picture above to see what you'll find in our handy guidebook, Viva Oaxaca. As you check out the sections of this website, please remember that they are just small samples of what you'll find in the full guidebook to Oaxaca, Viva Oaxaca. Viva Oaxaca is the perfect guidebook for first-time visitors, and offers a great deal of detailed information for repeat visitors too. We've personally evaluated Oaxaca's best and most interesting restaurants, hotels, B&Bs, shops and other attractions to save you time and effort. Our reviews and recommendations are based on our own firsthand and independent experience and evaluations. Unlike most guidebooks, we don't accept promotions, ads, favors, kickbacks or inducements of any kind, so we're free to give you accurate, unbiased, and reliable recommendations. A note about money: your 401-K may be struggling, but your dollars will go a long way in Mexico. You can check current rates here. Enter USD for dollars and MXN for pesos. Our comments about recent travel advisories and negative news stories about Mexico Be sure to check out the Oaxaca updates and Oaxaca News section of this website. You'll find up-to-the minute reports about events in Oaxaca and a history of the protests of 2006 and Oaxaca's recovery. Then click here for destinations and events including Day of the Dead, the Night of the Radishes, Christmas Eve, Semana Santa, what's happening in and around Oaxaca right now, and what events are coming up. You'll also find descriptions and pictures of destinations such as Hierve el Agua, mountain villages, Tlacochahuaya, Huatulco, and a mezcal distillery. You can see slideshows of places and events in Oaxaca at: http://viva-oaxaca.blogspot.com/. In-depth resource for travelers and visitors to Oaxaca: Long-time resident Alvin Starkman has written a large number of very detailed and helpful articles about visiting, traveling and living in Oaxaca. Check them out here. The guidebook presents many options for getting to outlying destinations. If you want to make sure that your tour will come off without a hitch, we highly recommend the experienced, fluently bilingual guide Pablo Gonzalez Marsch (cellphone 044 951 134 7391, email marsch@prodigy.net.mx). Viva Oaxaca is available at Amate Books, Alcalá 307 #2, in the heart of Oaxaca. Amate is by far the best source for books about Mexico in English in Oaxaca (and, according to a widely read, widely traveled, and expert friend, one of the best in Mexico). It's a great place to deepen your understanding of Oaxaca and Mexico. New: You can now browse Amate's shelves at www.amatebooks.com. The guidebook is also for sale at the lovely Las Mariposas B&B, Pino Suarez 517, at Becari Language School, M. Bravo #210, and at Oaxaca Spanish Magic Language School, at Berriozabal #200. We strongly recommend ordering a copy of Viva Oaxaca before your trip. It will help you figure out the best times to come and the best places to stay, and to line up activities such as guided trips, cooking classes or language classes in advance. If you're in doubt, please click on Why buy Viva Oaxaca? and on Readers' comments. ¡Que disfrute Oaxaca!--Enjoy Oaxaca! Breaking news and important upcoming events Oaxaca's first ever International Film Festival!!! Kudos to Ramis Azar, who has spearheaded Oaxaca's first International Independent Film and Video Festival. The festival will take place November 5 through 13, and will also include an international literature competition. For more information, click here. The highly recommended French restaurant ?Donde esta' el chef? has added a hookah bar and moved to the center of Oaxaca. After August 9th, you can find it at Matamoros 206, between Garcia Vigil and Porfirio Diaz. The afternoon comida corrida is now $70 pesos. The consistently enjoyable restaurant Como Agua pa' Chocolate, built around the theme of the book by the same name, will be closed as of August 16, 2010. Historic Organ Festival 2010 October 21-27, 2010. The state of Oaxaca is home to a large number of baroque organs, many of which have been lovingly repaired. Getting to hear them played by great musicians in their even older churches is an unforgettable experience. For more information and a detailed schedule, click here. Good News about Oaxaca (7/13/10)--the state elections are over, Oaxaca has a new governor, Gabino Cue, and the election season's demonstrations and encampments are over, so Oaxaca's beautiful zocalo is back to normal. Plus, Mexican cuisine--of which Oaxacan cooking is a star--has been designated by UNESCO as part of the World Heritage or Patrimony of Humanity. The formal announcement will appear in September, 2010. Striking teachers camp out in zocalo (June 21, 2010). As happens just about every year in Oaxaca, the state's teachers go on strike and camp out in the zocalo. They'll be there at least until early July. It's still safe to be there, just not nearly as festive as usual. Cooking classes for children in Oaxaca--what a great idea for families traveling to Oaxaca. For details, click here. Guelegetza 2010 tickets now on sale--The Gueleguetza is Oaxaca's premier celebration--eight days of regional music and dance. This year's main events will take place on July 19 and 26. The easiest way to buy tickets in advance is through Ticketmaster, which you can find at: http://www.ticketmaster.com.mx/Guelaguetza-boletos/artist/1210781. Humánitas Festival April 30-May 11, 2010--this year's festival features dance, music, theater and art from Oaxaca's Central Valley, the State of Yucatan, and Columbia. Click here to find information about the festival (in Spanish), or here for a useful calendar of specific events. Some of these presentations will be spectacular, and many are free. Enjoy! Microcredit Comes to Oaxaca--A new grassroots organization is bringing the benefits of microcredit / microfinance to needy Oaxacans. It's called En Via, and it's applying the Nobel-prize-winning idea of providing very small loans to local women for whom a few hundred dollars can enable them start or grow a small business. People who have contributed and who have gotten to meet the women they are helping have been thrilled and deeply moved. It's a superb idea, and much needed in Oaxaca. To find out more about what En Via is doing, click here. Creative writing classes in Oaxaca--July 6-16, 2010 for more information click here. April 12, 2010--Easter week in Oaxaca has come and gone, including the striking Procession of Silence, on Good Friday. Here's a moment from that somber procession, marked by hooded figures, the slow beat of drums and the sound of huge wooden crosses being dragged across the pavement:
March 16, 2010--We've just passed La Samaritana, when Oaxacans graciously hand out cool drinks to passers by to recall the Biblical story of the good Samaritan. Here's a sample of the experience:
A smiling Samaritana, March 14, 2010 But, just to keep things in perspective, today traffic in Oaxaca will be a mess, and government offices will be closed, as Oaxaca goes through its part of a nationwide union solidarity strike. If you're here, expect marches, street blockages, and missed appointments. February 13, 2010--Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2010 names Oaxaca as one of the 10 best places in the world to visit. February 6, 2010--something you should know: The local government appears to have an unlimited amount of money that they need to spend quickly. The way they're doing that is by tearing up and then repaving just about every street in the center of Oaxaca. This is making Oaxaca's normally bad traffic flow even worse, and also making many hotels and restaurants difficult to get to. Nobody seems to get much advance notice of when their street will be turned into a construction zone, but we suggest that you ask your hotel what's happening with their street before you reserve. January 22, 2010--the SF Chronicle features Oaxaca as an excellent place to visit with Children December, 2009--GQ's Spanish edition features Huatulco, Puerto Escondido, and the city of Oaxaca. August, 2009--Travel & Leisure names Oaxaca the #1 city to visit in Mexico, and # 2 in all of Latin America. SITE MAP FOR EASIER NAVIGATION Visitors since November 10, 2008
Panteon of Xoxocotlan, Muertos, 2008 |
Great new edition-- lower price plus free updates! The current edition of Viva Oaxaca is available now for purchase online and in Oaxaca.
This edition of Viva Oaxaca is bigger--with 18 more pages of information and photos--and better than ever, with many new restaurant reviews, new and carefully selected hotels and B&Bs, more fun and fascinating things to see and do plus a city map, where to get the best coffee, chocolate, pastries and mezcal, where to find safe and savory street food, Spanish classes and tutors, cooking and dance classes, massage and temazcal, health and medical matters, and as always, places to avoid. Unlike those massive general purpose guidebooks (some of which have entries that are years out of date), Viva Oaxaca is small and light enough to tuck in your pocket or purse. Bonus updates! When you buy Viva Oaxaca, we'll provide you with a link to our continuing updates about Oaxaca--brand new restaurant reviews, places to stay, activities, destinations and more. Most recent update August 19, 2010. Compare that with other guidebooks! See what other travelers say about Viva Oaxaca. You can read more about Viva Oaxaca in the Book Contents section on this page, and more about Oaxaca in the Website Features sections. Or go directly to our sitemap for easier navigation. To order your copy of the current edition and get access to our ongoing updates, click here or on the picture above: If you have questions about Viva Oaxaca, or about Oaxaca itself, please email us at: sioaxaca@aol.com. Check out our Site Map for easier navigation around this website. Viva Oaxaca gives first-time and returning visitors to Oaxaca a wealth of useful information, including the best things to see, great places to stay, wonderful places to eat, and detailed information on how to get around the city and its surroundings. It's an invaluable guide to the city and nearby attractions. --------------------------------- More Website Features! Great new calendar of Oaxaca events, maintained by Margie Barclay Oaxaca Children's Fund Donations Oaxaca Children's Fund Recurring Donations New: To help Oaxacan artisans during a time of need, we're now featuring selected Oaxacan crafts and craftspeople. Click here for details. |
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