(pronounced Wha Ha Ka emphasis on HA)

I had arrived at the Hostel that I booked online with Booking.com called ‘Casa de Don Pablo Hostel’ I personally stayed one night as I found it to be very crowded. I then moved by walking to another nearby Hostel called ‘Paulina Youth Hostel’ I liked this Hostel as it looked like a posh Hotel and the dorm room was very spacious, clean, with big lockers and the included breakfasts came with eggs, scrambled one day, omelette the next day or pancakes or Mexican style omelette, with toast, fruit and coffee or tea, so each day it changed up. What was missing was a kitchen for the guests to use to cook their afternoon meals. I paid for a week and the deal was pay for 6 days and the 7th day was free, being a discount, $1500. mxn pesos a week, which worked out to about $215 per day. One thing I really like is the so called ‘free’ breakfasts, always eggs in the morning with toast, fruit, coffee, tea, cereal and milk. https://paulinayouthhostel.mxhotel.site  This hostel is located within a 3 block distance of the markets and historic square, called ‘Zocalo Square’. 

https://paulinayouthhostel.mxhotel.site

Also was a nearby hill which was about a 15 minute walk to the stairs and climbing the stairs to the top of the hill was another 15 minutes, but for me being a photographer I wanted to take photos from above looking down at the overall city. After staying at ‘Paulina Youth Hostel’ for a week, I decided I wanted a change and to move to a different hostel that had a kitchen available for the guests to use, for me cooking my own meals saves on money I spend at restaurants. 

So again walking with the luggage about 8 books in the opposite direction, as in being on the left side of the square, I was now moving to the right side of the square. The hostel seems to be very popular indeed, it included breakfast, had a kitchen to use, but with so many guests there was absolutely no room in the refrigerator, this hostel certainly could use a second or third refrigerator for the guests, the roof top was great for sun tanning and that is where the bar was also, for cold drinks, beer and long island ice tea. The name of this hostel is ‘Iguana Hostel’, about $215. or $220. mxn pesos per night. I was not crazy about the free breakfast as it was a plate full of soggy nacho chips with a sauce, onions and green onions, with a bowl of fruit, I enjoyed the bowl of fruit but not the Mexican style nacho chip breakfast, I now missed the eggs, fruit and toast that was served at ‘Paulina Youth Hostel’, so there you go give and take or pick and choose. 

This area is also within 3-4 blocks from the historic square, but right across the street and within a block or two many more restaurants to choose from which makes it very convenient and also a Oxxo store just across the street. This location there are many coffee shops and surprisingly Buffet style restaurants, priced at $60. mxn pesos ($3.70 CAD) for a filling nutritional meal. The fresh cups of brewed coffee’s usually go from $35. – $45. pesos which equals ($2.20 – $2.75 CAD) seems to me same price in Canada. I was looking at some t-shirts I liked, but the prices were 250. pesos ($15.CAD) not much of a bargain.

In general Oaxaca is indeed historic, traditional, peaceful and many, many tourists. Specialty shops like chocolates, cowboy wear, t-shirts, fresh fruits and vegetable markets, coffee shops, liquor shops with Mezcal. Mezcal is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from any type of maguey. The word mezcal comes from Nahuatl mexcalli, which means “oven-cooked agave”, from metl and ixcalli. I do not drink much alcohol, so I was delighted finding Corona Zero alcohol beer, only 15 pesos for a cold can of great tasting suds.

I found a Wrangler clothing cowboy shop here in Oaxaca, learn a lot. Wrangler jeans and shirt $1000. pesos or $60. in Canadian dollars. Wrangler jeans and shirts same price here in Oaxaca, Mexico as in Canada, in fact even lower in Canada, therefor I am led to believe that the wages should be equal and/or higher here in Mexico than in Canada comparing the price of Wrangler clothing in both countries. Since I know better and do believe the wages are lower in Mexico compared to Canada, thus the Mexicans certainly cannot afford these prices for Wrangler jeans or shirts, so who buys these very expensive clothing wear that are made here in Mexico. Tourists….? I highly doubt it, why would I buy here when I can get for the same price back in Canada or lower. I am guessing Oaxaca attracts a high volume of tourists and there are probably many rich tourists that don’t give a damn about money and are stupid enough to overpay for this clothing.

Here at Paulina Youth Hostel I have been watering the rooftop plants and the grass below beside where everyone eats breakfast, and the plants have made a come back and the grass quickly turned green from yellow, I don’t mind at all.

I have found a very popular and busy bakery called Boulenc Bakery selling sourdough breads and much more, like big English muffins. A couple of doors up a restaurant with the same name also being very popular and busy,

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g150801-d6260487-Reviews-Boulenc-Oaxaca_Southern_Mexico.html .

For those that have a vegetarian or vegan taste on the menu are some such dishes which I have ate the “vegetarian burger’ very delicious made with a portobello mushroom and the Vietnamese vegan sandwich was very tasty also. Very central located, right next to Zocalo Square and called, ‘Cerro Humo’ restaurant, located Calle de Manuel Garcia Vigil #106, 

https://www.facebook.com/cerrohumo

Also I went to a little coffee shop at a corner of Colon Esquina and Manuel Doblado, ‘Cafe Rodriguez’ owned by Eduardo Rodriguez, he serves a great cup of coffee for 10 pesos and if you want more he will give you more at no extra cost, drink as much coffee as you like for those 10 pesos, the cheapest great tasting coffee I have ever come by, and he likes to chat with customers as his English is very little. I do recommend having a coffee with him, tell him ‘Pacifico’ recommended his place for coffee. I found this little coffee shop because just a15 second walk across the street was a computer shop that I was getting some work done, swapping parts from one laptop to another, and he charged me just $200. pesos what a bargain I highly recommend this computer shop also. 

http://www.cepecsa.com

Here in Oaxaca and or Mexico in general it has always been dry and sunny daily with blue skies and/or sometimes white puffy clouds, but for the most part hardly any rain. I arrived here in Mexico October 27th 2021, and now it is March 13th, 2022, so for nearly 5 months it may have rained 5 days and most of these wet day happened overnight or for a short period of time, so as far as I am concerned for the past months always a sunny blue sky day filled with the earth of the sun ray’s, somedays even being on the hot side. Apparently the rainy season is from May – September, and the best time to visit Oaxaca is now, between February to mid May.

I have been staying here in Oaxaca for a long period 6 weeks or so now, as I am getting therapy work for the pain in these feet and legs, the therapy work is getting bee stings, I don’t particularly like getting stung by bees, but if it helps relive the pain I am feeling in the feet and legs I suppose it’s worth the attempt. Once this therapy is finished, I may go to nearby San Jose, del Pacifico, Oaxaca, https://www.livingoutlau.com/guide-to-magic-mushrooms-at-san-jose-del-pacifico-oaxaca/  to experience a ‘magic mushroom’ ceremony or head south to Chiapas a state bordering Guatemala. I have been told many ‘healers’ within Chiapas. Apparently, Chiapas is a Free and Sovereign State, if there can be such a thing, and It is also home to one of the largest indigenous populations in the country, with twelve federally recognized ethnicities. So perhaps this is a place worth visiting for me.