The first stop after Mexico City on my way south to Chiappas and then to the Yucatan peninsula was Oaxaca.

Oaxaca is a really beautiful colonial town, with coloured houses in all the streets...:






and a really nice cathedral:




(in the foreground is the Agave plant... which is of course used to make the national Mexican spirts Tequilla and Mescal)


Near Oaxaca is what they say is the biggest tree in the world: "El Arbol del Tule".
It is not the highest but the "fattest" tree in the world and the biggest single biomass growing in the world.



The tree has a circumference of 58m, it is 48m high, has a diameter of 14m and is estiamted to be over 2000 years old and weighing about 640'000 tons!




Also near Oaxaca I went to see more ruins, this time not Mayan (they were further south) but from tha Zapotecs.
The place is called Monte Alban and was founded in 700 BC.



At the peak of the Zapotec culture in 300 AD about 50'000 people lived here... more than in every other city in Europe at that time!




But back to today's Oaxaca... which is also notorously known for demonstrations and protests.
And so when I was there the teachers decided that they did not get enough money fro their work and staged a one week demonstration.
This was done by putting up "tents" and camping on all the streets in the inner city pedestrian zone:



This had three major effects for me:
- it is hard to see anything!
- it is hard to get from one place to another
- walking upright is virtually impossible because there are strings and cords all over the place
- a lot of nice restaurants had to close because 'teachers' were camping in front of their doors



So even though this would be a nice place to stay for a while I decided to leave after two days because this protest has become such a hassle.