The Biggest Tree in the World is in ... Mexico? Along with a Frozen Waterfall in the Desert?

 

 

We've had a busy few days since arriving in Mexico

We're in the rather large city of Oaxaca (Wah-Hah-Kah) in the south central part of Mexico.  We have really enjoyed the sites and sounds and food of this region.  It's very lively and colorful.  And there's no shortage of things to see and do.

One of the trips we took was to a small town outside of Oaxaca, where we went to look at the Biggest Tree in the World.   That's a big claim, especially when you consider much of Mexico resembles desert more than forest. 

But this tree was a stand-alone giant, kept alive for over 2,500 years by an underground spring.  This also makes it one of the oldest trees in the world.  
It was amazing, and really attracts a crowd.  
It dwarfed a nearby church, and I couldn't get all of it in the frame of a picture. 

A Frozen Waterfall ... in this heat?

Another place, farther off the beaten path, is a place known as Boiling Waters.  It's kinda hard to get to, but really interesting.  You go out of town and up a hill and down a road and ... you get the idea.  By the time we got there it was late in the day. 

There are some pools at the top that appear to be like ice rinks.  Of course it's an optical illusion, people were swimming in the pools.  It's like a wild and natural infinity pool, with water to the edge of a cliff. 

And nearby is the "frozen" waterfall - a phenomenon - a reaction to the multiple minerals that come out of the water and "petrify".  Some of this geology stuff is beyond me, but the minerals harden in the shape of a waterfall.  It is very deceiving, as you can see by the pictures. 

Wait, one more time - how did these guys build this stuff?

Another very important feature of the surrounding area of Oaxaca is the ancient ruins.  These are from the Mixtecs, Aztecs, and mostly Zapotecs.  It's a only a short drive out of town to the hilltops that are full of these archeological sites. 

A testament to their civilization are the fantastic structures they built.  We visited several. They've withstood the elements and earthquakes (we had one last night) for well over 2,000 years.  You could spend a lot of time here at these ruins, very impressive.  And very massive. The buildings at Monte Alban covered a huge amount of ground. 

Getting Around

And Oaxaca is full of things to see and do.  It's very historic and well preserved.  The sunny, dry, and warm weather helps things to last longer (like 2,500 years?).  We enjoyed great food, and lots of music.  

We also visited a wool factory where they talk about how they dye wool with natural elements from their surroundings (below), such as cactus parasites and grasshoppers.  Again, everything is full of color, as evidence by the yarn (above). 

And of course no visit to this area would be complete without a trip to the Mezcal distillery. It's a rather amazing process, generating liquor from the Agave plant.  

This is a tasty cousin to Tequila.  The locals claim Mezcal is far superior.  It has a worm in the bottom of the bottle.  In fact, in the bottle shown below, it has a scorpion!  If you look close you can see the stinger at the bottom. 

Another Point of View

These are pictures ... that have no direct relation to the stories above, but simply seemed to belong on the blog.

The picture below was taken in a "fiesta" store. Colorful masks and costumes are very popular here, they have a lot of celebrations. 

I've mentioned the ill effects (that's a polite way to put it) of the Spaniard's conquest of the indigenous peoples of Latin America.  In the picture below, they built a cathedral right on top of an ancient Zapotec pyramid.  Bad Karma?

I've seen a lot of beautiful churches around the world, but this statue in the picture below stopped me in my tracks.  It's the Virgin Mary in a pleading pose over the body of Jesus.  Very moving.  The picture does not do it justice. It was thirty feet tall.

And this etched glass on the entry door of another church glowed in the sunlight.  Very stunning. 

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So we are getting near the end of our trip.  In fact, we have to really push hard in the next few days to get home in time.  

I've said this before ... many times ... about other places ... 

But I wish we could spend more time in Mexico. This is an amazing country.  The people are wonderful.