Candles, Silkworms & Moletos

Since we all had dentist appointments scheduled for Tuesday, we were going to be in the Oaxaca metro area at least until then. Our host Leanne at the Overlander Oasis took us on a tour of the surrounding communities on Sunday. We visited the market in Tlacolula, and candle-making shop and silk and wool textile workshops in Teotitlán del Valle. On our way home we stopped to sample some mezcal.

At the market in Tlacolula

The ladies in the candle shop were making candles for Easter. They started by hanging a long string, then pouring hot wax down it over and over. They said it takes about 100 pours to make a candle.

Then they make wax flowers and pin them to the candle. Leanne, our hostess at Overlander Oasis, is on the left.

Watching silk worms fattening themselves up

Watching the weaving machine at work was fascinating

Oaxaca is known as the place to come in Mexico for cooking classes. Rather than go into town and spend a lot of money for a formal class, Leanne arranged for her neighbor, Teresa, to come to the campground and show us how to cook moletos in Leanne’s own kitchen. Teresa also happens to be the lady who rides around on her bicycle selling yummy donuts almost every day!

The cooking class lasted about four hours and we topped it off by stuffing our faces with the yummy treats we had made. We had to force Teresa to accept 50 pesos for her time, and she also got to take the leftovers home to her family.

Teresa helps Quinn press the masa dough for the moletos

Quinn and dad mash potatoes. We added chorizo sausage to the potatoes to make the filling for the moletos

Yes, that’s a bus in the kitchen. It’s a 1957 greyhound that Calvin and Leanne built and traveled around Mexico in for many years. Now it’s their bedroom and living room.

Of course no meal is complete without guacamole, salsa, and queso fresco

Time to eat!

Our trip to the dentist on Tuesday was mostly uneventful. When we told her that we’d last had our teeth cleaned 5 months ago, she said that most of her customers came every 5 years. I’ve tried that approach; it’s painful!

Based on advice from Derek of Colorado Campervan, we decided to replace a couple of parts in the van to try to solve our power problems. We ordered the parts from the Ford dealership in town, but they wouldn’t be here till Friday. With a couple more days to kill, we headed out for some sightseeing. First we drove to Hierve de Agua, a natural hot spring spilling off the side of a cliff and creating what looks like a petrified waterfall. It was great camping, right on the edge of the cliff with wonderful views and dark skies for star gazing.

Don’t jump off!

We tried to take the newer road on the way back, but it was blocked by a landslide that Calvin said was caused intentionally to keep traffic going through the local town on the old road.

On Friday morning we visited Monte Alban, the largest Zapotecan ruin in the area. Set on top of a hill with great views in all directions, it was quite impressive. The previous evening’s rain had even cleaned some of the haze out of the sky.

A Jacaranda tree in bloom at Monte Alban

From the top of Monte Alban

Later we visited the amazing history museum in Oaxaca. Too bad Jen and I only typically get about 20 minutes in a museum.

We picked up our parts at the Ford dealership that afternoon and headed back to Overlander Oasis.

On Saturday Calvin (Leanne’s husband) and I replaced the two parts in the van. Unfortunately when we took it for a test drive the problem was still there. We needed to leave soon if we were to meet my parents in Belize in two weeks, so we decided to depart on Tuesday for Huatulco on the coast. The road is very windy and climbs over a mountain range, and by the time we had climbed up a very windy road the van wasn’t running well and Jen and I were both very stressed out. We decided that we had to get it fixed in Oaxaca one way or another. Reluctantly we turned around and drove the 3-1/2 hours back to the Overlander Oasis.