We just got back from Mexico last Sunday night. I won't post a complete review, but here's what we did.

We flew from Toronto > Mexico City > Oaxaca. Our luggage didn't arrive with us in Oaxaca, but was delivered the next day fortunately.

We stayed at Casa de los Sabores in Oaxaca. Very nice B&B. The room wasn't huge, but very comfortable and the owners / management really make it comfortable. Breakfasts were fantastic. This wasn't our first trip to Oaxaca - we were there about 13 years ago, so we didn't go to Monte Alban or do some of the things that we did the first time around. We basically walked all over, shopped a lot, relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. Overall food was great. We enjoyed Biche Pobre (lunch); El Naranjo (lunch); Marco Polo (the one near Llano Park -really nice fish and yummy banana dessert); La Biznaga (supposedly service was slow, but it seemed ok to me and the food was great - loved the nieve with mescal for dessert); Casa Oaxaca (the one near the gallery - our most expensive meal, that was dinner and it was very nice); La Olla (we were there twice - food was quite good, although service wasn't as good second time because the waiter was busy chatting up another customer). We often stopped for a beer and peanuts on the zocalo - love those peanuts. Also had tlayudas on the street, also good. Several nice coffee shops around - we especially liked Nuevo Mundo (I think that was the name). Only 1 bad day - we had decided to go to Hierve de Agua. We took a bus to Mitla, then a collectivo. The driver wouldn't leave with only 4 of us, so we waited an hour, then told him we'd pay double. It's only 13 km from Mitla, but there is a new road and it took 50 minutes to go those 13 km - the road was rough! By the time we got there, we were already tired. Hierve de Agua was beautiful and I'm glad I saw it, but not sure if it was worth it. We still had the same bone crunching trip back in the collectivo and then the bus back to Oaxaca.

Loads of galleries and shops and markets in Oaxaca - enough to keep us busy the whole week.

We then flew to Puerto Escondido in a little 8 seater plane. We stayed at Casa de Dan y Carmen, a cute little complex off Zicatela Beach. It was great. We basically just relaxed there - some time on the beach (Caralazillo is a good beach for swimming) and by the pool. Great restaurants there - we especially loved Cafe Express, at the end of the strip on Zicatela - fabulous fresh tuna, great pastas, etc. As my husband said, it would be hard to go elsewhere for seafood. We also enjoyed El Jardin for pizza (especially the caprese) and Sakura for sushi. El Cafecito is good for breakfasts and lunches. (Cinnamon rolls and danishes were great.)

We then flew to Mexico City for our last night. We stayed at the Hotel Catedral, where we usually stay in Mexico City. We had a dinner reservation at Izote - very nice, great service. The mandarin margarita I had was wonderful. Especially loved the dessert - the pecan and chocolate tart with cajeta and ice cream - delicious. Next morning, we stopped at El Moro for churros and chocolate - delicious.

Then it was back to the airport to fly home. Mexico City airport was totally chaotic and after standing in a line-up for almost 1 1/2 hours, we were told that we were in the wrong line. Finally got someone to give us boarding passes, and we ran to the gate - no time to visit the duty free.

All in all, a good trip. I've been to Mexico more than a dozen times now and never tire of my time there.

I enjoyed reading your trip report and am jealous of some of the tasty food experiences you had. Oaxaca and Puerto Escondido, eh? I've heard good things about both; sometime I'll have to go... goodness, there is a ton to explore in Mexico.

Dan, I'm already planning our next trip. We'll go again next winter, probably PE again, but maybe spend more time around Mexico City (Puebla, Cuernavaca, etc.). Or maybe San Cristobal. The more I visit Mexico, the more I want to see. We've also got a trip planned to Turkey for September, so 2005 is a great travel year for me.

Adding a little note to your text, and thanking you for visitng us, the Coffee place is call, Nuevo Mundo Coffee Roaster, www.nuevomundocoffee.com.
And about Hierve el Agua, the best way to get to this beautiful place is taking a pre-arranged tour with an agency, this way is much easier and the cost is almost the same, I'm a Oaxacan tourist guide, and you can always ask me questions if you want.
best regards.
Juan Manuel

The coffee definitely was excellent!

Susan, A very nice report, we will be in Oaxaca in January and I have taken some notes. thanks for reporting. Any other tidbits you want to pass on ?
I hate hearing about chaotic airports, especially as we travel as a party of five !, we had a horror flight out of Denpasar on sunday night...chaos was not descriptive enough !