Oaxaca Family Adventure: San Augustin Etla and Etla

We are growing adept at utilizing the collective taxi service here, and my admiration for their skills is growing each time we pile into the back of one. Today, we headed northwest of the city to the valley of Etla stopping at San Augustin which is a lovely town and Etla, the largest town in the area. At San Augustin, we walked past the beautiful church and courtyard which overlooks the valley--great vista, and we visited a converted cotton factory (Centro de Artes de San Augustin) which now houses a gallery, artist work spaces, and and ecological water feature. It was beautiful; the kids liked the shallow pools on roof tops that were also homes to fish. From there, we taxied to Etla where they were having their mercado day. Having been to several markets so far, this one struck me as surprisingly overwhelming and noisy. Vendors called out wares and prices aggressively and distinctly. It felt almost like a performance art. The booths, tables, and wares spilled over like a pile of mangos atop a table. In fact, I may have squashed a wandering mango as we made our way up a series of old stone steps to the covered prepared food portion. We were hungry and in need of bathrooms, but the overwhelming amount of flies and smell of propane tanks pushed us into the street in search of food. Perhaps not knowing Etla or not realizing its small size, we couldn't find a suitable place to eat. Exhausted and hungry, we purchased some drinks and snacks from the corner store, sat under the old aqueducts, and worked out our next step. We had wanted to see some ruins near by, but the collective taxis didn't go there. They recommended walking to the highway and flagging down another service. So we followed along the aqueduct reaching the highway and realized that we didn't know which service to flag down, and all were wondering if we needed a ride. So Pat asked another proprietor what to do, and he recommended, in fact, skipping the ruins. While predating Monte Alban and being significant historically, they have not been excavated very much. So there simply isn't much to see. Feeling defeated, we headed back to the city for lunch. We ate at a sort of fancy place that specializes in mole. Pat tried a yellow mole; I had a sampler plate featuring all six. The kids ate taquitos. It was a big yummy meal that left us satisfied and in need of a siesta.