Oaxaca and a Multi-Town Collaboration

Twenty years after Alice Waters made her first visit to Oaxaca, Mexico she still remembers it to be her “Favorite Place.” In the September 2009 issue of Travel and Leisure, p. 160, she writes:

“Oaxaca is replete with the art of everyday life. It’s not art in a gallery. The creativity comes across in the way people dress, in the way they live, and in the way they work. It’s in the colors of the earthenware pots: dark greens; deep purples; intense blacks . . . This is one of the richest, most biodiverse places in the Americas. You find it when you go to the Indian market in the Teotitlan valley outside of town.”

Actually, the markets have proven to be the basis of a sort of multi-locale collaboration that extends beyond the city of Oaxaca and spreads across the surrounding area and throughout the week.

Tuesday is the day to visit the market in Ayoquezco (population 4,385), especially if you’re interested in wood furniture. Wednesday, try the Zimatlan (population 2,562) market for cheese. Thursday, it’s the open-air market in Ejutla (population 17,232).

And it goes on – a sort of open-air market for each day of the week – small towns featured during the week days and a big market day in Oaxaca on Saturday.

When it comes to markets, “You can go every day and see something new.”