Of ruins, ice cream, falling into the sky and kindness

A story of our encounter with the beautiful ancient ruins of  Mitla, trying out the ‘Kiss of Angels’, witnessing the breathtaking views at Hierve el Agua and finding a most unexpected kindness.

After spending the morning at various sites around Oaxaca and passing through some twisty and windy road across a small town, we arrived at the ancient ruins of Mitla. The first thing that we saw as we stepped out of the car was a few domes which belonged to a church erected on the site of the ruins by the Spaniards after they have conquered the city. That reminded me a lot of the thoughts I had about the Metropolitan Cathedral in Mexico City.

To enter the site, we had to go through a small pop-up artisan market selling mainly souvenirs. Amongst the flaps of the brightly coloured cloths and the twinkling of the wooden trinkets hung on strings in front of makeshift stalls, we could see the vendors fanning themselves in an effort to make the sweltering heat more bearable. Just before we got to the entrance, a woman in an ice cream shop called out to us try out her ice creams. Our guide gave us a smile and told us to try a few samples before we start our tour of the ruins. Seeing that we were taking her up on her offer, she quickly produced numerous small spoons which she dipped into a myriad of different plastic tubs, to get us to try different flavours she had on sale. After trying a few we decided that we will come back later and save the cold refreshing ice cream after finishing our tour underneath the searing sun. With a few nods, smiles and hand gestures we told her that we would be back and she graciously let us go to rejoin our guide.

On first glance, we could see that ruins encompass a rather small site. I have read that Mitla is indeed one of the smaller ruins compared to other ancient sites in Mexico. But what it lacks in size, it made up with monumental beauty. As our guide took us around we stopped by a wall, of what used to be either a palace of temple, covered in exquisite mosaic work that is very much unique to the region. The mosaic was made without any mortar or cement and was built purely by slotting the cut stones into place to create the intricate geometric patterns we saw before us that day. He then went on to explain that although quite a bit of the site has been restored, a lot of the mosaic works are still in their original state with only minor touch ups and cleaning done to them.

Still enchanted by the mosaics, we then did a tour of the site, climbing some set of stairs to reach the palace complex of the city. Inside the structure we found more intricate mosaics adorning the walls of the rooms. It was then that we saw a familiar face amongst the scattering of local tourists exploring the ruins. An old man smiled and waved at us, and after a few seconds we recognized him as the old man we saw on the Templo de Santo Domingo this morning. The same old man who gave us a story-telling session about the history of the church. We smiled, returned the wave and walked over to him to say hello and exchange pleasantries. Shaking our hands with a wide grin on his face, he told us that he sometimes get asked by tourists to give them a tour of the various sites outside of the city such as Mitla. After talking about our future travel plans around the area, we thanked him again for the wonderful tour he gave of the church this morning and said our goodbyes as we parted ways to different parts of the ruins, him following his ward of tourists and us following our guide.

After a few more stories and explanations about the ruins, our tour guide gave us some free time to explore the site ourselves. He told us that there are some tombs at different parts of the sites which we could visit if we wanted to. Not one to shy away from an interesting experience, we set out in hunt for open tombs we could enter and where we could pretend we’re tomb-raiders. As it turned out, the tombs were pretty small and crowded. Jostling through the numerous tourists queuing up to either enter or escape from the darkness of the tomb, we could feel the heat and humidity of the air inside from having too many people in an enclosed space. It was still very fun to enter the tomb though, as we did get a glimpse of the mosaic covered walls of the tomb and Bobby got to do an action video of entering the tomb, albeit one amongst throngs of tourists with cellphone cameras and cellphone flashlights going off in the dark.

Feeling stuffy and slightly overheated, our minds were trained to one thing and one thing only, ice cream. As we’ve seen most of the ruins, we headed back out to the exit to fulfill our words (or rather hand gestures) to the ice cream seller. When she saw us, her eyes lit up and she quickly repeated the same motion of getting us to try the different flavoured ice creams she had on offer. In the end we both settled on the same flavor, an Oaxacan specialty she said, called the Kiss of Angels. It was a fruity sort of ice cream with the refreshing flavours of strawberries and cherries. The traditional ice creams were different compared to the western ice creams we usually have. It was like a cross between an ice cream and a sorbet, with a rather rough but not entirely unpleasant texture. We loved the flavor we got as the strawberries and cherries had the mixture of sweetness and tartness we both really enjoyed and we could also find bits of dried fruits in the ice cream. For a mere 25 pesos a cup, the ice creams were an absolute bargain and such a welcome antidote to the sweltering afternoon.

From Mitla, we went to a small buffet restaurant for lunch where we could sample most of Oaxaca’s regional specialties. We were so spoilt for choices as they had everything from freshly made quesadillas with special Oaxaca cheese to pork skin soup (which we both grew to love in the end). Let loose on the buffet section (being Asian) we had about 3 rounds of food each before realizing that we would still need to move around afterwards. Finishing off our meal and with our jeans feeling just a (tiny) bit tighter, we set off to our next spot in the itinerary.

In the minivan our guide told us that we are now heading towards the petrified waterfalls of Hierve el Agua. The road to the site was twisty and rather rugged. It made for some spectacular views of the mountains and valleys, but also a somewhat frightening experience when we realised that there were no barriers in the roads and one slip by the driver would send all of us tumbling down the cliff like a metal lunchbox. Just as I had that thought we came across a truck which was leaning precariously towards the drop with the wheels on the right side already fallen off the road. We could see the confused and worried faces of the drivers and the crowd of people already there, wondering how the hell can they get the truck out of its ridiculous position. As it turned out, when we made our way back about 2.5 hours later, the truck and the crowd was still the same position, with the same puzzled faces they had before. We never knew how that story ended, one loose end of the many stories we encountered in Oaxaca.

Shortly after encountering the truck, we found ourselves entering the complex of Hierve El Agua, noted with a painted sign on the front façade of a small house which also doubled as a ticket booth. After getting our tickets, our guide told us that we had about 1.5 hours of free time to explore the site. We made our way down the rocky path and was greeted by an amazing panoramic view of the mountains and the valley below us. Resisting the urge to just stay put and enjoy the view, we trudged on and when we were near the spring we finally had our first glimpse of one of the petrified waterfalls in the distance. Set against a backdrop of the green valleys and mountains, the white frozen waterfalls stood out like something out of a dream. The calcium in the water deposited itself over hundreds of years onto the Cliffside forming the spectacular site, in a process that is not unlike the one which created the famous travertines of Pamukkale (‘Cotton Castle’) in Turkey.

Enjoying the sights and after taking loads of pictures of the waterfall, we diverted our attention to our immediate surroundings. We could hear the soft trickle of water all around us from the spring and the loud splashes coming from the pool just a few steps away. Whoever ran the place had the brilliant idea of creating a small natural looking pool with water fed directly from the surrounding springs. It made for an incredible infinity pool, where in the correct angle the sky would meet the blue turquoise water.

Wanting to see more of the area, we continued up the hiking trail behind the pool, and after a few minutes of following the rugged rocky path, we looked back and saw that the calcium from the waters in the pool we saw earlier also made a spectacular display just off the edge of the cliff creating a second petrified waterfall.

After more climbing, we finally reached the spring which formed the first petrified waterfall. In that spring, seen against a spectacular backdrop of the mountain and the valleys, we could see clearly the bubbling of the water and we finally saw first-hand why the area is called Hierve el Agua or boiling water.

Sitting on the precipice of the cliff and dangling my feet off the edge, I was rather exhilarated and thrilled. Looking up at the cloudless blue sky and feeling a slight breeze underneath, it felt like I was falling. Not downwards to the rocky floor of the valley, but upwards into the surreal sapphire sky. Imagine feeling like the ground falling away from beneath you and gravity losing its grip as your feet dangled out in the air. It was beautiful and scary at the same time, altogether quite difficult to describe.

After that short daze, I carefully stood up, dusted myself off and proceeded to take hundreds of pictures of the area, desperately trying to immortalize the beauty of the experience that was happening then. With about 20 minutes left, we briskly made our way back through the rocky paths to get back to the entrance.

We underestimated the difficulty of the climb and when we reached the entrance, we felt like we just did a round of Insanity Workout sans the black muscular guy shouting at us. Thankfully there were still just enough time for me to grab an ice cold can of beer from one of the stalls to quench the thirst from the frantic hike we just did. The woman greeting us was really nice and welcoming. I misheard her when she told me the price and gave her way too much money. Any unscrupulous vendor would have quickly took advantage of my mistake and pocket any extra money I gave with relish, but not her. She laughed and when I started to leave looked surprised and called out to give me a substantial amount of change. It was one of those small things that I felt really grateful for, to be able to experience a person’s honesty and kindness even in a place where I felt completely alien. I suppose looking back, those moments of finding the humanity in the places I went to are the ones that really made a trip or a place memorable. It was a small gesture that she did, but one that somehow stayed with me.

Finishing my can of beer and while joking around with sounds and gestures with the Mexican couple who were the only other people on our tour today (they didn’t speak a word of English), we all heard the calls of the guide and made our way back to the minivan, all exhausted, but glowing with (both sweat and) happiness that we all had the opportunity to experience such a beautiful place.