On our free walking tour in Oaxaca we got an exciting tip from our guide to visit a small nearby town.
San Martín Tilcajete is located about 23 km from the city of Oaxaca. It is a traditional Zapotec village best known for two things. Its production of “alebrijes”, colourful wood carvings of real or fantastic creatures and ceremonial or festival traditions.
We visited Tilcajete on the day before Ash Wednesday for one of the first major festivals of the year, Carnaval. A lot of people were in the streets, wearing handmade wood masks and costumes. Another local custom is that men put motor oil or different colours on their bodies and run around the streets looking for girls, trying to kiss or smear oil on them. It may sound a little bit weird but it was really fun to experience that different kind of carnaval. 😅
On the main plaza the party really started and we mingled between all the colourful and weird costumes. Of course we also had to get some beers. Christian even tried the famous “Michelada” that is well known throughout Mexico. It is a mix of a beer of your choice, chili powder, tabasco, lime and if you want tomato juice. It was as disgusting as it sounds…but mostly everybody was drinking it! 😅 Even in big cups of more than 1 liter… 🍺
With the “normal” Mexican beer instead, we started to do some dancing! And Magda even had to dance with one of the masked locals. We headed back to our home for now, Oaxaca. The next days we wanted to see more of what Oaxaca, the state, had to offer…
