Hierve el Agua, Tule Tree, Mitla and Mezcal Distillery Tour

Nuesto día comenzó yendo al punto de encuentro. Una vez llegamos con el tiempo justo al café y sin tiempo para tomar un café (nuestra culpa, se nos pegaron las sábanas) nos empezaron a organizar en grupos y la verdad que nuestro grupo liderado por Kévin el guía, era muy variado y Kévin nos hizo hacer una pequeña ronda introductoria y así empezamos a conocernos mejor, el primer punto del tour era el árbol de tula donde nos podíamos tomar un café y un algo para comer, pero cual fue mi sorpresa cuando me dí cuenta de que... ¡¡¡no llevaba la cartera!!! Después de unos minutos de pánico Kévin nos soluciono el problema y nos tranquilizó diciendo: todo tiene solución menos la muerte!! Y el día continuo con la visita a hierve el agua donde los paisajes son increíbles pero bajar como siempre es más fácil que subir que nos costó un pulmón aunque al llegar arriba a las piscinas naturales el baño fue un premio doble. Continuamos hacía Mitla con un guía autóctono que nos introdujo en zapoteca a su cultura, aaaaaa me olvidaba en el camino nos paramos en una pequeña comunidad que tejia con la tradición ancestral todo muy bonito pero no era apto para nuestros bolsillos aunque merece la pena conocer como obtienen sus materiales y sus colores, volviendo al recorrido en Mitla nos fascino lo bien conservado que está y después nos fuimos a comer a un buffet genial de calidad y fantástico en el precio pero no acabo todo ahí quedava ponerle la guinda al pastel una visita a la fábrica de mezcal y una degustacion que fue maravillosa,Julio césar nuestro hombre nos explicó todo los tipos de mezcal y nos lo dio a degustar y si alguno te gustaba te dejaba repetir ???? la vuelta fue súper animada por el efecto del mezcal y la unió que Kévin logró creando una playlist con canciones que elegimos en el camino de ida para la vuelta estábamos todos eufóricos cantando y riendo al llegar unos pocos del grupo nos fuimos a continuar con la juerga por oaxaca y fue un final apoteosico para un día que empezó con un pequeño traspiés, como dicen los mejicanos!!! Todo tiene solución menos la muerte!!!!!!

What a great day. Glad we had all day as a lot to do and see. A great range of activities including swimming at Hierve de Agua as a highlight. The guides, Adrian and Mike were great and very friendly with the Mezcal!

This was the best tour that we took in our whole trip. Miguel was a great tour guide and there were 14 on the tour. Everyone met at their site, Oaxaca by Locals, and on site you could order a coffee or meal if you are early enough. We first stopped at the Tule Tree, the widest tree in the world and had 40 minutes there. This costs extra (cash only) to enter and see the tree up close. Afterwards we bussed to a textile workshop which had a local demonstration of how Oaxacans used natural products to create dyes. This was very interesting and entertaining to see colors be created in front of us. There was a chance to purchase their handmade wool products afterwards but the prices were really high. A small bathroom rug size product was around 2000 pesos. We visited Hierve al Agua which you had the option of bathing in their natural pools, doing a hike, or both. You had 2 hours of free time here to do these things. You could do a half hike which was a hike down some stairs to the base of the petrified waterfall and turning around to go back up the stairs. Or the full hike which you kept following the trail to loop around back to the beginning. Warning, we did the full hike and it was pretty brutal due to the heat and you should be an occasional hiker to do this, otherwise you lose out on swimming time. The dip in the pool was amazing and refreshing after a hike and we had about 30 minutes to soak. It took almost 10 minutes walking from the pools back to the bus and was uphill. Note that this and the future stop, Mitla, their entry fee was not included and cash was collected on the bus. We went to lunch at a buffet which was just average. They take credit card so you don’t really need as much cash as they said. Some people opted to skip this lunch due to past reviews of others not liking it. They served up Oaxacan dishes, fruits, salad bar, and desserts. Drinks are not included. Mitla was next, and another tour guide within Mitla took us around ruins. There’s regulations on using Mitla’s specific tour guides so our tour guide was not with us. There was some time to buy local shop goods and ice creams. Finally we went on a Mezcal tasting and saw how it was produced. We probably had 14-15 shots of different Mezcals including different cream flavored Mezcals. You could tell them how much you wanted for your shots and you could have seconds if you really liked any. There was a chance to purchase small or large bottles of Mezcal. The only improvement I would suggest is the tour information on here should mention to bring a swimsuit, towel, etc. There wasn’t any indication that we would be swimming outside of other reviews and comments. An umbrella to shield from the sun might help too. Overall this tour was great. Our tour guide Miguel and driver Oscar were hilarious and informative. I had a great time and it was great value for what we received on this 11 hour tour.