Oaxaca’s Hidden World | Beyond the City, a Land of 1000 Villages
Welcome to the mountains of Oaxaca, Mexico, land of a thousand villages. We’ve joined up with our Canadian friends from Vancouver Island to wander a path through the maze of winding roads that makes up an intricate network of supply routes for the myriad of small mountain villages throughout this part of the world. Oaxaca is a special place and up here, lingering just below 10,000ft are the places that have been the birthplace of so much of the culture that runs rich through the veins of this Mexican state. There’s gravel to travel and myriads of mountains to meander, so buckle up and let's roam. Some roads don't simply exist on a map. They live in your mind, calling to you in your sleep, filling your thoughts at work. The Pan-American Highway, a road spanning the length of North
and South America, a 30,000 km road trip through more than 15 countries, is that road for us. Life, to us, is nothing more than a collection of moments, and we want to fill our moments with adventure. So, for 18 months, we'll be driving south from Tuktoyaktuk, Canada all the way to Ushuaia, Argentina. From the Arctic to the Andes through deserts, jungles and the unknown,
we'll live and wander in our self-built adventure mobile, seeking stories, chasing landscapes, and redefining what it means to us to be modern-day explorers. This is our journey. To be clear, I’m not actually certain if there are a thousand villages up here. It could be more, it could be less. Sometimes the number seems infinite because we just keep on stumbling onto more. This morning, we have found ourselves parked just above Benito Juarez at roughly 10,200ft in the parking lot of the town's mirador. We are joined by our Canadian friends Briony and James who will accompany us on our explorations for the next week.
But this is not where our story begins … it begins at the bottom of the hill. This here, is my least favourite activity while on the road, but it’s an absolute necessity to ensure we remain moving…or in this case, stopping. Throughout the three years that we’ve been traveling in the van, I’ve done about 95% of our maintenance and upgrades myself. I come from a fairly long history of working on vehicles so I’m comfortable doing this kind of thing while on the road. So, I am once again attempting to address the Chevy brake caliper problem and I don't know if I've shown it very well in the previous videos, maintenance and stuff like that. The
Chevy brake calipers come with these clips and these are meant for the brake pad to slide on, basically like that, and the after-market versions of these aren't as thick, and they allow play between that groove and the top one, and then the brake calipers can move up, or sorry, the brake pads can move up and down like this, and create a really loud rattle. I don't know why I didn't think of this before but I've just cut a piece of bike tube that I have. I just cut a piece of it and shoved it down in there and then I'm going to put this now down on the caliper, and I'm hoping that it brings up the space in between and creates a cushion, and so we don't have that loud obnoxious clatter in the brakes anymore. I've waited this long to do this because I wanted a well-populated campground in case anything went wrong. I don't want to do
this out in the middle of nowhere where I don't have any support from other travelers' tools if I need them. I pretty much travel with everything I need for tools but like this scissor jack, I don't really trust it and if it broke then I'd be SOL big time ... Yeah, always make sure to grease your ball joints. Lubrication is key.
I don't always get it right and I'm constantly learning. However, it's skills like this and a willingness to do your own vehicle maintenance that I consider extremely important to practice if you're going to be living on the road and traveling to such places as we do for long periods of time. We've been pretty lucky to not have experienced any major breakdowns in the last 3 years and I attribute a lot of that to maintenance, and the rest of it to the van itself being really hardy and well built. See you there.
Okay, so today is the day that we are leaving our camp spot here in Oaxaca and we're going to, oh, Oaxaca City, and we're going to the mountains. But before we do that, we have to do a bunch of errands, which includes filling up on water, groceries, beer and then we'll hit the mountains. Si. Like Alex's new shirt? It's very very Mexican, manly, mhm. Yes. First on our list of towns to visit post errands is the small town of Teotitlan del Valle, which lies roughly 30km east of the city of Oaxaca. This small town with a population of roughly 4800 residents is famous for its high-quality wool rugs and naturally-dyed textiles. The town has a strong
communal system and many of the residents still speak their native Zapotec language. What town are we in? Teotitlan del Valle, something like that. Why don't we go look at some rugs. Rugs are cool .. After a short peruse through some of the shops along the main strip, we wandered our way into a rug shop aptly named Bug in a Rug, which as you’ll soon learn is quite clever. So hard. These ones are fun. The owner of Bug in a Rug brought us into the back to show us how the rugs are taken from simple sheep’s wool to the beautifully woven rugs we saw hanging from the walls and stacked on shelves. We were shown how black and white wool is combined using traditional methods to create grey, and then how using different natural resources are used to create a multitude of vibrant colours.
For instance, we’re shown here how these insects called Cochineal that are painstakingly removed from nopales cactus, when crushed creates this deep red. But when lime juice is added, it lightens the colour. Add some baking soda and the colour can be changed again. Traditional skills in creating dyes and dyeing wool like this, along with the actual weaving of rugs and other textiles, have been passed down from generation to generation, existing for hundreds of years. What did we get, babe? This this is a custard taco. It's a custard
taco. It's delicious. Mhm. And I got a custard cone. I want that one. Then it was time to air down the tires and head up into the mountains. There's a camera right there. You guys ready to go? Let's get it. Yeah. Airing down Oaxaca. The climb up was, as you can likely surmise, steep, winding, rocky and dusty. And, to add to the excitement, as you may have just heard me say, the fix I had just done on the brakes was another dud and I may have even made it worse.
Hola amigos. Oh yeah. We made it. 2800m. Well? So much cooler up here. I know. That cool air is just .. 20°.. unreal. Yeah. You guys ready to go to camp? Sure, yeah. We did a quick check-in with the tourism office of Benito Jaurez and paid our tourism and camping fee before progressing further up the mountain. Well, we've made it to our spot for the night. It was an oddly disconcerting day. Lots of people honking, lots of people yelling, and the van really doesn't seem to
be doing so well. I think we're going to have to make some serious changes here pretty soon, possibly put a transmission cooler on, figure out where our lack of power is coming from. I have done a remap on the engine. Doesn't seem to work yet ... and, yeah, now there's more brake issues. I seem to have not fixed anything this morning, so.
Going to the mirador. Is there anything better than standing on a mountain top with a warm wind hitting your face and an incredible view stretching out before you? I’m not sure, but if there is, it’s gotta be pretty darn good to beat this. I'm terrified. Don't look down.
Oh my gosh ... What are you on about, babe? That was terrifying, oh my gosh. Getting down's going to be fun. Now that we're in the safety of ... What a cool little town. Not winning any ladder races.
Would you quit it? Would ya? Morning came, accompanied by birdsong and a quiet calm amidst our mountaintop camp. We spent the morning in relaxed conversation, sipping hot coffee and sharing tales of exploration and adventure. Yet again, we’d found somewhere that had the markers of home. The scent of
pine in the wind, towering pine trees, a mountainscape that looked familiar, especially to those of us who have lived in the Okanagan in British Columbia. But, there were markers of unfamiliarity as well, like giant agave plants with spiky ends and serrated edges that served to remind us of where we actually were. Well, this is a fun little adventure .. Not! Is there something about doing it, maybe ..You're on camera .. on level ground perhaps? Okay, so while we were in the parking lot back up there, I decided to do a remap because I had some time and we're at a really high elevation. We've been
having issues with elevation. The van just has no power and that's because the ECU is unable to keep up with the kind of elevations that we're seeing. So I've done the remap and we are about to go, and because the ECU basically has to figure out how much oxygen is in the air, as soon as I hit the brake while the engine is running, or try and give it any kind of gas, the engine just dies on us. And as soon as the engine dies, I have no braking. And it's a really really steep descent. So, we're currently - I'm currently just like jammed the front wheels up into a ditch so that the van doesn't roll and I have my foot on the gas and I'm just hoping that the engine remaps enough so we can get down the hill. This is so stupid. Alright, so we are currently in motion on this crazy descent from the Mirador at Benito Juarez.
The van just was basically stalled out and we couldn't go anywhere for like .. 10 minutes? And that was a bit disconcerting but we're moving now and the van's driving and I think we're good. Are we in the clear, babe? I hope so. We're in the clear. Yahoo. Well, crazy thing, it seems like the remap seemingly worked. We have started ascending and we've already seen like an 18-19% grade and the van comparatively .. cruised up .. just cruised right up the hill. So it's, yeah, it's really feeling like we have a lot more available power now that we've done the remap. A little bit scary during the moment but success, very nice but success. It’s only a short climb from Benito Juarez to Cuajimoloyas. At an altitude of over 9,800
feet or 3,000 meters, Cuajimoloyas offers cool weather, lush pine and oak forests, and breathtaking views. It's a paradise for outdoor enthusiasts, with hiking, mountain biking, zip-lining, and guided nature tours. The town is deeply rooted in Zapotec traditions, and many residents participate in sustainable forestry and communal land management. Negro. Very cool. I've never seen that cacti varietal.
Visitors often come to experience La Cumbre Ixtepeji, a scenic viewpoint, and the Camino Real, an ancient trade route connecting the Pueblos Mancomunados (Mahn-koh-moo-NAH-dos). The village also hosts a mushroom festival called Feria de Hongos every summer, celebrating the region’s rich variety of wild fungi. Unfortunately, we’d come looking to taste a mushroom dish when mushrooms are out of season. We’d need to wait another few months before tasting this local delicacy. So instead, we had this traditional meat dish shared between the four of us.
Having struck out on mushrooms, we went hunting for trout, believe it or not. We’d been told about a spot here by our vanlife friends Projekt Unbound where we could get a meal and a camp spot, so we paid the town fee and went in search of another delicious meal. We are going to Commodore Las Truchas. It's a trout restaurant up on the hill above .. [indecipherable]. It's a hard one. Yeah,
it kind of sounds like guacamole. Going to get some fresh trout. Fresh trout. This is pretty something. Unreal. Yeah, so charming. Can you imagine living here? Okay, so there's a hike that starts from here. They just raise the trout here. Meg just left her door open. ... Good for the old heart, I guess. What we found at the end of this gravel road was a little sliver of mountain paradise, a quiet spot to stay the night and a restaurant that would serve us the best fish we’d possibly ever eaten. You ready for some trout? Oh, I'm so excited. From that little pond right
there. Trout grown in the pond right behind us, vegetables picked from the field below us, water coming from the natural spring up the hill, and all the food cooked over an open fire with the sunset giving us the last of its light. This right here is traditional dining at its very finest. So this is .. they actually did that really quickly. This is frito. I'm excited. Oh, my gosh. So excited. That was 30 minutes on the nose, I think. Half hour. Alright you guys, mid-meal reviews. How is it thus far? Incredible. Fantastic. Words can't
really describe it. It's so good. Delish. Yeah, it's actually so, so, so good. Mhmm. The next morning, yet again, we were welcomed by the light with birdsong and a peaceful morning breeze. Before leaving, we’d be exploring some trails through the area, allowing us a better feel for the outskirts of Cuajimoloyas (Kwah-hee-moh-LOH-yahs). I'm scared of this male turkey. Walk away slowly.
We’re obviously not well acquainted with the seasonal changes in the mountains of Oaxaca. However, judging by the wildflowers coming into bloom, it would seem that spring is right around the corner. And it got me wondering. Do they have groundhogs to tell them it's Spring out here? Hi ... you looking for a scratch? ... He's lovin' it. Bestie. Totally lovin' it. Is that a competition? Yes. Well alright, we are done our hike and ready to head off to our next spot somewhere in the mountains. Who knows where? So, we're going to try for a secluded spot, not a .. Comms. Comms 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9.
We're going to see if we can find a secluded place to camp for free tonight but we really have no idea what we'll find. Yeah, so it could be just like a misadventure of not being able to find a spot. We shall see. How in the world did you spot this? Aaw. Baby. Oh yeah, this leash. What? Oh, they're so cute. You've escaped. The one guy is so chill. Yeah. The black is such a .. Come. Come here.
So we've been driving for a little while here and kind of running into the same thing that we ran into last week where a lot of the roads off the main roads are gated off. So, yet to be found out if we can find a free spot or not. I think James is just over there and scoping out another little offshoot. We shall see. I mean you're the pro, but you see this? You think we found it? Oh yeah. You got her? Easy. Alright, so we've got a super .. it's actually a pretty steep grade. I think it's going to be right at the limit of the van, so, time to hit it with some momentum. When in doubt, throttle out!
Go Betty, go! Oh, it's fine, it's fine, stop bragging. Okay, okay. Come on, you can do this, man. The crawl, oh [ __ ]. Little help from my friends. Well, that seems pretty easy.
Betty's going by herself right now. I'm so proud. It had taken a little effort to make it here, but often the best spots take a little more effort anyways. After a small pull from James and Briony and their Tundra, we were rewarded with a rare secluded, free spot in the mountains of Oaxaca. This land echoes a familiar place from home, yet it hums with a spirit all its own. Here, peaks rise between ten and eleven thousand feet, their slopes cradling scattered villages, each with its own story, its own vibrant past. To roam these mountains,
to trace our own path through their remote beauty, is a gift we do not take for granted. Not everywhere offers such freedom—to explore, to choose, to simply be. In this moment, we feel the weight of that privilege, and we are very grateful for it. Okay, so today we've got a little bit of a longer drive day. We're going to try and knock out some villages that have unique little things, but we won't be staying in them and we're probably going to do about 100 km, maybe 150 today, and it's all through super windy mountain roads. So,
it's going to be slow going but it's absolutely spectacular, so stunning up here. We've just really been enjoying our time. Mhm. And the temperatures, the cooler temperatures but our traveling friends don't love the cool so .. they're freezing. Yeah, they've been acclimated to Pacific Coast temperatures for a while now and, up here, I mean it's quite cold, but yeah, they haven't been loving the cold temps, so let's go see some villages. Si!
We had tailored our route today to pass by a spot labeled on our Gaia map simply as “Hacienda Ruins”. Lying just off the side of the road, we’d need to descend down into a small river valley, cross a creek and then make the short climb back up to reach the site. This creek crossing had a small, loose and sandy drop into the water that really doesn’t appear to be much on camera but was cause for mild concern on our return pass. I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes. The Hacienda Ruins, found throughout Oaxaca, are remnants of grand colonial-era estates that once thrived on agriculture, mining, and textiles. Scattered throughout the region, these ruins tell the story of Oaxaca’s complex history, from Spanish rule to indigenous resistance and revolution. Many haciendas were built in the 16th and 17th centuries. Now, all that’s left are grand archways,
crumbling stone walls, and faded frescos. Some have been restored as museums or boutique hotels, while others remain abandoned, slowly being reclaimed by nature. These ruins offer a glimpse into Mexico’s past, blending history, architecture, and the enduring spirit of the land. This site in particular had remnants of a number of different buildings, an aqueduct system and large water wheel which likely aided in the grinding of grain or tasks that required some kind of constant kinetic energy. If you're enjoying this film and want to see more, be sure to hit that Subscribe button and give us a Like. It's a free and easy way to help our videos make it to a wider audience.
Then it was time to head back across the creek, up the hill and onto the next village. Back in the creek, Betty went up against the exit bank and with a small application of momentum she walked right up, nothing to really be worried about. I cannot believe Betty made it up that. San Miguel Amatlán felt like we’d stepped back in time. This little town is known for its deep Zapotec heritage. It’s a place where tradition and nature intertwine. Surrounded by lush forests and rugged mountains, it’s not just a scenic retreat; it’s a hub of natural healing, with locals still using medicinal plants passed down through generations. The village’s eco-tourism offerings invite visitors to explore
its beautiful hiking trails and learn about the region’s traditional farming practices. Our progression through the mountains was going swimmingly until James decided to do some extracurricular off-roading … otherwise known as, driving off the road. So that .. was not a good idea. Could you pull me backwards? Yeah.
I’m quite positive for James and Briony at this point the situation seemed pretty dire. It’s never a great feeling when your home is teetering on the edge. Luckily, it was a pretty straight forward recovery, just a quick tug from Betty and the Tundra was back on all fours. No. Yahoo. I was so nervous. Awesome. Winning. Saved, yahoo. Crisis averted. All good under there? We're good. Steering rods, or tie rods, intact. Okay! Awesome. Rescuing the uber capable 4x4. That's
another one in under Betty's belt, another recovery. Betty the recovery van. What time is it, honey? Night time. The day was hot and it’s our policy, as you the viewer may be familiar, that we never pass up a chance to take a dip and cool off when we come across fresh, clean water. So, in we went to cool off. Get out of here.
After our dip, we wandered up river a little further to return to our river spot from the last episode. Since we’d found our way back to the 175, the road we’d taken to get to Oaxaca City, this spot offered a perfect chance to hide away from the world for an evening and a chance for another cold dip in the river. Hard right, hard right. Yeah. Alright. Oh, I love it. Time for dinner? Yeah. Dinner with friends. What's wrong with you? Going over to the neighbor's place with dinner in hand. Hola, amigos. Hello. Hola. You ready? You ready for
us? Yeah. Mmm, looks good. Classic ... Alright Louis, this is for you. Modelo. This is going out to our viewer, Luis Ramirez. Oh. Cheers to you. Thank you for the beer money. Let's go. You did it. Congratulations, you did it. That's a ... those are big rocks. Could you imagine if we were at the wrong place at the wrong time? Oh my god. Well, that there is immediate death folks.
Gees Louise, there's another one. It's just a little piece of home. Canada From the bottom of our river valley camp spot, we once again climbed thousands of feet to a mountain ridge for our traverse eastward. This was to become a common theme over the next two days of driving. If you don’t want to follow a long convoluted ridgeline to get to a spot or another town, then you’re forced to descend all the way down to the bottom and then all the way back up.
And another, there's another big one. I'm sorry that you're scared but I promise, I'm your friend. So refreshing. Mid-day, mid-drive dip. Now that we had descended all the way down to this riverspot, had a nice dip, yep, you guessed it, we’ve gotta climb all the way back up. As we climbed, we noticed a few conspicuous greenhouses. We didn’t stop to take a
closer look, for obvious reasons, but we’re pretty certain that they were in fact growing some green in there, if you get my meaning. We're not sure what these greenhouses are for but .. could be ganja, could be ganja, could be ganja. Unreal. This would be a place to live. It’s not hard to be impressed by how many towns exist up here in the mountains. They just keep on popping up in our windshield,
across mountain valleys, atop peaks, close to rivers. They’re everywhere. This is cute. And, not surprisingly, each town has its own unique character. However, there’s always one thing that reigns true: they all have super narrow, winding streets and it can be like attempting to navigate a maze while passing through.
Oh, did he did he miss that corner? Wow, it's beautiful. This is absolutely crazy. I can't believe people live up here. There's just towns everywhere. Millions. Amazing. Spectacular. Eventually, we once again found gravel and started yet another descent down towards a river valley, the last one for this section of our travels through Oaxaca. Looking pretty good.
Look at this. Gorgeous. You're crazy. See if the brakes steam. Okay, do it again. Sizzle! One last morning parked beside a creek, one last river valley to climb out of, one last small town with narrow, winding streets to navigate through, one last attraction to see before returning to the city. Pretty. Not big on like safety. Well, we've made it to the spot.
This is Hierve el Agua. Hierve el Agua is a stunning natural wonder located in the Sierra Madre del Sur, near Oaxaca City. Known for its striking mineral-rich, petrified waterfalls, it is formed by the deposition of calcium carbonate from the region's hot springs. The unique formations resemble cascading waterfalls, though they are solid rock. Visitors can explore the area’s natural pools, which are perfect for swimming, and enjoy breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. That is a fantastic sign, right there. Do not approach the abyss. Don't get too
close to the shore. Oh, look it's a heart, babe. Oh, she is adorable. She's so cute. Will you eat out of my hand? Good job. Oh, there's more. This one is on .. spook levels of some sort. I know you're so cute. It's like a miniature Border Collie of some sort. Mmm,
you think so? Uh no, I don't know, maybe Collie cross with like a dingo type dog. Please, I'll give you a scratch. I'll give you a scratch. She's cute. Hola.
And with that we complete another week of our life of wandering. Although we've barely scratched the surface of this spectacular place, we’re coming away with a unique experience, an experience that was specifically tailored to us, that we can recount in our later years as the time we disappeared into the mountains of Oaxaca to explore towns, swim in cool rivers and camp in secret spots. Oh, what a tale to tell. Thank you for being here along with us on this journey. We hope that our stories and our experiences inspire you and encourage you to get out there into the big beautiful world that surrounds you, in pursuit of YOUR next big adventure, so you can form long-lasting memories. Until the next one, keep on roamin’.
If you would like to see behind-the-scenes content, get route and camp-spot information, or if you’d just like to help support us by putting some gas in our tank each month, you can contribute on Patreon. And before you go, don’t forget to check out slowroamers.com to get yourself some rad Slow Roamers merch.
2025-04-04 23:48
