Western Oaxaca

Introducing Western Oaxaca

Western Oaxaca is dramatic, mountainous country with a fairly sparse population and some thick forests as well as overfarmed, eroded and deforested areas. The region offers a chance to get well off the beaten track, enjoy hiking, biking or climbing in remote areas and see some outstanding colonial architecture and little-known pre-Hispanic sites. Guided trips are available from Oaxaca with operators such as Tierraventura, Bicic­letas Pedro Martínez and Rancho Buenavista and the Museos Com­unitarios.

Western Oaxaca (along with adjoining bits of Puebla and Guerrero states) is known as the Mixteca, for its Mixtec indigenous inhabitants. It was from here in about the 12th century that Mixtec dominance began to spread to the Valles Centrales. The Mixtecs were famed workers of gold and precious stones, and it’s said that Aztec emperor Moctezuma would eat only off fine Mixteca-Puebla ceramics. In pre-Hispanic times the Mixteca was relatively heavily populated, but today it’s one of Oaxaca’s poorest regions, with very high emigration rates.

You can visit the Mixteca in a long day trip from Oaxaca, but basic hotels or casas de huéspedes are available in places such as Nochixtlán, Coixtlahuaca and San Pedro Teposcolula, while Tlaxiaco and Huajuapan de León have better lodgings. In Huajuapan, a good inexpensive choice is Hotel Colón (953-532-08-17; Colón 10; r M$250; ), a clean, friendly, motel-style place with two floors of small, fan-cooled rooms around a courtyard.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2009