Oaxaca & San Jose del Pacifico

Wow, what a trip. Oaxaca City is truly as amazing as everyone says. I visited Puerto Escondido earlier this year which is part of the Oaxaca state that I also loved. The best part is that it is only about an hour flight from Mexico City.

Arrived and checked in at Pug Seal Hotel that a friend had recommended. Very cool design, artsy and it’s in the middle of everything…

No time to waste and being hungry, I picked a restaurant from a list that another friend of mine had compiled with recommendations for Oaxaca. Went to Casa Oaxaca and yum yum yum, everything was delicious. Especially the lobster 🙂 I also like that they prepare the guacamole and salsa in front of you and ask how picante you want your salsa to be.

Also necessary to get the caffeine fix. Kiyo Cafe was my spot and they also had a little store with locally made stuff…

The town is beautiful and colorful. Little specialty shops, cafes, and lots of bars and restaurants.

I love mezcal and tried some drinks at Sabina Sabe. Muy bueno!

Called it a night after that…

Next day I had breakfast at the hotel. Oh, and since I’m a bit restless at times and can’t just sit and do nothing, I thought – why not swing a little before breakfast arrives…

Next door to the hotel they had this supercool shop called Peyote People. They have art inspired by peyote and made by locals. I have tried a bit of peyote and I will hopefully get to participate in a full ceremony with it soon…

Then picked up a rental car and the destination was the mushroom town San Jose del Pacifico. The town is known for magic mushrooms and I think Vice made a show about this town once…

Checked in at Casa Elba. Supercute place with different style cabanas surrounded by nature.

It was walking distance to town which is very small and charming.

Decided on an early dinner at an Asian restaurant called Tatsu. It was a bit further up from town and the view and sunset from there was beautiful! Spicy and good food too.

Breakfast at the hotel with the company of these 2 pugs that lived there 🙂

Needed more coffee and walked to town. It’s pretty cool because pretty much all of the time you are above the clouds.

The best coffee shop is Oaxacid. People are very friendly here and like to talk about the town, magic mushrooms and anything else you want. Met an interesting guy while drinking coffee. He said he’s been a ‘wanted’ person and came to San Jose del Pacifico and hid here. During Covid he made some controversial video and people with machetes were looking for him in town. Luckily it started raining and that was apparently a sign from the gods that he should not be harmed. Luckily everything had cooled down now and he could roam free. Very interesting conversation…

Decided to check out the next town over called San Mateo Rio Hondo. The road kept getting smaller and narrower until it pretty much was a dirt track. Arrived in town and it was pretty much one lane streets so decided to park, walk, and see what I could find…

I was looking for a bakery, but Google maps was not very accurate here. Saw some smoke coming from a house and though there might be a bakery located there. I was right, but apparently not the bakery I was looking for. But I got to meet this great lady and her husband that baked and sold bread to stores in nearby towns/villages. They had a clay oven with a fire where they baked it all.

Headed back after about an hour and half. Found a restaurant on the way back and since I didn’t find the bakery I decided I might as well fill up with proper food instead of sugar 🙂 This guy had just picked these chanterelles and I love them. Ordered all my food with chanterelles and my favorite was this cheese with the mushrooms on top – wow!

This restaurant was by a hotel called ‘Hotel Boutique y Cabanas Alto La Sierra’. It looked nice and they were just adding more cabanas and of course they were decorated with mushroom art 🙂

When I walked into the town I spotted this sign about magic mushrooms. I decided to hike up the short little path to a small house. There was a lady hanging up laundry and I asked if she was the one selling shrooms. Yes it was and she showed me what she had…

I did a magic mushroom ceremony the next day. I will make a different post about it because it was an amazing and a very insightful trip!

At night I ate at an italian place called La Taberna Los Duendes. Like everywhere, there were designs inspired by mushrooms. The entrance, cheese plate, napkin holder etc. Food was really good and you got huge portions. I ate here after my mushroom trip as well. How cute is my mushroom hat that I bought?

The day after my shroom trip I had a relaxed morning and shopped for some mini knitted mushrooms from this lady to put on a Psychonaut Explorer jacket I’m planning to make 🙂

Then headed back to the city. It’s about an 2.5 hour drive depending on the traffic. Stopped at one of the road side markets as well. They all sell mushroom artifacts. Or actual mushrooms 🙂

One tip, if you decide to head out to San Jose del Pacifico, bring cash! Not all places accept card payments and there are no ATM’s.

Checked in at my airbnb which had a private little pool. Of course I made the most of it while there 🙂

Next up was a food tour to taste some local flavours and mezcal. Very tasty and almost drunk when finishing up hahahaaa….

Next day I met up with a group to go visit Hierve el Agua. It’s about an 1,5h drive away and it is a set of natural travertine rock formation. I thought it was hot springs, but learned it’s not. These are mineral springs and I thing the guide said the only other one exists in Turkey. Very cool!

I had spotted this awesome pottery store the day before and went there after the tour was done. I could’ve bought half the store because the stuff was amazing. It was pretty expensive and I settled for 2 mugs. This one with mushrooms and another one with a mouth and pill on the tongue. I wish it would’ve been an acid tab instead 😉

Also found this guy and he had a screenprint that reminded me of my mushroom trip so I bought it…

Changed up and went to have a semi private tasting experience at Crudo. Wow! It was sushi, but with added Oaxacan flavors. If you have to pick one place in town to eat, eat here! We were only 6 people, but they also have a restaurant where you can eat.

That pretty much concluded my Oaxaca & San Jose del Pacifico trip. I’m pretty sure I will go back as I had the best time. I can really recommend visiting here! I will write about my mushroom journey too 🙂 Here are some left over pics…

Hope you are doing great. Anyone still on vacation? Me? I’m off to ship a pair of heels someone won in an auction and then working out. Also did an interview for the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet this morning 🙂 Oh, and I’m trying to manage my 3rd day without sugar, bread, pasta and chips. Very hard but I’m determined to make it at least a week!

Hugs, Puma