March 14, 2026

We had reservations for a tour to Monte Albán, a major archeological site, that started at 8:00am. We got up a bit early and just had some left-over pizza and pastries for breakfast and then headed to the tour office. We rode a bus with about thirty people across part of the city and then up a steep, winding road to the top of the large hill where Monte Albán is located.

It is unclear exactly how the name “Monte Albán” originated. According to our tour guide this site, which was a ceremonial gathering place as well as housing the elites of the Zapotec empire, should be named something along the lines of “city of jaguars”. It is an impressive site - the Zapotecs leveled the top of this substantial hill and constructed a huge plaza that could hold tens of thousands of people for ceremonies and events. The site was in use from around 500 BCE to 900 or 1000 CE, so it represents the center or a major center of one of the longest-standing empires. Because it had already been abandoned by the time Spanish Conquistadors arrived, they didn’t feel the need to build churches atop the pyramids and otherwise try to destroy it.

We walked around with the tour guide for a couple of hours, then had some time afterwards to wander as we wanted.

Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX
Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX
Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX
Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX - The red color in the magazine our tour guide is holding is what the pyramids looked like when in use
Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX
Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX
Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX
Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX - The stairs are steep!
Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX
Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX
Ineptly named “Dancing Stones” at Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX
Ineptly named “Dancing Stones” at Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX - “Dancing” interpretation was way off compared to more recent interpretation that these were placed near the entrance to the complex to warn visiting chiefs of other tribes what could happen to them. Guy on the right has been disemboweled, next to him has been castrated, not sure what’s up with the small person in the next one’s crotch, maybe it was a pregnant woman?

Our guide says this is one of a handful of the most important archeological sites in the Americas, another one of which is Machu Picchu which we have been fortunate to have also visited.

Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX
Monte Alban - Oaxaca, MX - According to our tour guide Alfonso Caso revolutionized archeology in Mexico, changing it from an often destructive process which sometimes included looting and/or opinionated reconstruction to a more scientific process of preservation and inter-disciplinary analysis for reconstruction.

After the tour we stopped at a huge supermarket to pick up some stuff for our room, then we went to Vino & Vinyl and had a really tasty late lunch. You can add albums to the ‘playlist’ from their large selection.

Late lunch/early dinner at Vino & Vinyl in Oaxaca, MX
Late lunch/early dinner at Vino & Vinyl in Oaxaca, MX

We were pretty tired after that and hung out in our little apartment researching what to do on Sunday.