I have to say Aeroméxico was one of the best airlines we have flown to date…love the legroom. Flight no. 27 down, three more to go.

Oaxaca is a little beauty. A city of around 250,000 people tucked at the nexus of three mountain-flanked valleys and filled with colourful colonial buildings amongst cobbled streets, brimming with fabulous craft markets and street food stalls day and night. The city is centred around the tree lined Zócalo (town square) which we frequented to feast on the street food such as Elotes, which is boiled corn on the cob, slathered with mayonnaise, then rolled in finely crumbled white cheese, sprinkled with chilli powder and then drizzled with lime juice. Oddly tart and hot but kind of addictive.

Our hotel was pretty nice and close to all the action which is always good. We navigated our way through the myriad of markets which lined the streets and as we discovered later, were also inside buildings. They sold all things colourfully Mexican, such as pottery, tourist trinkets, carpets, skulls, bags, clothing and everything else you can imagine. Finally, we could actually buy something as we had been so strict on ourselves throughout the trip, due to lack of space. And what a place to shop. Oaxaca is well known as a shopping mecca, perhaps this was the reason we decided to go here… but it is also well known for its vibrant art scene and for the famous moles (nut, chili- and spice-based sauces) are its culinary signature. To Mexicans, the meat the mole is served over is secondary in importance to the mole itself. Oaxaca's most famous variety, mole negro (black mole), is a smoky, savoury delight bearing a hint of chocolate. It's the most complex and labour-intensive to create. The other thing that Oaxaca is famous for is mezcal. Mezcal is the same as tequila as its made from the algave plant but its done using a different process and a different variety of algave. Like cognac, mezcal can only be called mezcal when it comes from Oaxaca and surrounding areas. It has a smoky taste due to the plant before distillation, is cooked in an earth oven…yes a hangi!

Despite its cultural riches, the state of Oaxaca is one of Mexico's poorest, and the city's fringe settlements and some outlying villages are as impoverished as any in Mexico as we saw on a day trip.

We ate our corn and other foods such as tamales in the zócalo and watched the marimba ensembles, brass bands and roving buskers float their melodies among the crowds, hawkers try to offload pretty carpets and hideous balloons, and lovers parade in slow rounds under the trees, while anyone and everyone sits, drinks and watches from the sidewalk cafes.

The next day was shopping day which was fun, and we nabbed some glassware from a gallery which has glass from Studio Xaquixe which is the most important blown glass factory of Oaxaca apparently. All their raw material and fuel that is used are obtained by recycling / reusing bottles and waste oils generated by the city of Oaxaca. We really wanted to visit the studio but unfortunately it was closed.

We found the Unión de Palenqueros de Oaxaca which is an outlet for a group of small-scale mezcal producers from Santiago Matatlán. After several tastings or kisses of the mezcal as you don't have it like a shot, we bought a small bottle with our limited Spanish and using lots of gestures and Google Translate. Out in the sun we felt quite tipsy with the 40 to 50% proof liquor and had to go and have a lie down.

The next day we took a tour out of the city which was great to see the countryside and we felt like for the first time we were seeing the real Mexico. Brown encrusted dusty fields with crops of algave and corn growing. Poor villages of shacks but with happy smiling people.

The first stop was at the Tule tree which is located in the church grounds in the town centre of Santa María del Tule. It has the widest trunk (a circumference of 42.0m) of any tree in the world. In 2001, it was placed on a UNESCO tentative list of World Heritage Sites.

Then we stopped at Teotitlan where a family for generations hand weave beautifully naturally dyed carpets. We were shown the process of spinning the wool, then dying and finally weaving on a loom. The weaving takes many days for each carpet to be completed if not months and so is incredibly labour intensive with very little monetary return. By far the most interesting part was how they used natural dyes including the cochineal bug from the algave plant which is crushed to produce the colour red.

Mitla was next, which is the second most important archaeological site in the state of Oaxaca, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. While Monte Albán (which we never got to) was the most important as the political centre, Mitla was the main religious centre. The name Mitla is derived from the Nahuatl name Mictlán, which was the place of the dead or underworld. Its Zapotec name is Lyobaa, which means 'place of rest'. The name Mictlán was Hispanicized to Mitla by the Spanish. However, what makes Mitla unique among Mesoamerican sites is the elaborate and intricate mosaic fretwork and geometric designs that cover tombs, panels, friezes and even entire walls. These mosaics are made with small, finely cut and polished stone pieces which have been fitted together without the use of mortar. No other site in Mexico has this apparently.

After lunch where we got to try mole negro (quite delicious, complex and slightly sweet) we went to Hierve El Agua, Spanish for 'the water boils' is a set of natural rock formations that resemble cascades of water. The site consists of two rock shelves or cliffs which rise between fifty and ninety metres from the valley below, from which extend nearly white rock formations which look like waterfalls. These formations are created by fresh water springs, whose water is over-saturated with calcium carbonate and other minerals. As the water scurries over the cliffs, the excess minerals are deposited, much in the same manner that stalactites and iron can also be found and determines the colour of a particular stalactite. The calcium carbonate in the water is due to rainwater which passes underground. First it absorbs carbon dioxide, and forms molecules of carbonic acid. This acid comes into contact with underground marble and partially dissolves creating calcium bicarbonate. When the water runs above ground, the excess minerals fall out. The waters, with their high mineral content, are reputed to have healing qualities although we weren't willing to find out as it looked quite stagnant and bug infested, but other young things were happily frolicking amongst the lower pool which had a stunning backdrop against the mountain vista with an infinity type pool feel.

The last stop was at a mezcal distillery near Mitla where we were shown the mezcal making process which included the once cooked algave before being distilled twice had to be crushed into a pulp by a stone being pulled by a horse. The algave plant cannot be harvested for 7 - 12 years (70 for some wild varieties) so not a quick money-making scheme. Of course, we got to imbibe and tried joven (young), reposado (aged in oak for between two months and one year) and añejo (aged in oak for at least a year). A pechuga mezcal (I missed having this one) is one with flavours imparted by a chicken or turkey breast (pechuga) and/ or fruits and spices placed in the distillation vessel. Apparently it doesn not taste like chicken. We also tried the 13% baileys type drinks which had a huge variety of types, such as cappuccino, strawberry or pistachio flavours. Quite yum and too easy to drink. It was then a raucous mini bus back to our various hotels. Our guide for the day, Sol was lovely and we met some lovely people, Pele and Alison from Denmark and Brittany from San Diego.

Our final day in Oaxaca was spent sight seeing which included the gold painted interior of the Church Of Santo Domingo De Guzmán with the adjacent impressive Museo De Las Culturas which is housed in former fabulous monasteries. Unfortunately even though the exhibits were great, the explanations were all in Spanish.

We stopped for lunch at Restaurante Los Danzantes which is set in an architect-designed patio and serves fusion high end Mexican food and we tried delicious mezcal cocktails, moles and other unusual dishes. It was really very nice. After another nap, (we really are winding down) we could only manage some corn for dinner before having an early night as we had to be up at 4.45am for our flight back to Mexico city and then onto San Francisco. Adios Mexico.