Hello, We have been in Oaxaca for 2 days now. We travelled from Mexico City on a small tour which took in Puebla and a cactus forest on the way. The highlight of the tour was pushing the minibus out of the mud and onto some railway tracks on the outskirts of Oaxaca. It had been raining quite a lot and the teachers who are protesting here had closed the main roads causing traffic chaos. It has been raining a lot ever since we arrived in Mexico; luckily it's mainly in the evening but often torrential rain yes! Because of the protests we can't really appreciate the zocalo (main square) but the churches and streets around are beautiful. We have been eating the local specialities: moles (sauces, pronounced molless) but did have to resort to some European food tonight due to Ed suffering from too many chillies. We have been to see Monte Alban the ancient Zapotec capital, in the hills overlooking Oaxaca. It is on top of a hill giving great views and although the ruins are not quite as spectacular as Teotihuacan, the setting makes up for it. We are going to San Cristobal de las Casas tomorrow on an overnight bus: hopefully we will be able to sleep; it is a deluxe bus but sometimes that seems to mean lots of movies and super-cold air conditioning.