Hanging around in Oaxaca

I have been in Oaxaca now for 4 days staying with a family friend. I have been pretty lazy here. I guess I have caught the Mexican manana syndrome. I did order a new charger for my computer to see if I can make the old beast last me a couple of more months at the least. That is supposed to be shipped to here by Thursday afternoon. Of course that is a Mexican Thursday afternoon which might mean next Monday. I already paid way too much for the part so I am pretty much committed to staying here until it arrives.

I rode six miles up a long steep, maybe 12% grade the other day to go see some Precolumbian ruins that are being excavated now. Before I went I got permission from the main office to ride my bike up there and around the site. I can only walk a very short distance so if I can't ride my bike I can't do things. The office gave the ok so I rode up the mountain expecting to see the ruins and the nice view. The only problem is they have a guard near the very top that has job of not allowing any bikes past the entrance area. I explained to him that I had permission to enter on my bike from the main office. He told me that nobody told him I had permission so he would not let me go by to see the ruins and view from the top of the mountain. I tried to argue with him but he the was not budging on his blockade. I gave up and just rode back down the hill. Such is life. I enjoyed the climb at least and I have seen extensive amounts of ruins already all over Central and South America so it was no big loss.

The next day I rode all around Oaxaca to see what was here. Oaxaca is known for ceramics in a style that they have been making for around 5000 years now so I guess it is a tried and true method and design. I can not carry ceramics on my bike so I just look around. I rode down one street that was all chocolate shops and another that was lined with hookers of all sorts. Each neighborhood seemed to have its area specialty like that. Tons of cell phone shops and auto parts stores everywhere. I enjoyed the ride even though the streets are kind of rough riding between the narrow pothole filled roads, heavy traffic and cobblestones everywhere. I plan on riding out to see the Tule tree tomorrow which is the largest diameter tree in the world according to the info I have read on it. Other than that I plan on just eating and resting so that hopefully I will not have a problem with my knee when I get back on the road again...more later