Hierve El Agua and Mitla (day trip from Oaxaca)

I was recently at Banff in Mexico (a.k.a. Oaxaca) and had the opportunity to enjoy the following day trip. All information current as of December 2019.

What: Hierve El Agua is a pretty site in the mountains/hills not too far from Oaxaca (the city). There are natural springs coming out of the rocks that have been dammed at places to create artificial pools, and the water creates stalactite-like formations on the rocks. Entrance is 25 pesos.

Mitla is a town on the way to Hierve el Agua. Located in the town is a Zapotec archaeological site, second only to (but much smaller than) Monte Alban. Entrance is 75 pesos.

How: While you can do this as an organised tour or even extravagantly hire a taxi for the day, I will describe the bus route.

From Oaxaca, take the 2nd class bus to Mitla. These are reasonably frequent, are green and have the word Mitla on the front so are easy to spot. It can be caught anywhere along the route by hailing down the bus (there are stops, but it seems you can get on the bus wherever you want). I don’t know the full route of the bus, but it turns right onto highway 190 at the Parque de Beisbol by doing a right-left-right manouver around the stadium anticlockwise. Cost 20 pesos.

Waiting at Mitla’s 2nd class bus station are the collectivos to Hierve El Agua. They are impossible to miss. They wait until they are full, and then leave, so your travel time may vary. Officially the cost was 50 pesos. I paid 60 pesos on the way there (the extra 10 pesos was to take the toll road) and 72 pesos on the way back, which was the amount needed per person to leave early with only 7 passengers. I never had to wait long to leave but others in my returning vehicle were waiting for an hour, which helped encourage them to cough up extra money to leave early.

To Do: At Hierve El Agua there is a short hike (maybe ~1 hr?). It is a loop where you go down to the valley which gives you a better look at some of the rock formations. This hike is much easier done in an anticlockwise direction as the trail is easier to find that way. The best bits are all at the start of the hike when done that way. There are also free change rooms for changing to swim in the artificial pools.

Pictures: None. Let this be a warning to me to back up pictures from my phone in a timely manner.