We’ve been meaning to write more generally on being in Mexico for a week now, but here we are with nothing to show but delicious food eaten and mezcal consumed. There really ought to be more information on how to visit Hierve el Agua. We posted it here, so others don’t have to piece it together as much.
There are two routes to visit “Hierve el Agua” (literally “boil the water”): the fast way and the back way. We recommend the back way.
From Oaxaca, you first find the correct street corner on the east side of the baseball stadium, then wave down a bus or collectivo (crowded taxi) to the town of Mitla. On arriving in the centro of Mitla, you will encounter a line of trucks retrofitted with covered benches in the bed – allowing them to transport 10+ passengers. What follows is an hour long journey into the mountains on hilariously bumpy dirt roads. There will be “oh shit bars”: use them. If you have a good driver, he will stop and point out the gorilla-face shaped mountain for you to take pictures – a great deal at 40 pesos each way.
Honestly we have no idea how to take the fast way, but we hear it exists.
The site itself is a series of calcified formations oozing boiling sulfurous water which form “petrified” cascading waterfalls down the steep cliffs into the agave-dotted landscape below.
Find the one sign for a trail (“sendero”). There is no other signed information at the park, but we can report that the steep 1.5 hour trail leads past spectacular views of the site, towering maguey (agave) flower stalks, and very few people – possibly because of the lack of signage. The trail is a loop that leads you back to the comedores so you can get a cold beer, or juice which you will want.
As a tourist, you will always expect the destination to be memorable. For the visit to actually be though, it sure helps when the voyage is just as entertaining.
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