happy new year happy 2022 to everybody watching this video today we're in Monte Alban in Oaxaca
just outside Oaxaca city and we're gonna explore and check this place out we're gonna have a day
full of adventure in this Mexico travel vlog so let's go and explore
so Monte Alban is essentially a large pre-colombian archaeological site
that predates even the Aztecs by over a millennium so that gives you a little bit of an idea of how
old and historical this place is this city and society was founded by the
Zapotecs in the late 600 to early 500 before christ and then abandoned around 750 a.d
something to keep in mind when you come here from Oaxaca city is there is a slight increase
in elevation when you come to Monte Alban I think it's only around two to two or four hundred meters
in difference but you feel it and the heat as well up here is a lot more intense just walking around
casually walking around and looking at all of this you're out of breath and so keep that in mind when
you do come and visit Monte Alban especially if you're based in Oaxaca city because it is
quite the difference um the ruins here are absolutely beautiful it's kind of surreal as well
just to think about how old these ruins are walking around and thinking that there was people
here 500 years before christ it's kind of shocking and gives you something to think about as well
it is believed that there was a large influence on the Zapotecs by the Olmecs so there might
have been a civilization here already before the Zapotec even moved in around 500 before christ
it's absolutely crazy so guys here we are at the southern platform and this imposing artificial
mass of this platform just to the south of this main plaza here, it reflects the importance
given to this point itself here in Monte Alban and the staircase itself is 40 meters wide which sort
of gives you an idea of just how epic this is I wish you guys could be here and see just how cool
this thing is seeing people scaling up and down is not making us look forward to going up to the top
in comparison to the likes of chichen itza and palenque at the moment as well
you can actually climb a few of these structures here which is not easy but definitely fun because
we so far we were not able to climb any of the runes so this is our first time
The steps are huge! Every step is like half a meter.
well guys we made it up here to the top of that staircase that we were just talking about and
it's no short feet it's um pretty rough trying to get up here to the top of so
both of us decided to just come up chill at the top take in the views and it's really
funny just sitting here watching people as they as they climb up to the top um
everybody when they get to the top they kind of just collapse
up here and then they're like oh it's a nice view check this view out guys it's really stunning
so basically right now we are on the southern platform and obviously the opposite of south is
north so over there in that direction you have the northern platform I think the northern platform
seems to be from here a little bit smaller um not as much of a view but this southern platform is
absolutely stunning and definitely worth hiking up to the top
um but yeah I think we're going to be chilling here for a little while
something to keep in mind about Oaxaca in general is it's very different to places like the Yucatan
and when you're in the Yucatan or even places like Quintana Roo, Playa del Carmen, Tulum
it's really humid um and the heat you really do feel the humidity there but up here in Oaxaca
in general it's a lot drier and because of that you've got cacti everywhere so check this out
it's really cool we um since we came to Mexico we were wondering because we kept seeing videos
everywhere of Mexico and you see the cacti and you see all the desert and stuff and we were like
it's more like a rain forest and because we arrived in Cancun spent a considerable amount
of time in Yucatan and Quintana Roo and pretty much our first two months in Mexico were there
and we were wondering when is it going to get to like a more drier climate and well we found it um
the heat here is pretty unbearable at the moment it's only like 24 celsius or 25 celsius but it
feels like we're in an oven um so walking around here let me tell you you don't want to smell me
but nonetheless Monte Alban certainly a must visit and we're going to continue to explore
here and then we're going to take you guys back to Mexico city and Mexico city aka Oaxaca city
that will show you the heat that I'm currently under but yeah we're going to go back to
Oaxaca city and enjoy the city show you guys what Oaxaca city looks like in January 2022 because it
is a new year and something that I want to drive home something we want to drive home to
you guys watching this video is make sure to start 2022 off on the right note go as you intend to
continue with the rest of this year and make this year special make this year about thriving
not surviving so yeah guys let's go and enjoy the rest of these beautiful ruins
up here at the top of the north platform you will be greeted by another ruin of
course that's kind of gonna it's gonna be the uh basis of today's video is ruins but
you also have an incredible view over towards I'm not too sure what it's actually over towards
but it could be Oaxaca city but Oaxaca city I'm pretty sure is west of here so
or east I could be I don't know guys listen I'm just rambling on the camera here
and I'm trying to basically procrastinate because we're walking towards the
staircase again and I think walking down is going to be worse than coming up so have a look
you gotta go all the way down there guys
most people are kind of using the handrails
over here I don't know if we're gonna do that we'll see obviously not I
think we're just gonna go straight for it and probably end up rolling down half the stairs
it's gonna be fun
something just to keep in mind as well is that the entrance cost for Monte Alban at the moment is 85
pesos per person so 170 pesos if you're coming as a couple so keep that in mind um I'm gonna throw
up the price here for you guys in us dollars and euro just so you know what to expect when you come
here I really wish that you could be here with us and feel the general energy of this place because
pretty much since we arrived in Oaxaca city we have been feeling a little bit under the weather
which is as well why we didn't upload as many videos sorry for the inconsistency there and but
this here is pretty much the first place where you really feel that it has like a special energy it
feels a little bit like a healing energy or something like that and as well we saw just
there a woman walking past and she was clapping her hands and we were kind of like what's going
on here and this ruin here the exact same way as a lot of other runes I think the one in Palenque
headed as well has a very interesting audio would you mind holding the camera for a second
I don't know if you can hear this but if you clap here you you hear like loads and loads of echoes
I know do you hear that let us know in the comments if you can hear it because
we film our videos on iphones guys we're not using
very professional equipment here but if you go if you do hear it
let us know and down in the comments because it is a really cool feature about this place
can you hear it when you clap it kind of just like ricochets around the whole square and I
think it's kind of designed in that way because a lot of these Zapotec, Olmecs, Mayan you know Aztecs
they typically built areas like this where the audio could travel because they didn't
have microphones back then so when someone who was like a leader or you know a political leader
I don't even know if politics was a thing back then but someone would get up and speak to the
people and their voice needed to project I'm just going to be clapping for the rest of our stay here
right here is where you would find the ball game or the ball court juego de pelota
and ball game was like a ritual practice really common in the pre-columbian mesoamericas
super interesting to see that it is still here and the structure of it is super interesting as well
it almost looks like a slated rooftop or something
very interesting and that actually has a lot to do I think with the audio structure of this general
area so very cool just something to know as well there's signs everywhere um around here so lots of
information we're learning so much just as we're walking around we did a little bit of research
before we came here but we're learning more off of these signs than we did on the internet so very
cool definitely keep an eye out when you do come here for these green signs everywhere on the floor
this really is a workout you don't need to go to the gym if you come here
the views here though guys they're just getting better and better
it's kind of almost like a giant panoramic when you get up here
you see just all around you've got mountains and cities and towns and we were actually
just informed that this place is closing we read online that it closes at half four
so we thought that we had another hour and fifteen but the guy came up to us and he was like
we're closing in 15 minutes you got to go so yeah trying to slowly make our way back now
we actually have no idea what direction it is but we're the only people
and that are going this direction so hopefully we don't get trapped in the ruins by ourselves
and something to keep in mind as well is there's no drones allowed here we brought our
drone and we thought that we would get some pretty epic footage of Monte Alban but no drones allowed
pretty sure that there's a pretty hefty fine if you do get caught with a drone or you do get
caught flying a drone so just keep your mouth shut if you do have a drone just a little bit
of a tip for you guys also don't fly it as well because I'm sure if they did catch you
you'd be facing some pretty hefty stuff um but yeah um we're gonna go now get the bus
head back to Oaxaca city everybody's leaving so we're not even sure if we're gonna get a bus but
we'll update you guys when we do get back to wherever it is that we need to go
made it back to the bus
50 pesos each it's not bad so we're gonna head back to the center now
just a short 15-minute bus journey and we're back here in the center of Oaxaca
so the plans for us right now is we're going to go on a little bit of a
explore and grab some food as well because that made us pretty hungry walking around the Monte
Alban because it is quite an expansive area so we're going to go now grab something to eat and
yeah see where it takes us Oaxaca city is known for being sort of the
food capital or the culinary capital of mexico so keep that in mind when you do come to oaxaca
it is some of the best food that we've had since we have come here today is sunday and we literally
have never seen this place so crowded and there's so many people around just kind of shopping or
you know going for a stroll or getting an ice cream or whatever it's insane so many people
so we just took a walk through the main centro zocalo area of Oaxaca city
and we were considering stopping there for a bite to eat but we really want to
show you guys our favorite chicken spot it's a place that we go to nearly on a daily basis
so we're going to show you guys exactly where it is it's beautiful chicken you get tacos
everything included with it for a great price so let's go check it out
all right guys so we just hit up our favorite chicken spot it's called don pepe
very close to barrio Jalatlaco if you are looking for the address of the place if you are going to
visit Oaxaca city we'll drop it down in the description for you guys we're going to enjoy
this meal just so you know it was 150 pesos you get a full chicken you get the tortillas
included in it you also get a nice spicy sauce included and typically you get a bag of rice
but they're actually sold out of rice today it is a very popular place so we'll let that slide
but guys I hope you enjoyed today's video we have plenty more content coming your way before
we leave Mexico we're moving back and believe it or not we're moving back to Albania as some of you
may saw in our last video so that's in about three weeks time we do have quite a bit more
content coming your way from Mexico so for now my name is Luke my name is Naomi
and we're NaLu Adventures we'll see you guys in the next video thanks for watching peace