Cultured Travel Guide Books - Moon Oaxaca (Moon Handbooks) |
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List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $12.35
Your Save: $ 7.60 ( 38% )
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 917
EAN: 9781598800883
ISBN: 1598800884
Label: Avalon Travel Publishing
Manufacturer: Avalon Travel Publishing
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 450
Publication Date: 2008-10-14
Publisher: Avalon Travel Publishing
Studio: Avalon Travel Publishing |
| Spotlight Customer Reviews: |
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Excellent guide!
Comment: We used this over and over during our recent trip. Excellent details, maps, etc. Highly recommended.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Oaxaca in Detail
Comment: This a pretty detailed guide for only one state of Mexico. Oaxaca is one of the most diverse and indigenous states in Mexico with very unique cultural traditons. If you have the chance to spend substantial time in this state I recomend this book to get you off the beaten path.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Oaxaca
Comment: This is a great travel book. It was up-to-date with information. Descriptions of restaurants, hotels and things to see was accurate. The back of the book has a wonderful section on the history of Oaxaca which is rich and interesting. I would highly recommend this book. And I saw a lot of copies in the hands of fellow travelers.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Very good but with some problems
Comment: Overall this is a very good guide, but it does have its defects.
Here are my impressions after having spent nearly 7 weeks in Oaxaca City and State. First, the good points.
It is very extensive and detailed. The author seems to have left almost no stone unturned in the State of Oaxaca.
His local maps are quite good, and very thankfully he had gas stations symbols on his larger maps. On the one occasion that exact distance was important to us, he got it exactly right. He also states how long in time trips will take in the mountains, not just giving the kilometers, which latter are misleading if you don't realize how curvy and slow the roads are. "It's only 100 km from Oaxaca. No time at all."
The book, like other Moon handbooks, has the good menu of `What to do if you have X days' choices.
In addition, Mr. Whipperman provides many interesting sidebars on various topics.
It's easy to sum up the virtues, which are extensive in applying throughout the book. Now for some of the problems.
Many of the places in the book are described in glowing, even poetic terms. These did not always seem to bear a relation to reality--I'm talking really off--as in our visit to Puerto Angel. The main problem here is that with so many effusive descriptions, it's difficult to make judgments. On the other hand, on those much rarer occasions where a place is described as `downscale' or such, you'd better believe it.
There didn't seem to be directions for where to turn off for Ixtlan (what's the matter with 'turn right at the Pemex station'), and the directions on how to pick up the road for Pluma Hidalgo in Santa Maria de Hualtulco didn't seem correct.
In Oaxaca City, he doesn't mention the comida corridas: inexpensive, light 3-4 course meals offered in the late afternoon, nor does he say where you might find the best of them at the low prices, like 25 pesos. If you ate in our neighborhood at one, south of the zocalo, you'd be having a definitely non-tourist experience. But they are hardly haute cuisine.
However, the most significant fault in the book that I found was in its gross failure to provide sufficient guidance with respect to buying rugs at Teotitlan, a village near Oaxaca City. As a minor matter, he says if you take a bus you need to get off on the highway and then walk or hitchhike the several km into town. This isn't true. There's a bus that goes right to the village. Also, he doesn't mention that the colectivo taxi is only 15 pesos or so.
But the most significant problem is this: you can sign up with a tour company (a lot more expensive) and you will most likely be taken to a specific weaver with little time to see others. Of course, the tour operator's large commission is built into the price of the rugs. And then, to help your reasoning, you may be plied with mescal and/or cerveza.
It's a general phenomenon. The language school I attended arranged a trip just like this too to the same place. Which had both their own Suburban type van and an SUV in their driveway. Hey, they deserve to make good money from their rugs, but not by setting people up. But even this isn't the point. The guidebook should have warned of this common technique related to the rugs. Just as guidebooks to Thailand warn you of the various tout schemes. In a similar vein, Moon Oaxaca doesn't mention that some weavers now use chemical and not the more expensive natural dyes, while swearing otherwise.
The next two times I went to Teotitlan--I was into the rugs--I took the colectivo taxi at 15 pesos and the bus once (4 pesos), and compared rugs at my convenience from many weavers.
Two smaller guide books to Oaxaca, locally written, are Oaxaca Tips ([...]) and Viva Oaxaca ([...]). These are for Oaxaca City and valley only. They are more idiosyncratic and opinionated than Moon Oaxaca, with some more local detail. Viva Oaxaca, for example, lists its favorite comida corridas. We generally carried these around in the city, in part because they are light. Amazon, why don't you carry these books???
Nevertheless, Moon Oaxaca is overall a good guide.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Oaxaca vacation
Comment:
Book is very explicit of what to do depending on the days that you are planning to stay. It maps your journey very well and give you good information of what to expect and what to do.
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| Editorial Reviews: |
Seasoned travel writer and Mexico expert Bruce Whipperman knows the best of Oaxaca, from bargaining at the Mercado Juárez to exploring the Castillo de Moctezuma Aztec pyramid. Whipperman also includes unique trip strategies, such as Best Beaches and Local Festivals and Native Markets. Including experienced advice on visiting craft villages near Ocotlan and enjoying the vistas and fresh seafood of Puerto Ángel, Moon Oaxaca gives travelers the tools they need to create a more personal and memorable experience.
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