Our friend Jane, whose birthday is Christmas Eve day, had a Big One coming up and decided to celebrate by going somewhere new. Oaxaca, with its architectural beauty, local crafts, ancient ruins and colorful traditions was a place she'd always found intriguing.

She invited a few friends to join her and partner David, and that is how seven of us came to spend Dec 18-27, 2004, in one of Mexico's most lovely and charming cities.

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NOTE: Text and photos by Marilyn Freund unless otherwise credited. Except where noted, videos by Robert Bloomberg, using his curiously strong AltoidCam*. ...(Please allow a few minutes for streaming video to load if necessary.)

Roll your mouse over the tin and try one!

*Pentax Optio S5i which just happens to fit in an Altoid tin.

Saturday 18 December

Arrival in Oaxaca immediately puts you into a different mind set. There's something about walking off the plane down a set of stairs and across the tarmac, instead of down an antiseptic hallway into a terminal.

We go through immigration (one guy at a desk) and collect our luggage, then walk a few steps to the Traffic Light of Destiny. Push the button, and if it's green you go straight through; if it's red, your bags get inspected. I cannot think of another country where the customs procedures so perfectly express the national psyche: Fate will have its way with you.

I always make Bob push the button, on the theory that he is generally luckier than I am. Sure enough, we get the green light.

GETTING THERE
Most flights from the US require a plane change in Mexico City. The flights between Mexico City and Oaxaca are crowded and arrival of several flights can really jam up immigration, baggage claim, and customs in the tiny Oaxaca airport.

We take Continental, changing planes in Houston, then flying directly to Oaxaca. Ours is the only flight arriving at 9:30pm and we are on our way into town within a half hour (in a collectivo, a shuttle van that costs 27 pesos each, about US$2.50).

Tickets cost us $655 per person round trip from San Francisco, purchased in June for peak season travel in December.