Oaxaca City was amazing, we loved staying there for more than five whole weeks, but there are downsides to every city, and Oaxaca is quite the broken paradise (just like most of Mexico is)…
We tend to be realistic about our storytelling from our travels, so here we go with some harsh truths about Oaxaca City:
The blind man
The first thing that you will notice after a couple of weeks, that it´s quite a different economy than many other well-developed western countries. Although it´s a beautiful city, the population can be quite poor. You will encounter some homeless people, blind people, people with deformities, and poor (and a lot of them were quite old) indigenous descendants that visibly have a hard time. Most of them have to sell tourist stuff to make a living, and these jobs seem quite tedious. And for some, like the elderly, quite taxing on the body.
We tend not to give pocket change to beggars who look young, strong, and healthy enough to work, but we felt much empathy for that one blind old man who was clearly lost in town. He didn´t have a clue where he was, slept on harsh ugly sidewalks where smelly cars and busses would pass, and he clearly had no idea how to use his stick. He was lost, and that was such a confronting sight for us (spoiled and lucky) westerners…
Every time we would see him, we would drop cash in his dirty bucket and wish him a good day. And he clearly appreciated that. We even dropped bottles of water and bananas at his side when he slept on the sidewalk. Pffff, this was a tough one for us. We hope that. although his life seems tough from the outside, he experiences more happiness than people who have it way easier.
Oaxaca has to work on helping their poor population, especially like the aforementioned blind man. We don´t know how, but we would love to see the municipality take care of the people who really need help.
Although this all might sound dramatic, Oaxaca is very safe! Nobody was harassing us in any way. The Mexicans are very humble and friendly, even when they don´t seem to have anything going for them in life…
(The blind man on the left, and the 90+ year old lady selling stuff on the Zocalo… every day of the week to get by!)
Heavy on the senses
Not often, but sometimes, Oaxaca can be quite noisy, and a bit heavy on the senses. There´s always some sort of noise. It could be a guy screaming about taxi rides, a motorcycle blasting through the streets, or some fireworks in the distance. After a day of exploring the circus city, you will need a session of meditation, read a book, or watch a simple silly show to wind down.
When booking a hotel, be sure to check out if your window and room aren´t located near the road. These old buildings don´t always have the soundproof isolation you are used to.
Check out our recommendations for excellent hotels in Oaxaca >>
Check our Instagram Stories from Oaxaca to see more scenes of this magical city
Rough infrastructure
The city center might be Unesco Heritage, but moving just a few blocks from it, the infrastructure becomes quite… shitty! The sidewalks and streets are just not well kept. One of the priorities of the Oaxacan municipality should be to improve these streets. There are just too many big bumps, small bumps, little holes, and giant holes in which you can trip over. The lesson we learned quickly: keep your eyes in front of you. And that´s hard when there is so much going on in the streets!
So, now you know it´s not a perfect paradise town, but a lovely imperfect bucket list location that could become more perfect in the near future!
Don´t let these downsides discourage you in any way, Oaxaca is just wonderful. It's named the number one best city in the world, and we quite agree!
More Oaxaca articles:
► Top 10 Things to do in Oaxaca City
► Mexican mole in Oaxaca: a love story (that will fill your hear… belly!)
► The 7 best accommodations in Oaxaca City, Mexico
► What to eat and drink, when in Oaxaca
► The best coffee shops and digital nomad work spots in Oaxaca
More realistic stories about paradise locations: 5 Things we did NOT like about Tulum, Mexico
