In 1970 I had traveled with a group to Europe; in 1972 I had travelled again to Europe with two friends and a Eurail Pass; in 1973 I had travelled to Yucatan and Chipas on my own. So in 1976, Janet and I decided to take a trip to Oaxaca. We took the bus to Laredo, the Aztec Eagle train to Mexico City, and then buses from there on. Our focus was pre-Columbian ruins, though we did acquire a few Oaxacan souveniers, like a rug from a mountain village and samples of Oaxacan carved wooden boxes and black pottery. We were surprised to find that the restaurants mainly served seafood dishes, so I guess we hadn't spent much time locating the state of Oaxaca on the map of Mexico,
We reached the ruins at Mitla via a Mexican local bus that let us off at the road leading there, but for getting back to town, we were happy to accept a ride from a bus of Mexican students taking a field trip to visit the Tule tree.
