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A little about Playa Zipolite, The Beach of the Dead . . .

Playa Zipolite, Oaxaca, Southern Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. A little bit about my favorite little get-away on this small world of ours.

Zipolite, a sweaty 30-minute walk west from Puerto Angel, brings you to Playa Zipolite and another world. The feeling here is 1970's - Led Zep, Marley, and scruffy gringos.

A long, long time ago, Zipolite beach was usually visited by the Zapotecans...who made it a magical place. They came to visit Zipolite to meditate, or just to rest.

Recently, this beach has begun to receive day-trippers from Puerto Angel and Puerto Escondido, giving it a more TOURISTY feel than before.

Most people come here for the novelty of the nude beach, yoga, turtles, seafood, surf, meditation, vegetarians, discos, party, to get burnt by the sun, or to see how long they can stretch their skinny budget.

I post WWW Oaxaca, Mexico, Zipolite and areas nearby information. Also general budget, backpacker, surfer, off the beaten path, Mexico and beyond, information.

REMEMBER: Everyone is welcome at Zipolite.

ivan

Friday, October 26, 2012

The Day of the Dead, La Feria del Alfeñique and Strange Mexican Candies OCT 29


The Day of the Dead, La Feria del Alfeñique and Strange Mexican Candies

I have a modest personal mission to eat all things strange in Mexico. So far I’m doing pretty well – aside from strange delicious things like Chiles en Nogada, I’ve had strange nasty things like Tacos de Sesos (brain tacos), Chapulines (fried crickets), and chicken-spine soup. I haven’t yet tried Tacos de Cran (cow dick) and I’m not sure I will
Eating strange things is a little like the old philosophical idea about knowledge: the more you acquire, the less you realize you actually know. So I’ve given up my hope of eating strange things from all around the world, though I’ve done pretty well so far with Balut in the Philippines (a chicken embryo inside a hard-boiled egg), San-Nak-Ji in Korea (still-living, moving octopus tentacles), and raw jellyfish in China.
But my true mission is to eat strange in Mexico, and not strictly disgusting things. So what better way to get closer to my obviously unattainable goal than by visiting the Feria del Alfeñique in central Toluca, a five-minute walk from my apartment.
The Day of the Dead takes place on Nov. 2nd. It’s a celebration where Mexicans remember their dead relatives by placing a shrine in their homes full of fruit, sweets, and sometimes booze. If Grandpa used to like a special tequila or whiskey, then in the shrine it goes – along with Grandma’s favorite snacks and candies.
What’s even cooler is that at night they visit the cemetery, sometimes sleeping there. I haven’t yet made a cemetery visit. Maybe I’ll get a chance but for now I’m enjoying the food associated with the event.
The month before the Day of the Dead about a hundred vendors set up in the Portales and sell all things related to the holiday. This is the Feria del Alfeñique, a great way to sample cool, strange Mexican candies. Even if they look a little weird, they are still covered in sugar and will probably taste good.
It seems like anything can be candied. The green things on the right in the picture below are candied nopales, large cactus leaves:
Here are limones stuffed with coconut. You eat the whole thing:
There’s quite a bit of variety in the stands. You can buy candy by the kilo:
This stuff is good:
And of course don’t forget the sugar skulls:
Notice the chocolate bones on the left:
The stands run through all three sides of the portales. You can spend plenty of time checking out each stand, sampling the odd things and getting a good stomachache.
Aside from candies you can also get a lot of little craft things. My favorites are the calavaritas, little skull figures. They are great gifts, buy the one doing the job or activity of your friend:
Maybe like me you are too busy to visit a cemetery on the Day of the Dead, but if you are near Toluca the month beforehand then you can get a taste, literally, of the tradition right here in the center of town.

About TC

Ted Campbell writes about travel, culture, music, food, and mountain biking. He lives in Mexico and writes a blog called No Hay Bronca. http://nohaybronca.wordpress.com/

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ivan