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Battle of the Bands Another night took us to Etla, a tiny village outside Oaxaca, for a local Battle of the Bands ("El Encuentro"), exactly as chaotic as it sounds. Two brass bands marched toward each other from opposite ends of the street, each trying to outplay the other as the costumed crowd got squeezed into the middle. Eventually everyone converged on a central stage, where the bands took turns playing a song or two. e audience decided the winner by sheer volume. e musicians come from nearby villages, and hometown pride rides on every note. It's crazy good fun — bring your earplugs! Ancient Ruins and Fanciful Creatures About 45 minutes outside Oaxaca City lies Monte Albán, the ancient Zapotec city spread across a mountaintop overlooking the Oaxaca Valley. Massive plazas and stone platforms open toward mountains in nearly every direction, and our guide gave us context we would have missed on our own. He explained how the city was founded around 500 BCE and what archaeologists learned from its carvings and structures. After our architectural fill, we rumbled down a dirt road to the village of San Antonio Arrazola, known for its carved wooden creatures called alebrijes. Fashioned from copal wood, these fanciful pieces are painstakingly hand-painted in dots, lines, and geometric patterns with bright colors. Some resemble hummingbirds and frogs. Others look as if several species were combined after a particularly creative mezcal tasting. We watched artisans carve, paint, and finish each piece from start to finish. Buying one directly from the workshop made a better souvenir, and we saw similar creatures back in town for ten times the price. Oaxaca's Famous Cuisine On our last day, we wandered through the adjoining Mercado Benito Juárez and Mercado 20 de Noviembre, two sprawling covered markets near the Zócalo. We stopped at stalls stacked with dried chiles, herbs, seasonal breads, and ingredients we couldn't always identify. We wandered slowly, sampling as we went. And then there were the chapulines. Oaxaca's toasted grasshoppers come seasoned in different flavors like garlic, chile, and lime, and tasting them felt obligatory. ey were crunchy, salty, and perfectly fine, but none of us returned home with a new grasshopper habit. But the specialty here is mole. Oaxaca is one of Mexico's great centers for it, and eating several versions made me realize how little sense it makes to treat mole as one sauce. It comes in many colors and varieties beyond the sweetish, chocolatey version most common in the U.S. Different combinations of chiles, spices, and other ingredients produce moles that can be smoky, spicy, nutty, or subtly earthy. Come for the Dead, Stay for the Life Visit Oaxaca during Día de los Muertos because the celebrations really are as extraordinary as you have heard. Follow a parade for a few blocks. Get your face painted. Visit a cemetery at night. Ask a guide to tour you through the villages outside the city. en keep exploring. Día de los Muertos may be what gets you to Oaxaca, but it is everything around the celebration that makes you want to stay. Jon Bailey is a San Diego-based travel journalist, exploring the globe with his husband and their two daughters. For more adventures, visit 2dadswithbaggage.com Know Before You Go • Oaxaca Day of the Dead celebrations span from October 31 to November 2, with the most important dates being November 1 and 2. • Hotel rooms and flights book out months in advance, so best to plan ahead for 2027. • Hire local guides to help you navigate the villages outside Oaxaca City. A good guide can handle transportation and, more importantly, explain the traditions and places you are seeing. OPPOSITE LEFT Fanciful creatures called "alibrijes" are hand-carved from wood and vibrantly painted OPPOSITE RIGHT The ancient ruins at Monte Albán include sacred headstones dating back thousands of years that portray the persons buried beneath LEFT Strolling the aisles of Mercado 20 de Noviembre, these locally grown dried chiles were ready ingredients for the region's famous mole dishes @ranchandcoast RANCH & COAST MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2026 117