It is a story when my wife and I went to Oaxaca, Mexico.

Oaxaca, pronounced as Wa-ha-ka, is located in the south of Mexico, and it is culturally very rich place. There are many crafts in Oaxaca, and my favorite is very colorful Alebrijes. It is wooden craft that are carved by men, and painted by ladies. They represent “Tonas,” the animals in Zapotec calendar, and “Nahuales,” the animals fused with humans. They are your protectors and spiritual guide, and you can find them out based on your date of birth. (sorry, I do not remember which of Tonas and Nauhales are the protectors and the spiritual guide…) They are just like the animals that appear in the movie Coco.

Anyways, we went to Oaxaca because there was an Aikido Gasshuku seminar there. My instructor in Mexico was originally from Oaxaca, and that is why the seminar was held in there.

The seminar was held in far north west of the downtown, where no tourist would go. A long narrow curvy local street extended from the far tip of the downtown, through various local villages and farm land, then to the Gasshuku dojo. The trip from the downtown area is about one hour drive. My wife and I were probably the first Asian persons to step in there… well… except my Aikido instructor’s master, who is a Japanese maestra.

After the morning seminar ended on the first day, I have decided to take my wife to the hotel in downtown. My instructor took us to the taxi stand nearest to the dojo. There, we took a taxi. I took the front seat, and my wife sat in the back. Up to this point, everything seemed fine.

The taxi was Nissan Tsuru, which is a very common car in Mexico. It is so basic that you would realize how much unnecessary things cars nowadays are equipped with once you drive this car, but we’ll talk about it some other time…

The driver was very fascinated to drive two Gaijins. Yes, we were a total strangers to him. I do not remember much about what we talked but he was very curious about us.

Through the narrow street, the taxi curved left and rights, and up and down.

After about five minutes of the ride, the taxi suddenly parked at the side of the narrow street. A young lady opened the taxi door and sat next to my wife. She may have said “hola” or something but that was it. Then the driver started driving again. I was thinking that she maybe the driver’s wife or a relative.

After another five minutes or so, the taxi stopped and parked again. While I was expecting the passenger in the back may get off, she skewed towards my wife! Then, I heard someone opening the door in the back. A skinny boy came in and took the seat.

By then, I understood that the taxi was a shared ride. Two persons in the front, the taxi driver and myself, and three passengers in the back. Reasonable, and environmentally friendly, I thought.

The taxi took off again, and as I was wondering if we would be splitting the fare or if there is a set fare for each person, the taxi slowed down… I started having a bad feeling… how can we fit another person?

It is amazing how many people you can fit in a car! Four persons in the back now! I had to look at my wife to make sure she is still okay. Good thing that everyone in the back was skinny.

I told myself, okay, just another 10-15min or so, then we’ll get off the car and transfer to the taxi to downtown. By the way, there are area limits where taxi can go in Oaxaca. The Aikido dojo is outside the city limit where the taxi from and to downtown can reach, and the taxi that we were riding could not enter downtown.

Soon after the fourth person took the seat in the back, I saw a lady waving at us. She was probably twice as large as I was, side ways. There was no way she could fit in the car. I expected the taxi driver to pass on her. How naïve was I…

The driver stopped in front of her. Nope, can’t fit any more person in the back…

I thought she would give up. Again, wrong…

She opened the front door, where I was seated. Somehow, she pushed me towards the center console of the tiny Tsuru, I supported my butt on one foot, and she some how was seated.

Now I think about it, I do not know how that was possible but some how, three people fit in the front seat!

The good thing was there was no more person got in the taxi, and the ride lasted only about 5 minutes.

The fare? it was MXN10 (about USD 0.5) per person.

It was an interesting experience, which has become part of a good memory of us but since the second time on in Oaxaca, we decided to rent a car. I do not know about now but back then, there was no Uber so we figured it is better to rent a car.

Before ending this article, let me introduce just a little more about the place, simply because my wife and I love the place. If you get to go to Oaxaca, be sure to check out, like pottery called Barro Negro, textile called Zapotec Weaving, Monte Alban Pyramid, and frozen (so it looks…) waterfall called Hierve el Agua. I like the festive feeling of the downtown area, and the food too. Unfortunately, we have not had a chance to visit the beach in Oaxaca but I have heard it is quite something too… Anyways, Oaxaca is “the place” that I would recommend people to visit in Mexico!