OAXACA MEXICO ~ June 12 - 19, 2018 Join DeLaSalle High School alumni and friends on an 8-day / 7-night tour to Oaxaca, Mexico. This fully-escorted, private trip will include guided tours in Oaxaca City, as well as two of Mexico’s most famous archeological sites - Monte Albán and Mitla. We’ll visit four villages on their weekly market days to take in the sights and experience their unique specialties. In addition - we’ll take a Oaxacan Cooking Class to taste the special dishes of the region, and enjoy a Mezcal Tasting Tour. *Sample Itinerary / Overnight City / Activities Tues, June 12 Oaxaca - Depart for Mexico, Arrive Oaxaca! Transfer to Hotel Wed, June 13 Oaxaca - Guided City Tour + Visit Villa de Etla Market + Welcome Dinner Thur, June 14 Oaxaca - Visit Villa de Zaachila Market + Monte Albán Ruins Fri, June 15 Oaxaca - Ruta del Mezcal Tour & Lunch Sat, June 16 Oaxaca - Visit Mitla Craft Market + Mitla Ruins Sun, June 17 Oaxaca - Tlacolula Market + Cooking Class Mon, June 18 Oaxaca - Day Free to Explore + Farewell Dinner Tues, June 19 Oaxaca - Transfer to Airport, Depart Mexico for Minneapolis * This itinerary - including the order in which sites are visited, may change to accommodate or to benefit the tour. Sample Flight Itinerary Tues, June 12 UA 3484 dep Minneapolis 10:30am; Arr Houston 1:35pm UA 4077 dep Houston 5:00pm; Arr Oaxaca 7:40pm Tues, June 19 UA 4089 dep Oaxaca 7:25am; Arr Houston 10:05am UA 3506 dep Houston 12Noon; Arr Minneapolis 2:55pm Hotel Accommodation Holiday Inn Express Oaxaca-Centro Historico Dia Quintas: 115, Col. Centro, Oaxaca, Oax 6800, Mexico T: +52 951 512 9200 DeLaSalle - Oaxaca June 2018 - as of 20 Oct 2017 Tour Package Includes • Roundtrip airfare between Minneapolis-Oaxaca • All hotel accommodations (double occupancy) • All ground transportation in Mexico • Full-time licensed Driver-Guide • All tourist attractions / entry fees / active adventures • Daily hotel breakfast • Welcome and Farewell Dinners • 5 additional meals (lunches or dinners), excluding drinks • Traditional Oaxacan Cooking Class • All gratuities for your Driver-Guide and hotel staff Oaxaca • One checked bag, per airline baggage policy Oaxaca City is located in the central Mexican state of Oaxaca and is recognized as Mexico’s cultural and culinary capital. Artists and artisans alike are inspired by the city’s creative atmosphere, indigenous traditions and bright, clear light. Oaxaca has top-class Tour Package Does Not Include museums, art galleries, fascinating markets, and its own superb Mexican cuisine. The • Passport (required) - Please refer to the U.S. State Department website for easygoing pace frequently breaks out into the fireworks of a fiesta, and some brightly all Passport requirements: colored events unfolding in the streets or the Zócalo (Oaxaca’s lovely central square) https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/country/mexico.html almost every day. • Activities and meals not mentioned • Items of a personal nature La Villa de Etla Market La villa de Etla is known most famously for ‘quesillo’ cheese which has been produced in Tour Package Price (based on 14 or more travelers) the area since its conception. While the market operates all week long, Wednesday is a • $2,800* per person (based on double occupancy) primary market day when it expands to include many vendors offering colorful fruits, *This price includes a $200 tax-deductable donation to vegetables, flowers, and other domestic products. Etla market is also only a stone’s throw DeLaSalle High School’s Global Advantage Program. away from the Etla’s church and plaza. Payment Schedule & Terms Villa de Zaachila Market • A $500 per person deposit is due immediately to hold your Zaachila market is located in the once Zapotec capital of Zaachila village. The market reservation - space is limited and will be awarded on a first-come, prides itself on being essentially unchanged since the villager’s predecessors founded it, first-served basis. when the market was the principal point of commerce in the Oaxacan central valley. Today, little has changed as the market is still an open air market aside for some barns for the • 50% installment payment of $1,150 due on or before February 12, 2018. livestock. This delightful market takes place on Thursdays and is an hour from Oaxaca. • Final payment of $1,150 is due on or before March 12, 2018. • Deposit payment is fully refundable, less a $100 per person cancellation Monte Albán Ruins fee. All payments thereafter are non-refundable. Monte Albán is one of the most impressive Mayan sites in Mexico, sitting 400 meters above the valley and offering panoramic views of the countryside. The site has been Remit all payments to Brad Casey at address below. All payments should inhabited over a period of 1,500 years by a succession of peoples - Olmecs, Zapotecs, and be made payable to “DeLaSalle High School”. Mixtecs. The terraces, dams, canals, pyramids, and artifical mounds of Monte Albán were Brad Casey literally carved out of the mountain and are symbols of a sacred topography. Only about Global Advantage Program 10% of the site has yet been uncovered. DeLaSalle High School One DeLaSalle Drive Ruta del Mezcal Tour Minneapolis, MN 55401 Mezcal is a distilled spirit, and can be made from some thirty varieties of agave, or maguey. It is typically produced by farmers using a laborious and antiquated method, at primitive Required Passenger Information distilleries known as palenques, and sold or shared in villages to mark births, funerals, and everything in between. Originally, “mezcal” was a generic term, like “wine,” for a spirit • At time of final payment: Name exactly as it appears on Passport, produced all over Mexico. Passport #, Passport Issuing Country, Date of Birth, Email Address, Cell #, Emergency Contact, Food Allergies, Rooming List. Mitla Craft Market This open air craft market is located on the outskirts of the archaeological zone of Mitla, 5 Questions? Please contact Pat McCool blocks from the center of Oaxaca. Locals are dedicated to the production and sale of [email protected] wonderful handicrafts such as: traditional clothing made with a pedal and shuttle loom, (319) 594-1307 embroidered hammocks, sarapes, rugs, ponchos, necklaces, bracelets, and carved stone figures. The market offers live demonstrations of how some of the crafts are produced. Mitla Ruins Mitla is the second most important archeological site in the state of Oaxaca, and the most important of the Zapotec culture. While the Monte Albán site was most important as the political center, Mitla was the main religious center. The name Mitla is derived from the Nahuatl name Mictlán, which was the “place of the dead”. Its Zapotec name is Lyobaa, which means “place of rest.” What makes Mitla unique among Mesoamerican sites is the intricate mosaic fretwork and geometric designs that cover tombs, friezes, and even entire walls. These mosaics are made with small, polished stone pieces, fitted together without mortar. No other site in Mexico has this. Tlacolula Market Tlacolula’s primary “dia de plaza” is on Sundays, when the market explodes to triple the size and sprawls outwards into the surrounding streets to form an enormous tianguis that is an ocean of colour, sound and smells. Tlacolula market on a Sunday is an unmissable DeLaSalle - Oaxaca June 2018 - as of 20 Oct 2017 experience. .