When you go to Oaxaca, immerse yourself in Hierve el Agua.

Arriving at the Hierve el Agua park, it isnt obvious what a special treat you are in for, though the environment is pleasant enough. There is a semi-shaded parking area, bathrooms, bath houses for changing into swim suits, stands to purchase foods, and even cabins to stay the night. Behind the stands are a pleasant swimming pool and a map of the trails through the park.

Hierve el Agua means where the water boils, and refers less to the temperature of the water there and more to the action of the water. When I first began walking down the well-trodden path on the loop trail, I knew we were in for a special treat. We were walking on gargantuan calcium deposits, still clearly displaying the ripple pattern in which they were deposited as mineral rich water ran over the surface of the ground. It was like walking on frozen water.

As I rounded the bend in the trail I saw ahead of me a pool of creamy, light blue water. Wow! I thought. But as I got closer, there was a break in the foliage and I could see that the edge of the pool tops an almost 200-foot cliff overlooking a roadless river valley. ...and I was mentally speechless.

The pool is formed by spring water backed up behind a wall built along the top of the cliff. The whole pool, which is the size of a small swimming pool, looks and feels very natural because the wall was constructed in the rounded shapes of the surrounding area. Time has helped to maintain the natural look by covering the man-made borders with thick, rounded calcium deposits. The water skims over the wall and down into a series of smaller pools before plummeting down the cliff face to the valley below.

The pool is a delightful warm temperature, and clean because it is continually refreshed by a spring just outside the pool area. You can place your hand over the bubbling water of the spring and feel it gurgling out of the ground, through your fingers and down to the pool. The center of the pool is deep enough to let you tread water or float lightly, looking up at the perfect sky and branches of the nearby trees. The most unforgettable place in the pool is right at the wall above the cliff. You can rest your arms there and look out into the vast space of the perfect valley below you.

Tooling around near the pool we found ancient water canals. Continuing around the loop trail, there are two or three more breathtaking views. One is a columnar formation of calcium deposits created by the falling of a second spring over the cliff edge--a frozen waterfall. Another was a tributary valley intersecting the main valley.

We had arrived at the park only about 2 hours before closing. While we had to keep track of time and couldnt explore all of the trails in the park, we were the only people there and had the rare joy of being in such a magical place alone!

Because of the joy of the quiet and the ability to move through the beautiful setting, touching and seeing all of the wonders as they were revealed to us, I recommend that you try to visit Hierve el Agua on a weekday, and possibly very early in the morning to try to avoid other people.

You can get to Hierve el Agua by taking a second class bus from Oaxaca, joining a tour in town, or by driving. The park is about an hour and a half from Oaxaca and is located in the mountains off of the road that takes you to Mitla (another excellent place to visit.)

We had to stop and ask directions a few times on the way to the park and since it is up in the mountains, it wasnt the easiest place to find. Before you drive there, stop by the tourist information office in Oaxaca city and get a map to the park. The tourist information office will tell you about other wonderful places to visit and will give you the names of the small towns that you will pass in order to find the park. Knowing the names of the towns will help you to be sure you are on the correct road.--jt