Mexico Guide
Oaxaca
Tehuacán
If you decide to travel via the autopista from Mexico City to Oaxaca, the only place that merits a stop as you speed along is TEHUACÁN, the source of a good percentage of the bottled mineral water (Peñafiel, now owned by Cadbury Schwepps) consumed throughout Mexico. It's the second largest town in the state of Puebla, but despite some rapid development precipitated by the manufacture of stone-washed denim here in the 1990s, it still feels like an old-fashioned spa town: relaxed, easy-paced, temperate in every sense of the word and with a centre full of buildings from the early twentieth century. The tiled, arcade-fronted house on the zócalo, with its Moorish flourishes, was obviously designed with Vichy or Evian in mind and bears a plaque to Señor Don Joaquim Pita, who first put the water here in bottles. Take a look at the underside of the colonnade for highly graphic murals depicting the five regions that make up Tehuacán district. A more pedestrian introduction to the region fills the halls of the Museo del Valle de Tehuacán (Tues– Sun 10am–6pm; M$15), in the elegant Ex-Convento de Carmen at Reforma Norte 210, which features a bright tiled dome that dominates the skyline in this part of town. A tiny collection of prehistoric relics shores up the thinly illustrated story of maize in Mesoamerica and particularly in the Tehuacán valley, which was the first place to truly cultivate (rather than simply harvest) the crop some six or seven thousand years ago – ample evidence that this was one of the earliest settled areas in Mexico.
All this can be seen in a couple of hours, but if you decide to stay in town you can fill the time by heading out to the springs on the outskirts to sample the clean-tasting water. You might also take a dip at Balneario San Lorenzo (Tues– Sun 6.30am–6pm; M$35), a large complex of sun-warmed pools (including one Olympic-sized affair) that draws from local springs and is known for its relaxation-inducing high lithium content. Catch a bus from the Autobuses Unidos bus station to San Lorenzo, a suburb 5km west of the centre. Alternatively, you can pamper yourself with a temazcal (a pre-Hispanic steam bath), sauna and massage at the pleasant Hotel Aldea Bazar ( 
427/272-1535; Price: M$200–350), a five-minute taxi ride from the centre of town at Calzada Adolfo López Mateos 3351.
Most long-distance buses arrive at the ADO station on Independencia, two blocks west of the zócalo. Second-class buses from Mexico City, Oaxaca and elsewhere arrive at the Autobuses Unidos station near the junction of 5 Oriente and 5 Sur, on the opposite side of the centre.
The most luxurious place to stay in Tehuacán is the Hotel México, Independencia at Reforma Norte, one block west of the zócalo ( 238/382-2419, 
www.hotelmexicotehuacan.com ; Price: M$350-500), which has a pool, parking and clean, modern, well-appointed rooms. Budget hotels can be found near the zócalo, including the Hotel Monroy, Reforma Norte 217 ( 238/382-0491; Price: M$200-250). Banks (with ATMs) and other services are mostly on Reforma.