OAXACA -- I pop the toasted grasshopper right in my mouth. It tastes kind of like bacon and is seasoned with chili and salt. Not bad! My kids wrinkle their noses.

We are walking through a market in Oaxaca City where we've arrived just this afternoon. Locals are selling the chapulines -- there are big piles of them -- for just 3 pesos a bag (about 40 cents).

Oaxaca is in the southeastern part of Mexico and we've come here for a few days of cultural immersion after a week lazing on the beach near Playa del Carmen. Mexico beaches are terrific, of course, but there is so much more to see and do in this country.

To make the most of our time, we've arranged for Austin-Lehman Adventures to plan our stay so that I don't have to fret the details. The benefits are immediately apparent when there is a glitch at our hotel and there isn't a bed -- literally -- for my 24-year-old son, Matt.

While our guide, Nicholas Garcia, shows us Oaxaca's historical center -- the famous Santo Domingo church dates from the 16th century -- Austin-Lehman finds Matt a room around the corner for the night, at no charge, saving me a huge hassle on unfamiliar turf.

Oaxaca is famous for its food -- molé, chocolate -- its artisans and the astounding beauty of its surrounding valleys where the Zapotecs, Mixtecs and some 14 other ethnic groups live and preserve their culture.

There are ruins to explore, carvers to meet, bike rides on dirt roads past farmers on donkey carts and fantastic meals. And then there's the world's largest cypress tree. Fifty people could hold hands in a circle and still not surround the tree in Santa Maria El Tule, which is about eight miles outside of Oaxaca City.

WHAT'S COOKING

We even have the chance to join a cooking lesson taught by American chef Susana Trilling at her Seasons of My Heart Culinary School located on her hillside farm outside the city.

Trilling has raised two kids here and is so accommodating that she welcomed a family with a baby to our class, even arranging for someone to take care of him. ``Mexico is so wonderful for kids,'' she tells me. ``Everyone loves children.''

That's obvious in Oaxaca City's Zocalo city center where a cacophony of sights and sounds greet us. There are dancers performing, lights twinkling from the trees. A woman sells candied apples on a long stick; I've never seen so many colors of cotton candy. Kids run and play with balloons three times their size, while their parents laugh. There are many tourists here, but very few Americans.

In one village, we watch a 15-year-old girl, decked out in a blue sparkly dress, being led down the street by a band to commemorate her quinceañera, the celebration of her 15th birthday. Surrounded by family, she smiles at us shyly, as drums, trombones and trumpets blare.

Another morning, we tour the ancient ruin of Monte Alban, where Zapotecs lived from 500 BC until 1500 AD. The place is huge -- some 12 square miles. There are 21 buildings in various stages of excavation here. The views of the surrounding mountains and valleys are stupendous. We climb down into an ancient tomb and marvel at the ancient toys in the museum. Can it get any better than this?

Tourism has still not completely recovered down here, since the 2006 teachers' strikes and ensuing unrest.

``Today, Oaxaca is friendly and safe and colorful,'' promises Chris Schroers, who, along with his wife, owns Como Agua pa Chocolate, the charming restaurant overlooking the Zocolo. We ate dinner there one night.

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