Queretaro to Puebla (10/4/10-10/10/10)

A Long and Winding Road

Tula warriors

The first thing I wanted to do was to drive south to Tula, a ruins site that was built by the Toltecs (pre-Aztec). No one is sure what happened to them. I think they just decided they were over it and hit the beach. Working with stone is hard! This is the 10th ruins site I've been to now (9 on my first trip), and they were all great except this one. Not much here, and of the 4 warrior statues, two are reproductions. But here's a picture to save you the trip. Go to Teotihuacan, instead. Now that's a great site.
  

S. L. Potosi to Puebla
(black is prior trip-2006)

I decided to divert from my original itinerary, so back north and then east up to Jalpan de Serra in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve. The last 80 miles or so to Jalpan wind thru high desert mountains then, when you summit around 7500', it becomes a thick green forest/jungle in the clouds with the temp. going from upper 60's down to 48. Lonely Planet says there are 860 turns on this road. I think they missed a few. Very demanding drive that took 3 hours with countless shifting between 2nd and 3rd gears, hairpin turns, crazy taxi drivers, steep drops, it has it all.

Definitely off the gringo trail, too. I haven't seen 5 Americans in the short time I've been here and I wish my spanish were a million times better. Most people I meet and deal with don't speak any english. I think this is what they call immersion. Jalpan, down to 2500' and warmer again, is noted as one of 5 mission church locations built by the Franciscans, all of which are now on the World Heritage Site. I saw two of them, same basic plan. A very mild night and hanging out on the square with most of the town, it's pleasant. Got a room at a hotel on the zocolo after that drive.
 

From dry...

the mission church of Jalpan

...to wet.



Concrete and Square Plates

Further up the road is Xilitla. A nice mountain town in its own right but noted for the place called Las Pozas (The Pools). Created from the immagination and money of one Edward James, an English heir to the Phelps Dodge fortune, he collected surrealistic art (most in the world at the time).He loved this area, so with the help of some great local craftsmen, he came up with this fantastical complex of all manner of concrete structures in the jungle and around a river and waterfalls, including his house. I can't even begin to do it justice. There are many web sites with better pictures and info, here's one  http://www.architecturalescapes.com/.  He died in 1984 so the jungle is starting to do its job, but it's a wonder to behold. Beautiful spot if you're up for the drive.

snakes or dragons?

one of the pools with stairs
going up to somewhere

these stairs go nowhere (no

opening in floor above)

Driving thru Xilitla I came up to a big army stop, at least 2 dozen soldiers. I got waved over and was searched pretty thoroughly. All quite serious with all those rifles, but luckily one soldier spoke english and was a huge help. (I still have not been asked about what's up on the roof). Later, these same soldiers pulled up to Las Pozas(!) - paranoid, much - where they mostly went sightseeing. The one soldier that helped me earlier had stayed in the parking lot and we got to talking. Turns out he learned his english from 6 years in Maryland, but he got deported when his job site got raided. I now have a friend in the Mexican army.



my room in Xilitla

I pick a place to stay from lonely Planet called the Hotel Hostel de Cafe (they have a website). A little B and B on the busy main road, it's like an oasis inside. I pay $24 for this wonderful room with a great hostess and I even get the one parking spot. I'm the only guest. I love going to places off the beaten path, out of season and during the week. If I can land rooms like this for $24 the tent will never see the light of day.

The hostess recommends a restaurant to me called the El Museo. It's on a steep sidestreet off the zocolo above the main road. I'm early, but they're open. This place is most unexpected for such a modest town. Very nice inside with artwork and crafts, kinda fancy almost. I order a pasta dish, which is delicious with the house red (from Spain), also very good. When the pasta is served to me on a square plate I'm looking around and wondering, where am I? Later, I meet the chef/owner whose name is Ramon. He lived in the U.S. for many years and went to culinary school in NY and also cooked in LA. (which explains the square plates and great food and wine). Ramon also happens to have married into the family that helped build Las Pozas, which explains the pictures and original bamboo frames that were used to make the concrete "things". That family runs the connected hotel, El Castillo. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera. This is my new favorite town.

Don't take this road

mountain washout

I took another highway down to Pachuca which turns out to be an old section of the PanAm and it's a serious crawl back over the mountains. Not only the turns and the traffic, but many more small towns and villages with their own topes along with livestock of every description on or near the road. People walking everywhere, many with heavy loads of firewood on their backs. Life is hard and raw up here. The toughest part is the very heavy fog in places with rain, slowing me down to less than 15mph. There is also a nice washout on a fairly steep corner, though the picture doesn't do it justice.

Pachuca clocktower

7 hours later I finally make it to Pachuca. I'm totally wiped again so I figure a room around the zocolo is in order. Pachuca traffic is insane. Cars don't stop, not really, and people cross wherever. I have to ask some cops for help and they escort me with lights! The hotel where I stay doesn't have heat and it's close to 50 here (Pachuca is at 8000'...I thought I just came out of the mountains). I confirm this 'no heat' issue with the desk, but they are nice enough to hand me two more woolen blankets. Now I have heat. Pachuca has a very nice clock tower in the zocolo, right across the street. Unfortunately, it chimes in every 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes. All night long. Before I forget, this area is known for their pastes. These are baked pastries with mexican flavors. They're good, and they're cheap, that's dinner.

Cholula

Cholula church on pyramid

On to Cholula via Tlaxcala. I couldn't find this campground four years ago and I'm determined to get there. Of course, I have to ask some more cops along the way, but I find it. Again, I'm the only guest but the elderly owners welcome me (they don't speak 10 words of english between them). Cholula is where the world's second biggest pyramid is, except it's covered in vegetation so it looks like a hill. It already looked like a hill when Cortez got here, so after he finished slaughtering the locals (they tried to ambush him and he didn't like that), he built a church on top. This is a picture of what's there now (obviously). The tunnel system into the pyramid is now closed due to a cave-in some time last year.

Volcan Popocatepetl

 The view from the church takes in the whole surrounding valley and city and a number of volcanos. I tried to get a good pic. of Volcan Popo., but it looks kinda hazy. This one is still active. On my walk down from the church a woman offered me a free sample of the chapulines (grasshoppers). I had debated trying these on my first trip, but I played along this time. A little crispy, a bit tangy with some salt. I didn't get sick or anything, but if I had to choose, I'd go for the potato chip.

Puebla: I came here to Eat

the courtyard where breakfast
is served

I decide to leave the FJ at the Cholula campground and ask the owners if they could call me a cab. I had to use my dictionary to write down all my questions beforehand, which they seemed to appreciate. La senora tells me I'm guapo, which I come to find out means handsome. I've haven't heard that one since way back in the last millenium; too bad she's like 80. But she does love Vegas, so maybe there's something there. The cab driver seems to delight in pretty much red-lining it at every opportunity, but he does get me safely to my hotel just one block off the zocolo. Very busy, hectic city and I'm glad I left the car behind. The hotel is a mid-price conversion of a colonial town house http://www.casadelapalmapuebla.com/ . High ceilings, courtyard, big bathrooms at $40/night for a single if you pay in cash. I did.



mole poblano at Vittorio's

When I was planning this trip, Puebla and the food were high on my Mexico to-do list. My first few hours of wandering around net me an ice cream cone (first one in years) and a torta chica, which is a small sandwich on a roll. Good. For dinner I went to Vittorio's on the zocolo, recommended in the books and by the hotel. The mole was very good, not as sweet or cinamony as others. I wish I had the pallette to describe it better. The chicken was a bit dry, though.

enchiladas at Sta. Clara

 Lunch the next day was at Fonda de Sta. Clara. Several blocks away and also recommended by the books and by the senor at the campground. I had wanted to try the chiles en nogada but it is strictly served in August and September, at least here, anyway. So, I had the enchiladas en tres moles. The green pepian, the red sauce and the mole were all good. This mole seemed to have some nutmeg. The glass is Rompope which is really just an overpriced eggnog with some alcohol in it. The cheese was fairly mild and I actually liked that, too.

For dinner I settled on a local pizza joint because it was recommended and because it was only a few doors away. It wasn't bad, but the guy who wrote that this was really good pizza aint from Jersey or anywhere else on the East Coast. I needed a big old shot of tequila just to calm down. Anyway, I'm full. Where's the nearest gym?

The hotel manager wanted me to go to a few of the local museums, but Sunday was swarming with people out for the day. Puebla centro seems very pedestrian friendly and every park or cafe area was filled with street performers, clowns being clown funny, a guy singing opera, vendors selling food, art or crafts, musicians. It seemed like a lot more fun to just watch and soak it all in. It's like Queretaro on steroids. Puebla is a great, vibrant city and it's a great place to chow. It's my new favorite.

ssshh...inside the great cathedral



part of a street mural. I like this
on a couple of levels.

clowns doing what they do.
even I laughd.

 A note about the weather. Almost every night and morning has been chilly, almost cold sometimes. But every afternoon has been perfect, clear, dry and in the 70's or low 80's. Except for that drive back thru the mountains, but it's supposedly like that much of the time. For some reason people keep thinking I'm German. What the hey?! On to Oaxaca.