Popocatepetl Volcano, Puebla and Montezuma's Revenge!

Mexico City - Puebla - Oaxaca -Puerto Escondido Part Dos!

Just a quick apology to all subscribers for not getting anything published this month. I was absolutely swamped with work and this weekend is my first in awhile. You know how it is. Without further adieu - Part 2 of Mexico City to Puerto Escondido…..

It was late April 2023 and after a couple of fun-filled days visiting Mexico City, I was off to my next destination of Puebla, a place I had wanted to visit for decades, since I first laid eyes on images of its fabulous cathedral back in university. It didn’t hurt that the entire surrounding historic Centro has been a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site since 1987. The evening before, I had cooked myself up a rather rare steak in my AirBnb loft in the wonderfully trendy Roma Norte district. Tidying up the next morning before catching a taxi to the hectic bus station, I became very much aware of the distinct possibility that Montezuma’s Revenge was about to make an explosive entrance (exit?). However, being a seasoned traveller, I soldiered on. Damn the torpedoes, in all senses of the expression.

It’s a very scenic two and a half hour journey from central Mexico City to Puebla on the surprisingly comfortable ADO buses - the fare is around $15 USD. On the way you ascend from the already high elevation of Mexico City at 2,240 meters (7,350 feet) up to 3,230 meters to get around the base of Popocatépetl. The views are everchanging and epic, just one more visual highlight in a country bursting to the seams with them.

Simply put, Mexico is a physically stunning country. From the Copper Canyon in the north (four TIMES bigger than the Grand Canyon!) to the Sea of Cortez in the west (Jaques Cousteau called it the Serengeti of the world’s oceans due to its huge variety and overabundance of marine life), stunning beaches from the Yucatan to Baja California (containing the most beautiful “local” beach I have ever visited in the world), and the vast majority of the world’s spectacular cenotes (limestone sinkholes in the Yucatan jungles), Mexico’s got it all. There are more mountain ranges than you can shake a stick at, inhospitable, (but oddly alluring) deserts,, stuffed full of cacti, balanced with lots of thick jungles and tropical rainforests further south. Then there are the awe-inspiring volcanos, like one of the World’s 7 Natural Wonders, Parícutin, which sprouted from a farmer’s field in 1943, to its present height of over 2,800 meters! Finally, the most legendary sunset I ever witnessed was in Mexico, the Universe’s stamp of approval on a masterful creation. But back to Popocatepetl….

This startlingly active stratovolcano that is also the 2nd highest in North America at 5,452 meters and growing (17,883 feet), has been spewing an increasing amount of steam, ash and the occasional boulder in the last several years. A tourist was killed and 4 others were seriously injured in 2022 when they got too close to the crater and temperamental Papi responded by showering them with rocks, knocking them into a 300 meter deep gully. A month later, more eruptions would disrupt my flights out of Puerto Escondido and Mexico City and cause great worry among the 30 million people who live within 80 km. of this ticking time bomb. More explosive fun! The six lane highway which threads the needle through this seismically in play region, is one of the deadliest in the country, but wow - what views! As a sidenote, flying over central America is one of my favourite experiences because you can always see, quite clearly, at least a dozen active volcanoes (there are 70 in the region) spewing steam and ash beneath you. The flights are unique.

By the time the bus arrived at the Puebla terminal, I was regretting undercooking my steak from the night before. As I rushed out of the bus before something rushed out of me, all of my coins (bane of my travelling existence, shades of Victoria Falls) fell out of my unzippered backpack and rolled under the bus. Paying the attention-seeking, little rascals no heed, I raced to the toilets on the 2nd floor. Of course the toilets were of the toll-gate variety - exact change required. Hence I temporarily turned into a fare-gate jumper (what fun when you have the runs!). After my first of many meetings that day with the porcelain gods, my furtive excursion into illegality came to an abrupt halt when a fellow traveller I recognized from the bus approached with coins in hand and remarked, “I found a bunch of coins by the bus, want some?”

Puebla is the 4th largest city in Mexico with around 3.5 million people. It is a prosperous city by Mexican standards, housing the world’s largest Volkswagen factory and several others, along with being the home of many prestigious universities. Located between Mexico City and Mexico’s main port of Veracruz, it is the origin of Mexico’s famous mole sauce (which literally means “concoction” in old Spanish) According to one story, it was invented when a bunch of nuns had to improvise with whatever ingredients (22) they had on hand (chocolate, nuts, seeds, day old bread, chili and a hodgepodge of other spices) to satisfy the taste buds of a visiting Spanish dignitary who graced them with a last-minute appearance. It was served over turkey and it was an instant hit.

Puebla is even more famous for its month-long Cinco de Mayo Festival which celebrates the defeat of the French by the Mexican General Zaragoza in 1862, along with its UNESCO World Heritage collection of classical buildings in the old Centro, which is where I stayed for a couple of nights. In spite of my upset stomach I forced myself to eat out in the fantastic Zocalo both nights, and it was easy to make friends with some of the cheerful waiters. The food was top notch and very reasonably priced. Nothing beats the lively and cheerful atmosphere of eating outside on the edge of a Mexican town square, packed with strolling couples and families at the end of the day. What I couldn’t believe was that I was one of the only foreign tourists! Sooner or later, this place is going to be packed with international tourists - go now before that happens. I swear that Mexico is ripe to rocket up the global tourism rankings. Sure it is already popular for its beach resorts but so much of Mexico is still relatively untouched by tourism just like Mexico City used to be - I can’t see that lasting much longer. And no, Mexico isn’t dangerous - unless you lack common sense and challenge a mariachi band to a dance-off.

My AirBnb took a bit of time to locate as it was in one of the old historical buildings in Centro and there was no discernible street address. I would have found this charming if it wasn’t for the fact that I was in some acute intestinal distress and needed to visit the porcelain gods in short order. I cursed the undercooked steak from the night before. Who would be so stupid as to undercook meat?! Oh yeah, I remembered the culprit - and cursed myself. When I finally got inside and took care of business I used up the establishment’s entire monthly supply of toilet paper. Momentarily cured of my discomfort, I wandered into the nearby town square and enjoyed the passing parade of humanity.

The next day I strolled around Centro, the first stop being the magnificent Basilica Cathedral of Puebla. This masterpiece was opened in 1649 (construction commenced 75 years earlier!) and is jaw-dropping inside, as one would expect. Strolling down to the nearby Templo de Santo Domingo, the interior knocked my socks off with its 24 karat gold stucco! Puebla also has the oldest public library in North America, well worth a looky loo. There are tons of great restaurants and bars in this pleasant and safe city, no doubt bolstered by the presence of so many university students and furthermore, there are a dozen pueblos magicos in the surrounding region, the most famous being Cholula.

Still suffering from GI distress, I wrapped up my visit and bought my bus ticket for the next destination, the foodie capital of Oaxaca, 6 hours to the south. Stay tuned for that in Part 3!