We awoke to a chilly, but beautiful morning in Puebla. We headed to the rooftop for breakfast with a view.
When we turned to look in the other direction, we saw the amazing Popocatepetl volcano. It looked like it was about to blow! And, we were heading in its direction today. After breakfast, we hopped in an Uber for the short 20-minute drive to the neighboring city of Cholula. Lots to see here.
Cholulu is home to the Great Pyramid, which is the largest man-made pyramid in the world. It is not your traditional pyramid, as most of it is covered in foliage and there is a massive Spanish-built church at the summit. But the pyramid is massive.
We paid our entry fee and walked around the base of the pyramid, seeing a lot of detail that had been excavated. We met a man from Phoenix and his friend from CDMX (he commented on my University of Arizona shirt), and we had a nice chat about Cholula, Mexico City, and even had some recommendations for us.
Around the north side of the pyramid, there is a large intact temple that you can climb.
Beyond the temple is a long, steep walkway that leads to the summit of the pyramid, where the Spanish church is located. It was not a terribly long walk, but the steep incline made it very difficult. The views at the summit made it all worthwhile. The view of the volcano was incredible!
Let me tell you, walking down a steep incline is just as bad, or worse, than walking up the hill. It is tough on the feet and knees.
At the bottom of the pyramid is an amazing museum - the Museo Regional de Cholula. It is a huge complex built in a former school. It has some of the coolest displays, and has ancient art, historical photos, modern art, and more. Very impressive.
After our amazing walk through the museum, we decided to visit the main center of Cholulula. This is a very charming city, with some beautiful buildings, churches, and a gorgeous main square. We walked by one church and saw a Quinceanera. There were loads of people in the square enjoying a beautiful day.
We had heard about a local church that was very ornately decorated, but all in hand carved and hand painted displays. So, we hopped in an Uber to visit. It was very cool, but they did not allow any photos inside.
Now we had a problem. We were deep in a rural neighborhood, no Ubers available, no taxis and sight, and we had to get back to Puebla to catch our bus back to Mexico City. So, we started walking. We eventually found a taxi driver hanging out, and he agreed to take us back to our hotel in Puebla. We arrived to the hotel, grabbed our bags, and had to find another taxi to the bus terminal. We told our driver we were in an incredible rush to catch our bus. The bus was set to depart east 4:30p, and my phone's GPS said we would arrive by 4:40p. He drove like a maniac, and we got there just after 4:30p. We thanked him, tipped him, and ran to our bus, which thankfully was still there. Sinking into our seats, sweating from the journey, we were happy we didn't miss it and thankful to have a couple hours to sit back, relax and enjoy the trip.
Puebla and Cholula are awesome. We actually half-joked that we should have stayed here for a week or so. It was so charming, and so very different from what we have been experiencing in Mexico City. We LOVE these excursions.
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