After a great time in and around Mexico City we’ve been following the political tensions in Guatemala and Panama we’d planned to drive through on the way to shipping big blue across the darían gap (the bit of jungle between Panama and Colombia you can’t pass so have to ship around). Guatemala has been gridlocked due to roadblocks which seem to be easing but Panama has been having increasingly violent protests and riots resulting in border closures and we have no knowledge of how long this could take to resolve. The hot spot also seems to be around Panama City we would have to go to to do the shipping. So we decide given that we only have 3 weeks to cross Central America and get to the shipping form Panama this is unlikely to be realistic and will move the shipping to Veracruz instead. Lots of discussion with our shipping agents to work out what boats are going when and we manage to get the last space on a boat departing 16th November and we have a few days and we will need to be in Veracruz to begin the process of shipping. We’re lucky as the next boats are a couple of months later which would blow our plans to get down to Patagonia. Lots of admin whilst driving and we are booked on and are hugely relieved we have a shipping plan that is more realistic but sad we won’t get to drive and explore Central America.
We begin to drive towards cholula and accidentally find Hacienda soapulyuca which is a gorgeous old hacienda that had horses and made pulque. The family are lovely and share some of their pulque with us which is like a very sweet creamy alcoholic goo. Not to my taste but good to try it! The hacienda has its own lovely donkey wandering around and the family are restoring the old house to its former glory and it has tons of charm.
We then arrive in cholula and find a little car park with a guard we can camp in.
We see the “pyramid” and church cholula is known for in front of us the pyramid looks like a grassy mound but is laced with Aztec tunnels that sadly since an earthquake you can no longer explore.
We climb the pyramid to the beautiful yellow church on top which is a pilgrimage sight as there was an apparition of the Virgin Mary seen here and it’s very good shiny and blingy! The views from the top and the church are spectacular and we can see malinche volcano and popacatapetl too. We realise there are clouds of smoke coming from popa and its erupting which makes Alex’s day!
We head down the pyramid into the centre of cholula to try and find the new train that goes into Puebla. We find the new shiny station and tracks but apparently soon after opening the new expensive tourist train was closed and we can’t find out why!
We wander down the street and see cool lights and brightly coloured houses and soon find the Zócalo (or square) and see the ubiquitous skeletons for the season of the day of the dead.
We see a lovely restaurant on the theme of Frida Kahlo and resolve to have a potter then go back for dinner. As we’re exploring we se doors open where families have their altars and offerings for day of the dead dedicated to their loved ones. We see one and are invited in by the family and it’s beautiful to see how the family have left out pictures of their lost loved ones as well as their favouritefoods and treats within a mist of fragrant incense which is a heady mix.
We find the bustling covered market and everyone is preparing for the holiday and festival when their loved ones return for one night and then go back to the spirit world. We pick up some little chocolate skulls for a treat.
We go back to frida for dinner and it’s amazing. In recommendation from the waitress we try 5 different moles which are famed Mexican sauces that the Mexicans are very proud of. We try peanut, sunflower, red berry, prawn and normal and the order a main meal with our favourites. Guy gets mole with prawn and I get the peanut with chicken and Alex has meat tacos we wash this down with a Passionfruit margarita and a mojito yum!
We see lots of children dressed up and trick or treating so whilst Guy nips back for coats Alex and I source some sweeties and hand them out to children in the square and he received some sweeties in return it’s really lovely and the kids look amazing. Alex loves giving out the sweeties and chasing about with the local children.
We have a little ride on a kiddy train covered in lights and then walk back to a fair near where we’re parked which is going strong and full of families. We have a bit of a dance and then Alex drives a little dinosaur 4x4 car he loves and we walk round the skeleton sculpture circuit whilst admiring the church on top of the pyramid all lit up.
We head back to the van and conk.
We wake up slowly and make a plan now we’ve booked the van into Veracruz we can spend a little longer in this area so we resolve to head to Puebla famous for beautiful tiles and colour. We get an Uber (dead easy 30 mins ish for 130 pesos) and Walk around main square where we find more skeletons and offerings. It’s a lovely square surrounded by stunning buildings snd Alex finds awater fountain and we have a cool walk around the beautiful church.
We pop into the tourist info place and they give us a map of where to see all the day of the dead offerings around the town. We stop at the first library in Latin America and it’s full iof offerings which are beautiful. Just down the road we see some ladies painting faces and guy and I get ours done - they’re such fun! Alex is in a grump so won’t get his done sadly, we did bring his little Skeleton outfit we bought for him with us so he can pop that on later (he wears it eventually!)
We find lots of cool arty streets as we wander round and find a nice spot for lunch buzzing with life where we have terrible food but enjoy the atmosphere and music around. We’ve seen michelada’s advertised so try one. They are beer cocktails with weird stuff glued around the rim of the glass like neon or chilli. It comes in a litre glass (we share) and is a bit weird but not entirely disgusting and the locals seem to love them.
We see a lovely artisan market and I pick up headband to go with face paint and we see a dress up competion with locals dressed incredibly.
We try to find “sweety”street and fail and Walk back towards where we think there will be a day of the dead parade. We were super excited about this but it won’t happen until Friday a few days later so sit and watch the world go by and have a coffee Alex puts on his costume and gives more sweeties away.
We get an Uber home and then head back to fair where we get some papas (chips - there are no churros so guy is gutted!) there is a live band on and lots of couples are dancing which is magic! Alex has another go on the dinosaur car and a go at shorting paintballs with daddy.
We try another michelada - a clásica with sesame and lemon and salt round the rim and it’s yummy -and we head back to the van where we have no sleep as the party goes on until 3am, but it is a festival day!
Emma
Comments