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July 20. I have decided that we don’t get lost as much as I once believed. Let’s just say we travel creatively. That being said we found a very creative way to leave Tepoztlan, about an hour and a half of creativity. Eventually we were on our way towards Puebla. We didn’t really want to go to Puebla but through our mutually creative efforts, we did. Where we really wanted to be was Cholula, about 30 minutes outside of Puebla. Last time we were there, Cholula was sleepy and calm but something happened between then and now. We found Cholula busy, congested and quadruple the size it used to be. Rats…
Our reasoning behind Cholula was because of its close proximity to the airport that services Puebla. So we continued up the road and settled in Huejotzingo. Yep, Huejotzingo. Pronounce it any way you wish. We pronounced it “Stop”. We settled on a decent enough hotel due to being worn out from our 5 hour drive that should have been about an hour and a half. There we were, at the base of El Popo, one of Mexico’s large, very active volcanos.
*Here’s an interesting factoid that Sharon discovered. Huejotzingo’s claim to fame is the excellent apple cider they produce. Unfortunately, since the 1980’s Huejotzingo has to import all their apples due to the fact that Puebla destroyed all of Huejotzingo’s apple orchards to build their airport. Gee, thanks Puebla.
We grabbed something to eat in Huejotzingo’s very large square then retired to what proved to be a very loud night. That’s what Sharon and Shawn tell me. I took the appropriate amount of bottled Mexican sleeping aid and slept just fine.
July 21. We were up quite early. Grabbed coffee at the OXXO and got Shawn to the orchard destroying airport. We observed all the appropriate suggestions, getting Shawn there a full 2 hours in advance of his flight. This was probably not a good idea seeing as the terminal itself was, well, I’ve seen bigger bus stops. He was checked in and cleared for take-off in under 3 minutes.
Back to our usual “travel as a couple” mode, Sharon and I (purposely) headed into Puebla and creatively caught the “periferico”, a loop around the city. We used this time to figure out where the heck we wanted to go. We decided to give Orizaba a chance and let me say, it is our new favorite city. For starters, it’s a spectacular drive getting here, climbing next to then down Mexico’s highest peak and landing in a lush valley with exquisitely well laid out streets. Driving in Orizaba is not stressful and everyone, from street person to traffic cop, is overly polite and charming. We booked a night at our selected hotel, took a nap, then booked two more nights, contemplating never to return.
July 22. Last night ended with rain and it continued into this morning. No worries, we just listened to the rain as it splattered in the fountain and onto the plaza outside our window. Eventually we walked the streets, found the local market and generally took in the nearby sights of Orizaba. Oh, and a couple of excellent, long over due salads. We’re really liking this town. The rain returned and we could care less.
July 23. It was a crystal clear morning. We dropped off some much needed laundry then headed to the teleferico (sky-ride) to the top of Cerro de Borrego. There you can see all of the valley of Orizaba. We made a rather poor decision in climbing another tower to get even higher. We lasted about 40 seconds up the tower due to altitude and a meshed floor that kinda freaked us out. On the ride back down we met “The Greens”, a nice couple from Xalapa. Mr. Green knew very well of the San Antonio drought and was glad that Medina Lake has come back to life. We also walked Orizaba’s rather unique riverwalk. The riverwalk co-exists with a modest zoo. For those that may have been here, but it’s been a while, both the riverwalk and the sky-ride are new within the past 5 years or so.
It’s hard to plot an exit from this town. Great food. Nice cool weather. Y que romantica.
