It was a lucky coincidence to be in Cholula during Carnival. We were able to discover the Mexican Carnival and it's very colorful, very vibrant and very noisy. Mexico like we love it!
Saturday, February 25th, 2023
After climbing Iztaccíhuatl, we need rest and comfort and that's exactly what we got! The flat we rented in Puebla is spacious, fresh and comfortable. We had a hot shower in a real bathroom. We spent the evening on a soft couch with a TV. We enjoyed a fully equipped kitchen. And we slept 12 hours in a comfortable bed and a large bedroom. What else do we need! We spend a quiet morning at the apartment and enjoy Margot's delicious pancakes. And it's time to go to Puebla. I stay at the flat to rest, work and rest 😁 and Rémi leaves in Uber with our friends. Puebla is a huge agglomeration of 2 million inhabitants. It's the fourth largest city in Mexico. Its colonial center is colorful and lively, but when isn't it? The zocalo is full of people and Rémi befriends the local police! The city is famous for its sweets of all kinds. Many dulcerias line the streets.
Another local specialty: tacos Al Pastor. The meat is cooked like our kebabs, but with a twist: pineapple! It's delicious! Digestive walk with an ice cream to America's oldest library and the Santo Domingo temple.
Hot shower, bathroom, mirror, sofa, bed, TV. Everything makes us happy. But in this apartment, there's one thing that makes us happy above all the rest. Can you guess what? The oven! Yes, an oven. A real one. We already knew what we were going to cook even before booking the flat, because we've been dreaming about it since we left Montreal: tonight, it's lasagna! We are hardly exaggerating when we say it was the best meal of the trip 😵
Sunday, February 26th
We leave the apartment at 11 am. It's time to return to the Jeeplife. JP is still in mess from our ascent of the Izta, and especially full of dust inside, which rushed in through the air vents. It's too hot to clean it up though. We put everything inside and we take the road. We go to Cholula, a city near Puebla. The city center is full of animation - more than usually. It's indeed carnival today! Great! We decide to stay a bit longer in order to attend the parade. While waiting, we discover the Great Pyramid of Cholula, a very tourist place. Vendors try to sell us all kinds of products, from coconuts to grilled insects!
The Great Pyramid of Cholula is also called Tlachihualtepetl, which means "artificial mountain". It's 55 meters high and its base measures 400 meters by 400 meters, which makes it the largest pyramid in the world. Its construction began in the third century BC by the Olmecs. Several phases of construction successively enlarged the pyramid, over nearly 1,000 years, by the Toltecs and then the Aztecs. Today, we can only distinguish a part of the base of the pyramid. The rest is entirely covered with vegetation, so that it looks like a simple hill dominating the city and topped by a church. This church was built in 1594 on top of the pre-Hispanic temple. Because of the historical and religious importance of the church, the pyramid has not been completely cleared and restored.
From such a high monument, the view of the city and of the Popo that dominates it is obviously magnificent. Cholula was the second largest city of the Aztec Empire, before Hernán Cortés had part of the population massacred during the conquest of the Aztec Empire.
The city is quite animated and busy. Hundreds of people gather along the main street to watch the carnival. It's extremely hot. While waiting for the parade, we eat on a terrace and we walk in the animated streets of the city center.
We melt in the crowd and we wait impatiently for the carnival to begin. Street vendors walk through the crowd, selling ice creams, umbrellas and... earplugs? What a funny idea!
We quickly understand what the earplugs are for. The carnival commemorates the victory of the Mexicans of Puebla against the French empire of Napoleon III, during the battle of 1862. The costumes are very colorful and people parade in battalions. And, since this is a reenactment of a battle, the battalions carry muskets. So of course, they shoot blanks, but the detonations are deafening. All of them shoot when we least expect it and their hands are black with powder. We end up half deaf, but how great! We knew that Mexicans are party-animals and that they like firecrackers. Now we know it even more!
After one hour, our ears can't take it anymore. We go half deaf in the calmer streets. It's time to leave the heat and the pollution of the city for the fresh and pure air of the mountain! We now go to the national park of the Peak of Orizaba, the highest summit in Mexico! Let's go to reach a new record of altitude! 😎💪
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Nah that's just a joke! We just want to look at it! 😉
2 commentaires
Festif et coloré voilà un reportage typique.
Bisous.
Mamie
Géniales ces vidéos, on s’ambiance à distance !!!