Smokin'

We arrive in Puebla on Friday afternoon in time for the mother of all storms. A full 12 hours after we check into the AirB&B it’s still chucking it down which means the day’s entertainment is restricted to anywhere we can dash to within 100 metres of the digs.

So McArthur’s Irish bar it is then. 

What is it with Irish bars? Over the years we’ve enjoyed Guinness of variable quality in such unlikely outposts as Phnom Penn, Katmandu and Tasmania. Hell, we've even had a pint of the black stuff in Dublin.

The next day we wake to clear skies and sunshine (hurrah!) and the most ridiculous view across the Puebla rooftops… hold on a minute, is that a massive Ferris wheel at the end of our street? Look, there’s a volcano over there. No, no, there are two volcanoes over there.

The weather had been so bad the previous day we’d been oblivious to all this stuff. Mexico is mental.

So, Puebla. Mexico’s fourth biggest city (bonus points if you can name the second and third). There’s loads of stuff to see and do here, so naturally we jump in a taxi and make our way to neighbouring Cholula. 

Owing to its large student population Cholula has a welcoming relaxed vibe. It’s a pretty place with lots of quaint old streets leading a large central plaza. They must be a pious bunch mind, because there’s a church on every corner. Sadly, many are showing signs of recent earthquake damage with more than one missing a spire or bell tower.

 

Apart from the Cathedral, which is temporarily closed due to quake repairs, the biggest draw for those of a religious bent is the ‘Nuestra Senora de los Remedios’ or ‘The Virgin of the Remedies’ which sits atop a large hill close to the middle of town.

Ah, but is it a hill? Look closely and you’ll notice the geometric form. This ain’t no hill, it’s a whopping great pyramid.

This becomes more apparent when we make our way to the other side where the site has been excavated – look, there’s Wend waving to you at the top of the steps. The 'Piramide Tepnapa', to give it its proper name, is the widest ever built (yes, wider than anything in Egypt or the two we saw at Teotihuacan earlier in the trip).

Legend has it, that it was constructed by a giant named Xelhua after he escaped a flood in a nearby valley twelve hundred years ago. We have our doubts about this, but we’ll go with it. 

Finding the site abandoned and overgrown in late 1500’s the Spanish considered it the perfect spot for a church, and they weren’t wrong, it’s visible from pretty much everywhere in the locality and sends the message out loud and clear that Catholicism is the sexy new kid in town.

 

You can pay to enter one of the original tunnels, which is pretty exciting. I particularly like one of the murals depicting a ritual involving drinking, vomiting and defecating  – this conjures up memories of our leaving do and makes me proper homesick for a minute.

At dusk we thought it would be nice to sit and watch the sun setting on one of the volcanoes.

And it was indeed very pleasant.

Then this happened. Which brings me back to my earlier point; Mexico really is mental.