On the Road Again: Puebla to Tlalchichuca

Thursday January 28. Our two-hour drive to Puebla was lengthened by all the now too familiar navigational difficulties. We hung out in the Megastore parking lot catching up on our trip planning and documentation until our friends Ron and Tere rescued us. We followed them through rush hour traffic to their house, and gabbed and showered until dinner hour, which of course is 9pm here. We ate in a food court in the movie theater complex where we saw the late showing of Star Wars Episode VII, in 4DX. Trippy! In addition to the 3D visuals, we experienced earthquakes and wind in the seats and smells and mist in the air.

Friday January 29. Hung out all day with Ron and Tere and her two teenagers. We got the muffler and mole, the chocolate and chili sauce that Puebla is famous for.

catalytic converter fixed for one quarter of the cost in the US. Caught up on laundry and computing. Walked around the centro, which has that old Mexico charm. One of the interesting aspects of a Mexican town is that the shops are organized by street. In MexDF walking a new route to the subway we went down the street of bridal shops, so all the store windows had billowing white dresses. In Puebla, 15 year old Alex wanted to show us her favorite street: the sweets street. We stopped to buy a coconut candy, an airy nut candy and mole, the chocolate and chili

Mike, Tere, Sharman, Ron, Alex and Carlos

sauce that Puebla is famous for.

Saturday January 30. A low key morning, did some planning for the next leg, said our goodbyes, and hit the road sometime after 11. The map said to follow the cuota road toward Veracruz and google got us on the highway, but the signage marked an exit as to Veracruz so we followed that, but it was the wrong exit so we had to go the long way around to our destination, following unmarked roads that don’t appear on the map. But we got to Tlalchichuca, which is the jumping off point for climbing Pico de Orizaba. Found the lodge and outfitter we had targeted; Señor Reyes was most helpful renting us crampons and renting us space in his compound for camping. He is a second generation climbing guide, and has sailed with his uncle who is a world class sailor, so he and Mike talked sailboats for a while. After 8pm he walked us to his favorite panaderia, which is only open for a few hours on Saturday evening each week. It was on a quiet street through a narrow, unmarked passage, recognizable only by the distinct smell of bread baking. In one windowless room a young man was kneading dough and forming bolas, while an elderly man used a long wooden paddle to retrieve the fresh baked bolas from the wood fired oven. Along the wall were a few shelves with the sweet breads they had baked a few hours earlier. We chose our loaves with tongs, including several straight off the paddle. Yum!

   Now we are settling in for the night. There is a big street party going on in the neighborhood—a wedding or quinteñara perhaps—with a very loud sound system, so we will need to sleep with earplugs.