San Andrés Cholula

Arriving in Mexico City well into the evening, I stay at an airport hotel which while not luxurious, has the basics for a night's stay. No smile from the receptionist and the glass of her window could be bulletproof. With culture shock and jetlag, I'm reminded of the hotel in the film "The Beach" where the Leonardo di Caprio character spends his first few nights. In fairness, there's no nutcase Daffy type next door as in the film, but I'm glad to be on my way the next morning.

There's a bus service from the airport to my destination, Puebla de los Angeles, taking about 3 hours. Sadly there are virtually no passenger railways in Mexico but the long-distance buses are punctual and comfortable, and are booked in advance---in this case, on line. A taxi ride from Puebla's bus station takes me to the city centre and a wonderful Spanish-style hotel that must have once been a merchant's mansion and is said to be 400 years old. The pictures in the drawing room hark back to more leisurely days than 2023.

Puebla, with 3 million people, is Mexico's fourth largest city and is approached through the usual urban sprawl. Like Mexico City, it lies about 7,000 feet above sea level so while it's pleasantly warm in the daytime, the temperature drops to 5 or 6 Centigrade at night. I'm beginning to notice that while most of the people north and west of the capital are mainly European in origin, on this side there's a more indigenous mix which only gets stronger as I am to continue south-east. The country is gradually adjusting to living with, not dying with Covid and although the infection rate is no higher than that in the U.K., perhaps half the people wear masks outdoors and almost all of them inside.

Puebla boasts an impressive historic heart. The brickwork, which is set in mosaic patterns, is distinctive to this part of the country. The Casa de Alfenique (named after a confection of cane sugar twisted into fanciful shapes) is an especially fine example. The shopping arcade is more 19th century.
And Puebla reveals hidden treasures in its back streets. The John Lennon memorial celebrates his "Give Peace a Chance" ideal, which the couple on the bench seem to be enacting, while the pigeon and the frog have struck up an understanding. Traditional music can often be found in the central square (the Zocalo). Here, the military band strike up a brassy version of "Quizas" ("perhaps") which surfaced in Cuba in the 1940s, crossed into Mexico and then was translated into English for Doris Day. The seven-piece in the next image are playing "norteno" (northern-style) music,

Finally, a day excursion to Cholula, a large town in its own right but is now virtually a suburb of Puebla. In the early days of the Spanish conquest, Cortes ordered the original temples to be demolished and replaced by churches. The great pyramid in the city centre was too massive to be totally destroyed and a church was built on the summit, which through the trees lends a rural feel to the town.Read more