We drove a hundred miles yesterday. And took our time as usual. Google says the drive should take two and a half hours but we stopped to shop, have a coffee, study our route and then we got jammed up in long calm lines waiting to pay the tolls. So we took a lot longer.
We left the campground in good order before nine after we showered and exercised (not in that order) and as usual I was looking forward to being on the road. Puebla is a half hour from Cholula but our first stop was Costco to pick up some salad and other stuff which is hard to find on the road. It’s a blazingly clean bright environment!
By the time we got to downtown Puebla it was past ten and the street parking situation was dismal, dare I say hopeless. We ended up catching a glimpse of the old town and found ourselves heading out. Off street parking wasn’t tall enough to accommodate our 9’6” (3 meter) air draft. Everyone fusses about overlanding with low ground clearance but the overall height of the vehicle is much more critical for us so far. The “E” to the right in the picture below is typical off street parking (“Estacionamento”) and too low for us:
We had no choice but to admit we made a mess of Puebla. We arrived late and weren’t settled in when the day got started. We decided to keep going and reserve this city for a properly organized return visit. Traffic was heavy at nine during rush hour but it eased off by the time we gave up looking for parking. The open road beckoned:
We started in Cholula at the red dot and ended at Orizaba at the blue dot. The toll road was smooth and well signposted so we were cruising at 60 miles per hour. The Promaster’s instruments can be converted to metric measurements but we stick to miles on the dials and on Google maps. I can translate kilometers to miles in my head for speed but I find it easier to use miles calculating fuel reserves and distances. A bit weird but it works for us.
That’s Mount Orizaba with snow on top, an extinct volcano 18,500 feet tall and Mexico’s tallest peak. At least I hope it’s extinct.
The winding mountain road had a very Alpine feel to it, as we wound through the mountains dodging slow moving trucks and dipping in and out of well illuminated tunnels. The scenery was filled with steep hillsides and vast canyons not easily photographed while in motion! Trust me it was a spectacular drive.
It was a great drive and suddenly it ended as we came out on a plateau and saw the city of Orizaba laid out below us in a valley. We might have been in Switzerland. I’ll tell you what though; it’s lucky we have Google maps to find our way! We both agreed the system isn’t perfect but we put the Del Rio hotel into the map on the phone and the blue line brought us right here with the phone in airline mode to save Verizon gigabytes.
The carriage entrance to the hotel was tall enough for our 9’6” van and we got a room for $26 for us and four for Rusty.
I would prefer a campground but there aren’t any close by. There is one with not very good reviews near Cordoba 15 miles away and another intriguing place in the woods but the road is described as difficult which put the Admiral off.
Our room has air conditioning and decent WiFi (hence this update) and after a noisy afternoon, including a keening cat tied up outside a room(!) there seems to be a chance of a decent nights sleep. Rusty is snoring on his bed as I write this. No surprise as we took a walk around town right after we arrived.
Orizaba is a clean tidy organized tourist town with a population of 120,000 people set at 4,000 feet. It is said to be much prettier than the neighboring town of Córdoba 15 miles down the road toward Veracruz, the city on the coast we are aiming for.
It is famous for being the home of the Iron Palace the only Art Nouveau building made out of metal. It was designed by Gustave Eiffel and apparently houses several museums.
Rusty and I walked around it while Layne rested in our room.
There is also of course a picturesque church. The clock was wrong because we walked around last night around 6pm…
Orizaba is famous for a cable car ride above the city which we plan to do on our second day in town but Rusty agreed to walk with me along another tourist attraction: a river walk.
Coming across a man eating dog on the narrow walkway tested the nerves of the Mexicans we met but all went well because Rusty is patient and well mannered. He ate a few women and children though. Especially the noisy ones. (Please dear god understand that is a joke. A feeble one but a joke nonetheless. He is very shy and well mannered in public).
Does it blow your mind these lovely places exist and we’ve never heard of them? My mind is reeling. I can hardly believe I am here, and this place should be packed with US visitors but there is no sign of any gringos. Locals love practicing their English on is. You would be treated like royalty if you came to visit.
Of course Rusty who doesn’t like bread found a discarded meat sandwich and made me stand around while he delicately picked it apart. That’s your hint there are no street dogs here.
Rusty started to head back to the hotel using his remote control radar and he got a bit stubborn when I told him we had to go the other way to shop on Layne’s orders. Rusty sat on the sidewalk and ignored me. Grrr.
Eventually I out-stubborned him and he sat outside the convenience store while, with the help of the lady owner and her customers, I bought bananas, flour tortillas, crackers and sodas for my wife who was at the hotel overcoming an apparent bout of Montezuma’s revenge. Weird whatever it is because we eat the same stuff and I’m fine. I think it has to do with her coughing bout from back at the dusty campground in Cholula. For bread rolls I was directed down the street to Ximenez’s bakery. Would you believe it they had pastries with creamy rich custard in them just how I like them!
While Rusty sat patiently outside I took a tray and a pair of tongs and helped myself to baked goods. I was fairly restrained I thought and got Layne her favorite which is elephant’s ear. A dollar for four rolls and three pastries.
I gave Rusty his head and we cantered back to the second most important person in his life where we settled in for sandwiches beer and TV (Britbox) on the powerful WiFi. Short mileage. Long day.
