We are now driving into the most visited parts of Mexico. However, since our time is limited, we have decided to not revisit the places we have been to on our previous trips. So we bypass the amazing site of Teothiuacan and Mexico City which we really loved last time around. We will also skip the Oaxaca region and Chiapas and Yucatan which we traveled before. Our goal  this time is to visit some of the places that we had to skip on previous travels. There is so much to see in Mexico so we will still need to make some tough choices.

The first place we put on our list is the city of Puebla. But before that we make a stop in Cholula, a town we only knew from the hot sauce. It is located close to Puebla. And because of the never-ending urban sprawl of the latter, it is now almost impossible to say where one town stops and the next starts. Cholula is known all over Mexico for its beautiful and unique churches. Legend has it that the town has one church for every day of the year. We decide to visit two of the most famous ones. It’s Saturday and at our first stop at the San Francisco de Acatepec church, we see how one couple after another is getting married in the gorgeous church. The whole facade is made out of ‘talavera’ (painted tiles) which makes it look like a ‘porcelain church’. It is often called the most beautiful church in Mexico and we do not disagree.

The next church we visit is perhaps even more special. The Remedios church is built on top of what looks like a hill but is in fact an Aztec pyramid (bigger in volume than the ones in Egypt). The building of the church was ordered by conquistador Cortez himself after he finally broke the resistance of the local Aztec tribes. Today the church offers amazings view of the towns of Cholula and Puebla on the one side and the active Popocatepetl volcano on the others side. We watch the sun set behind the volcano, while an ocean of city lights appears beneath us.

The next morning before heading over to Puebla, we go for a walk in the neighborhood of the church and find all kind of amazing street art works. To our surprise we also find a work by our favourite home town artist ROA!

Sundays are always great days to be in Mexican cities. Often, the streets are (partially) traffic free and there is always something going on. In Puebla we witness the first days of the Carnaval festival, visit some flea markets and take advantage of free entrance to the museums to visit the awesome Amparo museum. The kids learn all about the Pre Colombian cultures (and have a million questions afterwards). We will probably remember this museum best for the great views from the rooftop café. But also for the fantastic ‘global history timeline’ they had. We would love to have one of these at home! That night we sleep safely next to the tourist police office (where we can even use the toilets and showers), before starting a long drive to the Gulf of Mexico early the next morning.

As we descended from the high plateau (where we had spent the last 3 weeks) towards the coast, we soon were reminded that we were still in a tropical region. The air became more heavy and humid and the temperatures rose quickly. Luckily at night temperatures were still very enjoyable. We had hoped to still witness some of the ‘Candelaria’ festivities in the Unesco Heritage town of Tlactotalpan. But unfortunately we were one day late and literally arrived in the middle of the biggest collective hangover of the town in the year. It was still really worth a visit the town.

In Tlacotalpan we also decided to change our travel plans once again. The original plan was to go to Belize after Mexico. We realized however that we would really need to rush then to get to Costa Rica in time to meet our friends. So instead we set course for Chiapas and planned to cross into Guatemala from there.

On our way to Chiapas, I really wanted to still see some of the giant Olmec heads so we drove to Chiapas via the city of Villahermosa where a couple of these original statues are on display in a city park. Unfortunately upon arrival we found out that the park was closed fro some obscure reason for the next 3 weeks. And so we continued on to the city of Palenque.

In Palenque we made one big exception to our plan to not revisit places where we were earlier. And with a good reason. Palenque was where Caroline and myself got together during our travels in 2009 and we thought it would be a nice idea to show the kids where that happened. For some reason neither of us could remember much of the site that we had visited 15 years ago. We also did a first jungle walk near the archeological site, to look for a forgotten temple and we saw our first toucans and heard the first howler monkeys.

From Palenque it was now almost time to go to the border with Guatemala but as it is a very small border, it is not recommended to cross during the weekend so we spend a couple more days in Mexico and go visit the gorgeous Roberto Barrios waterfalls on Saturday.  On Sunday we visit a local swimming pool and see what a typical Mexican looks like. Their kids are playing in the pool while the parents are drinking one cerveza after the other.  Until by the late afternoon they can hardly stand on their legs…After which they all get in their cars or on their motorbikes and drive home…  

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