We visit one of the largest cities in Mexico: Puebla. By now we are somewhat used to the high altitude. At first, we were not aware of the fact that most of Mexico is located at an altitude of more than 2000 meters above sea level. Puebla is located at about 2200 m.a.s.l. The same high plateau stretches far to the north and will keep us at this altitude for the next few days at least, if not weeks. Especially the old town of Puebla draws us here.

Old town of Puebla

The town of Puebla is strategically located about halfway along the route from Mexico City to the commercial port of Veracruz and has always been used to control the trade route. Accordingly, Puebla’s history reaches far into the past. This has particularly shaped the appearance of the old town. Lovingly maintained mansions, mostly with courtyards, characterize the old town. The brick houses are contrasted with colorful tiled facades, shutters, and abundant greenery.
We stroll leisurely through the city and take in the various impressions. We also find the pedestrian streets with large, old trees, which provide shade and invite us to linger, particularly beautiful. As soon as we reach the edge of the old town, however, the hectic, loud, Mexican city bustle begins again. A lot of traffic pushes through very few streets, because at the moment every second street in the city center is being renovated. When we arrived in Puebla, we were stuck in the traffic chaos for more than two hours until we decided where to spend the night.
We stay for a while in the old town, after all we want to visit some sights. But during our walk we also come across some unplanned sights. For example, on a square there is a performance of local dances. Long, wide and colorful skirts of the female dancers are skillfully moved to the rhythm of the music. The male dancers can resort to – for Europeans – more exotic accessories. They swing sabers to match the music and complement the rhythm with deliberate saber clashing. The unification of the dancers forms a kind of tap dance, as all artists bring the wooden stage to tremble in special step sequences. An impressive spectacle! That’s why you have to explore a city on foot and leave the camper at least for a few hours.

El Parián – Arts and Crafts Market

El Parián market, like Puebla, has a long history. It was originally built around 1801 and continues to this day. We assume that the assortment at the market has changed again and again. In its current form, it sells mostly art and craft items as well as souvenirs. However, the quality here is significantly different from what we have already experienced in similar markets in Mexico. The specialties in the assortment of Puebla are artistic ceramic products. From plates and cups to flowerpots and artistic ceramic statues. When Mexico meets ceramics, the embodiment of remembrance of the dead cannot be missing – after all, that is what all of Mexico is known for. Accordingly, we find extraordinarily ornately painted ceramic skulls in all sizes and color patterns. This is a unique and fascinating sight. A little later in a ceramic boutique we find a skeleton couple with artistic hats and robes in the same finesse of craftsmanship. Truly unique, we are both fascinated and surprised by this artistic sight!

Cathedral of Puebla

A short, but by now obligatory side trip of our visit to Puebla leads us to the cathedral. The interior is very opulently decorated and illustrates once again the stark contrasts of the many social classes. The church is insanely richly decorated although large parts of the population here in Puebla do not own very much. Nevertheless, we let the beautiful domes and murals as well as the magnificently decorated altar have an effect on us.

Biblioteca Palafoxiana

Another main attraction of Puebla is the very old library Biblioteca Palafoxiana. It was built around 1646 and was the first public library in Mexico. Meter-high wooden bookshelves are lined up close to each other and enclose the whole room. To our great astonishment, it really gives the impression that original works are still stored everywhere in the book racks. Elsewhere we had already experienced that in such historical places the old books worthy of protection were replaced by dummies. We can’t say for sure, but we strongly tend to believe that they really are the original old books.
In addition to the specific book collections, which are divided into thematic areas such as canon law or mathematics, the old reading tables are also on display. We are particularly interested in the book wheel on display. On it, several works could be opened at the same time and it was possible to switch back and forth between different books. So, this is what the analog open browser tabs looked like back then! A wonderful comparison from Mimi as we stand in front of it!

Overnight stay in the camper in Puebla

Since Puebla after Veracruz is only the fourth place where we stay overnight in Mexico, we are still a little bit at the approach how and where we best stay overnight in the camper Ben. First, we wanted to go to the tourist police, many other overlanders had described this possibility in an app that campers are welcome there and with that we could have spent the night directly near the old town for free. Because of the above-mentioned road construction work, however, we do not even get into the right street, because this also belongs to the construction sites. So, we decide for a safe alternative: The parking lot of a large supermarket, which is also monitored at night. Not so nice, but it works and is safe. This will probably be the case one or the other time in the future, for practical reasons.

Cholula

Just outside of Puebla is the pyramid of Cholula. It is one of the most popular destinations from Puebla, so we don’t miss the big pyramid. The pyramid of Cholula is said to be the largest pyramid in the world in circumference (in height it is trumped by several), but there is not much to see of it. Today the pyramid is much more a high mound with a church on top. Only a few small excavations on the side of the hill and the museum give an idea of what the pyramid may have looked like in the past.
All in all, it is rather a disappointing excursion from our point of view. But as we all know, one should not start with the best and so we can look forward to many more and hopefully more impressive excavation sites here in Mexico.

Overall, Puebla is a vibrant Mexican metropolis that has a lot to offer at any time of the day or night. For a cultural stopover on our route north through Mexico, Puebla was perfect.