San Andres Cholula, Puebla, Mexico
Final stop of the day was to Cholula a short drive from Puebla. Cholula is famous for its iconic hilltop church built on Aztec ruins, and has a contrasting view against a backdrop of a volcano.
The group all had their Spanish explanation then went off to explore. As I was the only English speaker Antonio then came over to give me the explanation. I wanted to go explore as this was eating into my freetime that the Spanish speakers got. This had been happening all day throughout the tour being the lone English speaker.
For his part Antonio was doing his best to take care of me as I'm sure others would have complained the guide only took care of the Spanish speakers and ignored the English group in some online reviews.
The site went thru 52 year cycles of when the Sun and Moon all aligned together. Then the site would be rebuilt and 7 prior layers have been found. He also told me there were tunnels I could explore but didnt tell me where.
When he was done explaining I rushed to the top. I couldnt find where the iconic shot of the volcano backdrop was.
I thought it was the volcano to the left but the gift shop said it was the one to the south which was too hazy to see. You also can not get the shot in all the brochures here and have to goto another vantage point.
I came a different way down and got lost in the streets thinking I could go round the block to where we started. I had to rush around the streets to get back for the bus.
The other part I wasnt told was that the Aztec archaeological site was to the right of the church and I shouldnt have gone up the steps. Had I gone there I would have got a shot of the church with the Aztec ruins at the base on top of where it was built.
Coming back was some relay going on holding a flame behind a truck with flowers and church icons. We saw this a few times.
2025-05-23