Puebla

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We left the Píramides and promptly bumped into José. He has travelled all over the Americas on his motorbike. He offered us all kinds of help and gifted us two obsidian pendants. When the next eclipse happens in April we will be ready for it as it is possible to look through the obsidian to see the sun.

We fuelled up on quesadillas filled with courgette flowers and cheese and headed on our way. The forecast has been for rain but we didn't really believe it as it has forecast rain before that has come to naught. We should have been more trusting.

Our route took us along the 136 which was a big road with a wide shoulder which meant fair amounts of traffic. It was a popular route for sports cyclists and every one coming the other way was freewheeling. That should have given us a clue as to what was ahead.

The long and short of it is that we climbed to 2900m in the rain. They wasn't too bad but we got quite chilled on the descent and when we got to the bottom we eagerly sought out a hot drink and some food to get warmed up again.

By this stage the sun was back out and we had a lovely late afternoon ride on a quiet lane until we found a brilliant little place to camp just off the road but totally out of sight.

We woke to bright sunshine and clear air which meant we had excellent views of Popocatépetl and Iztaccihuatl. 

We had a downhill profile for the morning and rode in the sun with big grins on our faces.

Shortly after this food stop Komoot routed us into a dirt road and we couldn't spot any alternatives so bumped along it for several kilometres. We decided it was nicer than any of the big roads we could have detoured onto. It took us straight towards Puebla.

We spent the afternoon looking around the Cathedral and Zócalo. Before heading to our wonderful warmshowers host Jessica.

Jessica is a teacher in a bilingual school and she had been doing a topic on the United Kingdom so she was keen for us to visit the school. She wanted to give the children time to prepare questions so it did not take much persuasion to stay for two nights. 

This gave us a full day to relax and see more of the sights of Puebla. We enjoyed a guided tour of an old convent. This was a mix of historical information about the convent and the nuns who created a special, local molé, and some regional arts and crafts. We opted for the guide to speak in Spanish and were pleased that we understood enough of the tour to enjoy it even if we didn't get everything he said.

We made the most of being in a city and cafes that served proper coffee (when we all got coffee usually we get presented we a cup of hot water, a spoon and a jar of Nescafé)

We had a lovely evening taking to Jessica about cycle touring and the route she had taken on her 13 month trip a year ago as well as discussing our route options onwards through Mexico.

We left Puebla via Jessica's school where we met her class. It was superb to be in a school and to interact with bright, keen and interested pupils (aged 10/11). They asked us lots of questions about the UK and our trip. Jessica is clearly a great teacher and the pupils were a credit to her. (I think they were a bit disappointed that I wasn't able to say who the best footballer in England was)

Rolling out of town gave us yet more views of Popocatépetl which seemed very active and was churning out a lot of smoke and ash.

We deliberately didn't go far as we wanted a chill day. Discovered the amazing treat of fried banana strips topped with outrageous quantities of sweet stuff in Tecali de Herrara (which is a centre of onyx and marble creations)

We found a nice little campspot with a view of the snow capped Pico de Orizaba (the highest mountain in Mexico and the highest volcano in the Americas).

Google photos https://photos.app.goo.gl/p8J9ERd7iN2bGiZy9

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