I left the hustle and bustle of Mexico City and traded that for the calmer and mountainous city of Puebla. Although Puebla seemed like a small, quaint city to me, it is actually the fourth largest city in Mexico. The city is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site known for its culture, colonial architecture, and delicious local cuisine. The nearby volcanoes also offer spectacular hiking opportunities for nature lovers, which was the main reason I had decided to visit Puebla.
Table of Contents
Mexico City to Puebla
Most of southern and eastern cities of Mexico are accessible by a bus company called ADO. This is mostly what I used to get around for the rest of the trip. In Mexico City there are two main bus stations that the ADO buses stop at: the Autobus de Norte bus station I used to go to Teotihuacan and the Mexico TAPO bus station.
The TAPO bus station was closer to get to, so I shared an Uber with another girl I had met at the hostel to get there. I was able to buy my ticket from the ADO app on my phone so I just had to find the bus when I got there. Buses are notoriously late sometimes and this bus was about 30 minutes late. I showed the driver the QR code ticket on my phone, which they are able to scan. They allow bigger bags to be kept under the bus and I kept my smaller backpack with me on the bus. The ride is about 2 hours and it drops off at Puebla CAPU. From there we took another Uber to our hostel.
Casa Pepe Hostel Puebla
Since my first experience staying at the Casa Pepe in CDMX was so amazing, I decided to stay in the Casa Pepe in Puebla. The Casa Pepe in Puebla was MUCH quieter than the one in CDMX but it was very comfortable and inviting just the same. I arrived in the evening with my new friend I met at the Casa Pepe in CDMX and we had arrived just in time for the power hour. The power hour here is not as crazy as the one in Casa Pepe, and they also offer another drink called pulque. Pulque is an alcoholic drink that dates back to the ancient times and it made from fermented sap of the agave plant. It tasted a bit sour and honestly, I did not like it at all. But I’m glad I gave it a chance because later we went out to a bar with a few other people from the hostel and they served pulque and it wasn’t too bad there.
Rooms
The rooms and cleanliness was great, I had no issues whatsoever. it was very similar to the CDMX Casa Pepe. There was a bathroom in each room with additional bathrooms near the restaurant portion of the hostel. The hostel also serves breakfast included in the price of the room if you book directly through their site. It was usually eggs or fruit, nothing too fancy. They also served a boxed lunch for an additional charge if I wanted to go hiking that day.
Location
The location was also very convenient to centro historico. Just a short walk away from Oxxo, the convience store chain in Mexico. There are several cool stores and restaurants nearby, but they are quite pricey. There were a lot of Italian restaurants so most nights I ended up eating pasta or pizza. The hostel also has a walking tour around the city, which was very enjoyable.
Things to Do in Puebla
Walking Tour
The walking tour I did was through the Casa Pepe hostel. Listed below is what we saw on our walk around Puebla. There are several artisan shops and boutiques in the center of Puebla that sold
- Puente de Ovando – a bridge with a tragic story
- Mural “De la esperanza al porvenir” – a beautiful mural that represents hope to the future
- Templo del Beato Sebastián de Aparicio
- Zócalo de Puebla
- Catedral de Puebla
- Biblioteca Palafoxiana – known to be the first and oldest library in the Americas
Where to eat and drink in Puebla?
- Comal – serves authentic Poblano dishes
- Áttico 303 – pricey but good food
- SuFrida – beautifully decorated bar with amazing mezcal drinks and margaritas
- La Pasita – oldest bar in the area. They have a variety of shots for 35 pesos each but they are best known for the pasita shot, a shot of liqueur made from raisins served with goat cheese and a raisin. I did not enjoy that shot but then again I don’t like drinking alcohol. Definitely give it a try!
- La Berenjena – really good pizza but is always busy so I never had the chance to eat here
La Malinche Hike
Overview
The La Malinche hike is no joke and you should definitely be in decent shape to do this. This was the one and only hike I did in Mexico and boy was it strenuous. Maybe it was the high elevation that I’m not used to, or maybe it was because I was almost 2 months out of shape, regardless, this hike was very exhausting for me. Here are some stats on the hike as recorded by my Strava:
- Distance: 9.62 miles
- Elevation Gain: 4,710 feet
- Max Elevation: 14,477 feet
- Total Time: 8:55:08
- Moving Time: 4:48:57
Prep before the hike
The day before this hike I had just arrived in Puebla and met a group of backpackers who had planned this hike for the next day. Me and the girl I was traveling with asked if we could join them and of course, they said yes. The next morning we woke up early and I had to grab some snacks and a lunch from the Oxxo (convenience store chain in Mexico) nearby.
Getting to La Malinche National Park
The hostel had helped us call two taxis that would take us to the trailhead and eventually come back to pick us up. The ride cost 200 pesos per person (4 people in each taxi) one way. It seemed like the taxi drivers are used to taking tourists up to the trailhead because our driver knew the ins and outs of the whole process of taking us there. The ride there was about an hour long and went through small local villages on our way to the National Park. When we entered La Malinche National Park, there was a checkpoint we had to pass where they asked us which country each of us were from. They did not ask to see any identification, and there was no entry fee. The taxi dropped us off near a resort in the national park where the road was blocked off for cars. This is where the taxi dropped us off.
Starting La Malinche hike
We started the hike around 8:30am and began walking up the paved road blocked off for cars. We continued walking along this inclined but not too strenuous paved road for about 2.2 miles or 3.6 km until we turned right onto a wooded trail. Later we realized that we could’ve taken the wooded trail from the start, as the wooded trail goes straight up through the woods instead of zigzagging up the mountain like the road we walked up did. Up till this point, the hikes wasn’t too bad. Just a slight incline and very easy to walk through. Little did we know what was up ahead.
We hiked another 2 miles or 3.1 km up to the tree line and had a fantastic view of the valley below. This portion of the hike wasn’t too bad but it did steeper than before. This was where we took a quick snack break to eat lunch and hydrate. This was where we were met with a couple street dogs. They were very friendly but got aggressive once you started feeding them, so DO NOT FEED THEM! It got hard to shake them off but the higher we hiked the more they seemed like they didn’t want to follow us anymore. From the tree line we could also see the summit, or what we thought was the summit. The actual summit was hidden behind this “fake” summit and was much farther away than any of us expected.
The “Fake” summit
So then we continued up the mountain to the first summit. It wasn’t too difficult at first but quickly got very steep and tiring. Now there are two ways to make it up to the “fake” summit. There is the trail that goes over grass and there is another that goes through sand. We decided to go over the grass because that seemed much easier than the sand. If you choose to go the grassy way, make sure you stay on the right and follow that trail up. There are no markings but you may see other hikers and a beaten down trail leading up through the grass. If you miss this and continue on the original trail, you will see the trail turn into sand. We were recommended by a few other hikers we passed that the grassy trail is much easier to hike up and the sand trail is much easier to hike back down.
It was pretty strenuous hike up to the “fake” summit. Nonetheless, the views from here were spectacular and I would highly recommend at least trying to reach this point. It was at this time I realized that the actual summit was still further up ahead. I was kicking myself debating if I would even make it. I was tired, dirty from the dust, and so done with it at this point. But my biggest fear in life is regret. I made it this far and I would surely regret it if I didn’t make it to the summit. So I strapped on my backpack, pulled up my pants, and began the terrible climb up to the summit.
The real summit
Yes, it was actually terrible. The hike got extremely steep and at one point I was on my hands and knee climbing over boulders with dust blowing into my eyes. Every time I took a break I had to mentally start over all over, so I decided, no more breaks until I reach the summit. (Don’t worry, I was made sure to recognize any symptoms of altitude sickness, which thankfully I did not have throughout the entire hike).
Somehow, I made it to the top and WOW!, it was totally worth it. The feeling of accomplishment outweighed any tiredness and doubt I may have had. The view from the summit was incredible and I could even see the neighboring volcanos of Popocatépetl, Iztaccíhuatl and Pico de Orizaba, the highest peak of Mexico.
Hike back to the taxis
Then there was the hike back down. The hike back down may have been tougher than the hike up. I was slipping and sliding all over the place on my way down from the steep mountainside. I fell a few times and had a ton of sand in my hiking shoes by the time I got back to the treeline. From here, I basically ran down to the parking lot because I was so tired and exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to take my contacts out and take a hot shower. Luckily our taxi drivers were still waiting there despite us being late by over an hour from the time we expected to be back down.
A couple things to remember if you plan to do this hike:
- Bring PLENTY of water with you. There is nowhere to fill up water along the trail so make sure you bring enough before you come.
- Bring snacks and a lunch. I got very hungry and definitely needed to replenish the calories I was burning.
- There is no special gear required. Some people were wearing hiking shoes but I had only brought sneakers and was totally fine with the hiking. It gets a bit cooler and windier as we got closer to the summit so bring layers.
- There is little to no shade once you are past the tree line so bring a hat, sunscreen and sunglasses.
- Cellphone service is pretty good while hiking.
- This is a very strenuous hike so I would only recommend this hike to people that are physically fit and have previous experience hiking. Definitely not a good hike for kids.
Day trip to Cholula
On my last day in Puebla I took a quick day trip to Cholula. Cholula is about 4 miles from Puebla and is well known for its Great Pyramid, the largest pyramid in the world by volume. Although not as tall as the Great Pyramid of Giza, it is significantly wider giving it the title of the largest pyramid in the world.
How to get to Cholula
There are two main ways to get to Cholula from Puebla: Uber or through a tour. Uber cost about 110 pesos ($5.50 USD) each way and is the cheapest option if you are splitting it with other people, which is what I did. The tours can be booked online or at the Information Center in Puebla. There used to be a Puebla-Cholula train that ran for $3USD each way, but it stopped running in 2022.
Largest Pyramid in the world and more
The Uber dropped us off at the train station in Cholula. From there we walked up to a church sitting on top of a hill. Little did I know this was the largest pyramid in the world. Now, the top of the pyramid holds a church and looks very much like a hill with grass and vegetation growing along its sides. There is also a small museum and a few excavated sites that are available to the public.
While I was walking up to the church, there was a large procession walking down the path. I soon learned that the church is celebrating an annual event called Bajada, where the image of Virgin Mary, originally kept inside the church, comes down the pyramid to visit the neighborhoods of the city for two weeks in May and June.
Later I walked around the Mercado Municipal San Pedro Cholula, a market selling all sorts of things. I settled on getting a torta (sandwich) for lunch that I ate in Plaza del Trueque before calling an Uber to go back to Puebla.
And no, I did not see any references to the famous Cholula hot sauce anywhere in the town. Fun fact: the Cholula hot sauce actually originates from Chapala, another city I visited when I was staying in Guadalajara. In case you missed it, you can read about my experience in Chapala here!
Where to Next?
From Puebla, I took an overnight bus to Oaxaca, which was definitely not the best decision. Going to Oaxaca was a great decision, but taking an overnight bus was not that great. Follow my adventures in this next city, where I stuff my face with all the moles, tacos, and mezcal drinks I could find!
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