We hadn’t planned on visiting Cholula, but we needed to break up our drive to Oaxaca and Cholula was about halfway.  It turned out to be one of our favourite stops.

One of the main attractions for tourists in Cholula is the Grand Pyramid, with the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios sanctuary on top.  The Grand Pyramid is actually a series of seven pyramids built encasing one and other.  The first structure was built around 100 BC, and the entire pyramid was already abandoned and being reclaimed by nature by the time Cortez arrived in 1519.  From a distance it just looks like large a grassy hill, a location the Spanish thought would be good for a church, but beneath the grass and dirt is one of the largest pyramids, by volume, in the world.

The grass covered pyramid and the Spanish church on top.

The entrance to the archeological site is through a series of tunnels that get progressively smaller as you go. There are over 8 km of tunnels beneath and through the pyramid, and it was not clear to us whether these tunnels were part of the original construction, or whether they were created as part of the excavation by archeologists.  About 800 metres of tunnel is accessible by tourists.  Along the way intersections were blocked by gates, so you only had one option as to the route that you could take, but allowing you to see down the tunnels that clearly revealed the interior stonework, layers and structure of the successive pyramid constructions… the ones that were lit up at least. The ones that were not lit up were dark, humid feeling, and the air seeping from them smelled ancient.  At other locations you could look through gates to see ancient stairways leading up or down several stories.  Just as I was mentioning to Derek that, despite my love of caves, this was starting to freak me out a bit, we turned a corner to see daylight and smell fresh air. It felt very “Indiana Jones” while we were in the tunnels, but I was glad to emerge on the other side.

Derek bravely leading us through the tunnels.

If Derek walked upright his hat brim was rubbing against the walls.

A shot through a locked gate of stairs leading to another level of tunnels.

The Grand Pyramid is only partially excavated, and what seems like ground level as you walk around the site is in reality about 9 meters above the original plaza level of the pyramid. Years of volcanic ash and debris from floods have raised the turf level.  The fact that the original pyramid was hidden below organics probably saved it from being destroyed by the Spanish.

The church on top of the pyramid.

The site has only been partially excavated, in order to save the church on top.

We wandered from there to the Zocalo (main town square which in many cases remains on its original prehispanic location), had a coffee, people watched, visited an old convent, bought some chocolate. On the way home we stopped for a drink and a snack. It was a good day and we both felt healthier than we had for a while, and have discovered that there are two things that really affect what we think of a place….our health and the magnitude of the crowds.

Later, back at our camping spot, we met a couple from the States, also traveling in an Alaskan camper!

Two Alaskan campers side by side – a relatively rare sight.

The security guard at the place we are camping recommended that we climb an observation tower at the campground and check out the view. We were able to see the second and third tallest volcanos in the country from the top;  Popocatepetl, at 5426 metres (17, 801 feet), and Iztaccihuatl at 5230 metres (17,159 feet). The first time we climbed the tower it was in the afternoon and air pollution was quite thick at the base of the volcanos. We went up again early on the morning of our departure and had some better views.

Popocatepetl is active, we saw minor puffs of smoke emerging  from the top on a number of occasions.

Iztaccihuatl.