Huamantila Road Trip

Finally, a day to do whatever we want! And I wanted a road trip to Huamantila, a small pueblo about 50 KM northeast of Cholula that has just recently been designated a Pueblo Magico. This is so recent it has not even been marked as such on the maps. We headed out on the rough, crowded and under construction Mex 150D and turned north on 140. 140 is a great highway, two lane, smooth and straight as an arrow. It has very wide, paved shoulders to facilitate passing. We gained a bit of altitude along the way but there were no steep hills.

Huamantila is a very tranquil, spotlessly clean, friendly pueblo. Everyone on the street has a smile and a “buenos dias” for us and a couple even tried out their English. It was change of shift for the school kids who attend school either in the mornings or afternoons, so there were dozens of happy young people in their spotless school uniforms milling about in the square and a few that found out of the way benches to do a little necking.

Spotlessly clean and freshly painted.

This exploring is tough work, time for a coffee break!

Huamantila is known for the day every May that the bulls are sent running through the streets. Young men from all over the area come to show off their ability to stay away from the hooves and horns. Most succeed. There is a statue of one of these bulls at the entrance to the town. I much prefer this display of macho bravado to the bullfights, which are still present in much of Mexico, as the bull stands a much better chance.

Zona De Talavera

We decided to continue along the secondary road that took us off Mex 140 to Huamantila and to get back to Cholula by a different route. This proved to be a smart decision because this route took us past the Zona De Talavera, the Talavera Pottery making center of Mexico. Everyone has heard of this blue pottery that is sold all over the world at prices that are hugely inflated over what you pay right in the craftsmen's front yards. We stopped at one of the shops and were amazed to find items that sell in Victoria for $50 to $100 with price tags of 20 to 200 pesos ($1.60 – $16). Norma tried to bargain these already ridiculously low prices down even further but met her match with the smiling young man who would not budge except to round our total purchase down from 915 pesos to 900. He made it up to us by giving each of us a beautiful Talavera tile.

Norma and her newest friend! With her free tile.

Home Again

Here is a view of the volcano from the main street of Cholula as the sun is setting behind it. Not the perfect photo but sometimes even a mediocre photo is better than no photo. We cannot see the volcano from the RV park or else I would be able to await the perfect time to catch the dozing giant. I find living near the foot of an active volcano, I don’t know, invigorating! It’s last eruption was in April of 2012, ten months ago. Come on Popocatepetl, show a little lava!