From San Andres Cholula, we took a day trip using local collectivos (mini-buses) to another pueblo magico of Atlixco (directions and map on last photo.) Atlixco is one of those towns that loves to smile vibrantly for the camera. In addition to being startlingly photogenic, she doesn’t seem overrun by tourists, and is plopped at the foot of an 18,000 foot snow-capped volcano called Popocatepetl, which sadly didn’t come out to play. There is also an iconic large climbable hill in town, naturally with a church perched on top which gives you a tremendous view of the town, as well as the volcano.
Walking through the town gate. It funnily reminded us more of India than Mexico.
A local girl riding her bike near the artisan mercado.
The Parroquia de Santa María de la Natividad was constructed in 1585 and is the focal point of the town’s main zocalo.
A colorful side street on the circumnavigation up Cerro San Miguel.
Heading up the Cerro de San Miguel, there is a road that completely circumnavigates the hill. To be frank, we didn’t make it to the top this time. It was hot and we were hungry. Lame.
On the walk down from Cerro San Miguel, the iconic hill with a church on top, you encounter a colorful cluster of churches.
The Pueblo’s letters.
Street scene on Calz 16 de Septiembre 4. Cerro San Miguel in the background with its accompanying church dropped on top.
While in Atlixco, make sure to visit the municipal building on the main plaza to sneak a peak of these dazzling murals, which tell the history of Atlixco.
Loved the friendly circus-like facade of this building.
The Italian Coffee Company in the middle of the plaza, which is surrounded by beautiful benches made of traditional Puebla talavera tiles. You can’t get away from this architectural style in the state of Puebla and they’re just delightful.
Peeking up to the Cerro San Miguel.
The streets are walkable, vibrant and so well maintained…lined with street plants and not a hint of litter on the grounds.
Easily the most colorful place we had been since Guanajuato!
Absolutely irresistible.
The baroque Capilla de la Tercer Orden de San Francisco. Built between the 17th and 18th centuries. The face of it looks a bit like intricate lace-work. Wow!
One of many stunning murals. Mandy fits right in. Errr…minus the leggings….and the inexperience carrying baskets on her head.
The Ex-Convento de San Francisco was one of the first four monasteries built on the American continent. Construction began in 1538, and was completed by 1620. It suffered quite a bit of damage in the 2017 quake.
At nearly 18,000 feet, “Popo” is the second highest peak in Mexico, and the fifth highest in North America. It is an active volcano and it’s common to see a puff of smoke bursting out from her crown. Even though we had been living in Cholula, which also has views of the mountain, we hardly got to see her to due to haze.
We also heard the local farmers could have been burning their crops, which is why the air quality was so bad. It took us back to Nepal and our frustration with not seeing the Himalayas. You can barely make the outline of Popo in the picture. Quite a bummer. But hey, at least we’re already wearing masks!
This is obviously what we had hoped for (Photo credit: www.gob.mx). Uh, yes. That would have been worth climbing the hill for.
Well, the streets were bright and cheery anyhow! Such eye candy!
And for some mouth candy, we grabbed ice cream at Ximitl Helados y Nieves Artesanales. The scooper girl was very friendly and offered us several samples, resulting in Greg’s pick, a Mezcal flavored nieve (which apparently means made with water in this part of Mexico) and topped with chili salt. Sooo refreshing on a hot day!!
Need a medical consult? $30 pesos por favor. ($1.45)
Another gorgeous church on every corner!!
Getting There from Cholula
As we mentioned, we took the local collectivos down to Atlixco from San Andres Cholula. Our host didn’t really have any info, nor was there info online or our favorite trip planning app (Rome 2 Rio), so we did what we always do… We relied on pounding the pavement and following the bus lines in the town and asking locals for help. We got a very long-winded reply in rapid Spanish from the first guy we asked but it was enough to piece things together.
We found out we needed to take a mini-bus towards Chipilo, which we could catch going south on Calle 3 Sur, and then transfer to the Atlixco bus on “Atlixco Blvd” which is the main Highway. Once we got there, it was a piece of cake. Cost ended up being about $80 pesos total for both of us round trip. ($3.90) We highly recommend this day trip!
