1/15, Saturday. I took a detour before getting to Cholula. First stop, San Francisco Acatepec. It's truely impressive, even the gate. The colorful elaborated facade, the gilded interior. Forlorn in the middle of an ugly-ish town. A few vendors outside of the gate. I didn't see another tourist.
I then walked about 1.5 miles to Santa Maria de Tonantzintla. It was hot. I forgot my umbrella on the bus. An indigenous take on the catholic church. The facade is not as pretty, interior was gilded to the nineth. Photo was not allowed. A mass was going on. Too many people. As I was leaving, a group of tourists came. It's another mile or 2 to Puebla, and I caught a van on the way.
The pyramid was closed (not sure why). A guy was redirecting tourists. But the walkway around the ruin was open, so you could see it behind the fence. Not bad. The stairs to the sanctury on top of the pyramid is open, and only entry way wasn't fenced off.
Very good view of the surrounding area. Too bad, it was hazy today, so couldn't see the volcanos.
The santuary itself is not bad, not as gilded as the two churches I just visited. A lot of people here. Sometimes I had to wait in line, another, wait for people to get out of my photo frame. There's a washroom next to the church.
Walked back a few blocks to the town proper.
Convento San Gabriel Arcángel is a much better and older architecture. Quieter, somber. Less people. A lot of arches in Capilla Real. I sat under one of the few large trees in the convent ground, for lunch.
The large plaza has a plastic Christams tree with hollow inside, that you can walk in. A choochoo train making circles. A smaller church just finished a wedding.
A lot of restaurants and shops. A proper and prosperous town.
I walked north a few blocks at the main carrera (hwy 190) to wait for buses. Got on a van back to Puebla.
