Last weekend, I was the highest I´ve ever been in my life. La Malinche (a.k.a Matlalcuéyetl, Matlalcueitl and Malintzin) is a huge dormant volcano in Puebla and Tlaxacala states, east of Mexico City. The summit´s 14,641 ft—almost exactly half as tall as Everest—and very pointy.
Me, Kisiev, and his friend (now my friend!) Daniel bussed down to Puebla, where we met Miguel(ito) and Iris. Spent the night at Miguel´s mom´s house and then rocked la Malinche the next day. Slippery, loose-rock -strewn, steep slope for the last few miles (and hours)…fun, and definitely worth the altitude sickness!
Spent the next few days hanging out in and around Puebla with the banda…Miguel´s mom fed us some great meals, including a breakfast feast of chiliquiles con pollo and pirrian, sort of spicy, light orange mole type dish. Also got to visit Miguel`s god-mother`s homemade temescal (traditional steam room), where we steamed the soreness out of our post-Malinche muscles, rubbed ourselves with salt and honey, received expert (and spine-cracking) massages from his godmother, and chatted about politics. Lush! (sorry for stealing your word, Andy).
Then, a few days convalescing in my hostel in DF, a few days staying with Daniel and his parents in southern Mexico City, and back to the mountains! Dan, Kies, and I bussed down to Tepotzlán, a gorgeous little colonial town with a street market filled with excellent food.
Fried fish, long, veggie-stuffed quesadillas made with tortillas from blue corn, and super-refreshing micheladas (beer with lime juice and tons of spicy chili powder on the rim of the glass…too bad i was on antibiotics the whole time, so didn´t down one on my own).
Also, Tepoz is surrounded by cliffy mountains, and there´s a cool, old stone temple halfway up one of them. So, we hiked up to the temple, farted around a bit, and then continued scaling up to the top of the mountain.
Fun times with the banda, and once again, a sad goodbye as I continued on to San Cristóbal de Las Casas.
Where the pyramids and all the cool archeological stuff ? If I were visiting a foreign country, I wouldn’t hang aroound the places you can see at thome.