Author: Joanna and Piotr

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10 days in Mexico: Part 1 – Puebla and Cholula

January 13-16

It was again a last minute decision to go, facilitated by direct flights from Chicago to Mexico City (Aeromexico) and easy to work tourist infrastructure. We had a plan what to see, but made detailed decisions on day-to-day basis. We split our time between Puebla (travel day plus 2.5 days) and Mexico City (6.5 days). Joanna pre-arranged both accommodations a few days before the trip opting for locations either within walking distance or public transport to at least some of the local destinations. We used Estrella Roja to get from MEX to Puebla Paseo Destino and eBus back to Mexico City El Ángel. We used Uber (12 times) and in Mexico City also public transport : metro, metrobus and RTP buses, light train – inexpensive (free for seniors). All the transportation worked very well: convenient and fast. We got stuck in traffic only a couple of times, not too bad. Museum tickets are inexpensive, sometimes entrance is free for teachers and/or seniors. We spent ca. $1500 on everything except food which is inexpensive. We had access to kitchen to make morning coffee, prepare breakfast and supper, but had main meal each day somewhere in town. Visiting local cafés, panaderias and mercados was part of our trip. We did not do any nature hikes this time, but street-walked 10 km a day on average visiting different neighborhoods, many museums and archaeological sites.

Days 1-2: Puebla

After somewhat delayed flight, we took bus from MEX airport to Puebla Paseo Destino and then Uber to The Dear hostel (recommended). Buses directly from the terminal are frequent and we did not have to wait. Despite late hour (almost midnight) our kind host was waiting for us. And he took us to local taco stand for late night snack. The place was secure, very clean, well maintained and equipped: shared kitchen, dining room, living room and bedrooms upstairs (with private or shared bathroom – ours was private). The hostel is located in Centro Histórico.

Despite slow morning we managed to see quite a bit on full day of walking. Puebla is Hispanic city founded in 1531: colorful, richly decorated houses, churches, Talavera pottery and tiles. We started up Calle 16 de Septiembre towards Zócalo, but first stop was at Casa de la Cultura to visit Biblioteca Palafoxiana: oldest library in the Americas founded in mid 17th century. Then it was already lunch-time and time for famous chocolatey mole poblano. We followed recommendations and settled in El Mural de los Poblanos (recommended).

Next longer stop was at Basilica Cathedral. After a loop around the main plaza we walked along Avenida 5 de Mayo and other streets to Mercado la Victoria and Ex Convento de Santa Rosa (museum) – the place where mole poblano was invented, and beyond. This part of town looks like never ending street market. Puebla has many churches, most in ornate baroque style, we managed to visit only several. Our next main destination was Capilla del Rosario at Templo de Santo Domingo.

Capilla del Rosario – New Spanish Baroque.

We then made a loop a few blocks west to Teatro Principal, Casa de Alfeñique, Callejón de los Sapos, Cathedral and Calle 16 de Septiembre back to our hostel. With a short side “excursion” to supermarket Soriana to get groceries. Historical center is compact and very nice and easy to walk.

Day 3: Cholula

It is just 12-km ride (we considered a bus but took inexpensive Uber) from Puebla to Cholula – city with long pre-Hispanic history hidden underneath later structures. Cholula, some claim, is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Americas. Cortez destroyed its 400 temples and replaced them with 365 churches (legend not quite true, but there are many). We stopped briefly at Museo Regional to get introductory info and soon entered Zona Arqueológica of Tlachihualtepetl (Great Pyramid). It is the largest pyramid by volume ever built, but you cannot really see it, as it is mostly unexcavated. Typical for Mexican pre-Hispanic temples, it has several nested layers built over time. We spent some time investigating exposed/rebuilt parts of the pyramid (unfortunately archeological tunnels have been closed since Covid) and then walked to Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Remedios on top of the “hill”, with great views of the city. Cholula is one of Pueblos Magicos, which we imagined as small towns, but they are large cities. As we walked over the hill to the other side we were in different world. As the history goes the Great Pyramid was abandoned for a while by the time of the Spanish conquest, as the old city moved to the area where the main plaza is today. Nothing (visible) survived there from pre-Hispanic times.

We parked at Restaurante Santa Clara (recommended) on Plaza de la Concordia (Zócalo de San Pedro) for traditional Mexican dishes (Pipián Rojo con Carne de Cerdo and Mixiotes de Res – very tasty). Relaxing and waiting for the gates to interesting Capilla Real de Naturales next to Convento de San Gabriel Arcángel to open. We then walked the streets around town center stoping at Panaderia La Herencia (rolls and sweets for breakfast), Molienda de Cacao to get cacao tostado grains and Caffé Excelto to try Mexican (Veracruz) coffee. We returned to Zócalo and took Uber back to Puebla.

Day 4: Puebla

We had only half a day left for Puebla – we walked over to very nice El Patio de los Azulejos which used to be a part of religious school (now small museum) and then spent the rest of the time at (private) Museo Amparo (recommended) with well organized collections from pre-Hispanic cultures through colonial to modern exhibits in a beautiful palace, and more good coffee and hot chocolate at museum roof-terrace. Puebla (Centro Histórico) has real feel of an old town. It was easy and pleasant walking around in good weather, some crowded streets, but everybody looked relaxed, not much car traffic. Piotr started to learn Spanish words. Is this a sign of things to come?

Museo Amparo

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Picked-up our backpacks from hostel, took Uber to Paseo Destino and bus to Mexico City El Ángele (3 hrs). The travel was not too interesting, watching villages and neighborhoods along busy highway. We got a few distant views of Popocatépetl and Iztaccihuatl between clouds. Then short Uber ride to our apartment on Calle Guaymas. It was already evening, so we picked up some bread rolls for breakfast from street vendor and run around the block looking for a place to eat. Piotr chose El Rancho Birrieria for traditional birria (stew soup) and beer.

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One week in Tulum

November 2-9

It was a quick decision to go to Mexico on direct United flight from Chicago to Tulum. Easy to organize at last minute, expecting reasonable weather, lesser crowds and lower prices during low/shoulder season. First day was just travel, settling down and grocery shopping. We selected modern studio apartment at Casa del Arbol (recommended). Located in Tulum Centro away from Zona Hotelera along the beach we didn’t visit, but close to everything else (ADO bus station, celectivo stops, shops, restaurants and Chedraui Supermarket). It was excellent, well organized and very clean. Joanna did not like noise of passing cars and motorcycles at night, not a problem for Piotr. We examined Día de Muertos decorations and we ate Pan de Muerto in the evening watching motorcycle parade along our street trying to wake-up somebody (?).

Next day we took colectivo to Tulum ruins and spent half a day there. Colectivos here are convenient and inexpensive mode of transportation, easier to use than in South America. The scene approaching and at park entrance was quite chaotic. We just moved with the flow, waited in two lines to buy tickets and pay “tax” (not too bad), went through “environmental” check-point (had to throw away every piece of plastic they found in our backpacks and yes, they asked us to remove energy bar wrappers too). We asked about, but rejected guided tour offers (very dynamic pricing). Once inside, it was just walking around in well organized and maintained park with many visitors on sunny Sunday. Open sea proximity and views made it even more pleasant experience.

Structures here are quite different from all other Mayan ruins we have visited, both in shape – rectangular buildings not pyramids, and location on ocean cliff – not in flat jungle. Afterwards we went for a swim and walk on the beaches, hard to resist after hot day at the ruins. The coral reef is very close (short boat ride from the beach) and we decided to try to come back for snorkeling.

We liked tropical plants surrounding ruins and enjoyed watching iguanas, Yucatan jays and Great-tailed grackles. A predatory bird was circling in the sky above. We ended the day with seafood dinner at Sabor de Mar and Mexican craft beer in our comfy apartment.

Day 3. We are in Yukatan, we must snorkel/swim in cenotes. Short colectivo ride and shuttle into jungle and we were at Cenotes Yax-Muul. We first explored three cave cenotes with entertaining guide, Joanna rappelled down into one of them and then we went back to swim some more on our own. Water was very clear and at most time there were no or not too many people nearby (except for rappelling) making it an interesting experience.

Day 4. Sian Kaʼan Biosphere Reserve: boat tour of brackish water lagoons and mangroves watching wildlife. Plus soaking in Caribbean Sea at Punta Allen beach followed by lunch in local restaurant. The sea was too rough for snorkeling at coral reef. We were lucky to see several (West Indian) manatees hanging around underwater cenote. They appeared for a few seconds at a time to breath, we gave-up on taking pictures and just observed them. We spent some time with two pods of (Bottlenose) dolphins, watched turtles and crocodiles. We circled around Isla Pajaros to watch birds. In addition to what we captured on film (below), we saw vultures, cormorants, ibis and other birds, and another, this time very large crocodile parked at red mangrove edge.

We went with ☞ Mexico Kan Tours (recommended), after extensive on-line and in person investigation. Good decision: everything was well organized and relaxed, guides were good and engaged, groups were small, we were quite lucky with wildlife, but wished conditions were good for snorkeling. The entire tour was from 7 am pick-up to 4.30 pm drop-off with 6-hour and 80-km boat part.

Day 5. Kind of slow day. Joanna was looking for open cenotes to swim in, found deep Cenote Cristal with fish and turtles. Many open cenotes were closed because of recent rains. Piotr was resting.

Day 6. More Mayan ruins, this time in Coba. We took Oriente bus from ADO terminal. Upon arrival at the archeological park, we were approached by many people offering services (guides, bike rentals, bike “taxis”) frequently, but not overwhelming like in many other tourist destinations. Coba was reminiscent of other Mayan sites we visited in Guatemala and Belize. Easy walking on old Mayan roads (stone causeways) shaded by trees between excavated/restored structures with many more unexcavated piles of stones hiding in the jungle. Coba was a large center with history going back two thousand years, great influence at its peak and competing with Chichen Itza. It was abandoned by mid 16th century. There are many reasonably preserved structures/pyramids to explore (climbing them is no longer permitted), but stelas are quite aged. Access to Nohoch Mul pyramid (tallest in Coba) was restricted by construction of new viewing platforms.

We took colectivo on the way back. We found the stop, but asked around about departure times with mixed results. One person knew the correct answer and we soon were back in Tulum. We each had 4 tacos for dinner at Taqueria Maya on Sagitario Oriente: tasty, with different ingredients and flavors.

Day 7. Snorkeling at coral reef and swimming at Tulum beaches. We traveled by colectivo to Tulum ruins again (and later back), but this time we went straight to Playa Paraiso and all other beaches. Line to check point was very long, but at least we were ready without a trace of plastic in our backpacks. Joanna took 2-hour boat trip arranged on Pescadores beach to snorkel at two locations on coral reef: many fish species including large stingrays and many turtles. Plus an opportunity to see Tulum ruins from the sea. To visit the beaches, one has to either pay entrance fee (“tax”) like us or visit one of the beach clubs lining the shore (the boat trip was from one of them).

Piotr spent time relaxing, swimming and watching beach life. Documented 8 different bird species visiting that day.

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Magnificent frigatebird
  
Royal terns
  
Laughing gull
  
Least sandpiper
  
Gray plover
  
Great-tailed grackle
  
Brown pelikans
  
Snowy egret

On the way home, we stopped at Tamales Don Taco on Centauro Norte (recommended) to pick-up dinner: 8 tamales in several different varieties (mostly chicken). We ate them in the evening with more bear preparing for the return trip next morning. The tamales were very large, fresh, tasty and with different flavors. Wrapped in real banana leaves. Throughout our visit we tried a dozen beers and left tequila/mescal tasting for next time.

We felt safe moving around Tulum and having good base (our apartment) to rest at the end of the day made the trip relaxed and comfortable. Our interactions with local people were friendly and helpful as we were trying to find our way around. Some chaos and sale attempts/tricks at touristy sites were not too surprising and did not affect us much. We liked traveling on colectivos, no-nonsense and inexpensive approach to quickly move people around. Buses were on time and efficient even though buying tickets at the terminal was unbelievably slow (better to buy on-line). Long-term weather forecasts were not reliable. We expected more rain, but we had great sunny or partially sunny days.

Last day was just travel: taxi to ADO bus terminal, bus to all new and modern Tulum (Felipe Carrillo Puerto) airport for flight back to Chicago. Everything on time and without problems.

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Day 53-57: Russian River-Whittier-Anchorage-Chugach Mountains

August 5-9

Our road trip interactive map

Day 53. Fishing day. With fishing rod in the box and license picked-up on the way, we drove to Russian River Ferry, crossed Kenai River and joined many other people catching salmon. We were busy all afternoon and did not waste time to take pictures. Everybody around was pulling fish, but not us. Clearly our understanding of the problem and technique were poor. It was interesting experience anyway. We drove to nearby Cooper Creek CG (Russian River CG was full) and cooked veggies for dinner.

Day 54. Next morning we drove back to look at salmon one more time. Walking along Russian River we were rewarded by good sighting (quite long observation) of grizzly bear. It didn’t even have to catch anything, more than enough leftovers (discarded by people) to go through. We then walked to Russian River Falls, nice and easy hike, where we watched many salmon still going upstream, struggling to pass the rapids. Everybody comes here in season to fish as salmon pushes upstream to spawn.

We hit Sterling and Seward Highways knowing this stretch already. The weather changed to rain of different intensity. Stopped at Summit Lodge for late lunch/dinner. Good food. With not so good weather we did not want to cook dinner later. Short breaks in heavier rain helped us settle at Williwaw Campground. It was good campground, many sites to choose from and close to next destination. We just walked in light rain to the creek to explore possible stop on the way back.

Day 55. Next destination: the historic town of Whittier (built from scratch for military purposes). The town can be only accessed through road tunnel which is interesting. Wanted also to see if we could get on a ferry to Valdez. But first, at Portage Lake we got a full taste of different Alaskan weather: cutting rain and strong wind. No chance for a hike to Portage Glacier and no view. We warmed up at the Visitor Center. There was not much to do in Whittier. Rain didn’t help. No luck with ferry. We drove around to get a closer look at some historic buildings and one apartment building where nearly entire town population lives, complete with store, post office, laundry, church and more. It is interesting “town” to see.

We headed back out in the afternoon stopping on the way at viewpoints to look at mountains and glaciers across flooded Portage Valley and then to watch spawning salmon in Williwaw Creek from trail with access to the stream every 100 m or so to peek in. As we were walking between two such points Piotr turned around (instinctively) and saw a medium-size black bear running quietly across the trail 30 m behind us. It was interested in salmon, we guessed, and did not want to be seen. They know how to disappear. We drove in the rain to Anchorage, it was quite tiring. We had better weather on the way in. Stayed at airbnb. Restocking and laundry.

Day 56. We could not take the ferry, but decided to go to Valdez anyway. Started driving east on Glenn Hwy through Chugach Mountains. Just 280 km ride took us most of the day. The highway is scenic with good viewpoints. We planned to walk to quite famous Matanuska Glacier. We knew about private enterprise blocking access to public land and were prepared to pay an entrance fee, but expensive guided tour offering little was the only option. Retreat. Glacier views from the highway and short trail at one of the stops were distant, panoramic but quite good. The weather improved. In late afternoon, we reached good camping spot with great view (Joanna found recommendation somewhere) on short stretch of old road running for a while along paved Lake Louise Rd. We walked it in the morning. Many camping options, but nobody around.

Day 57. In Glenallen we turned south on Richardson Hwy to Valdez. Stopped at Wrangell-St Elias Visitor Center to collect good info about the park and hikes (where to go later) and refill water containers, and then at Tonsina River Lodge for Russian lunch (borscht and pelmeni). Nice weather, easy driving. Next stop: Joanna was hoping to reach the edge of Worthington Glacier, but ice already retreated too far since a few years ago when she read about it on her favorite travel blog. No easy access now. She tried to climb-up, Piotr stayed around the lake as back-up and taking pictures.

At Thompson Pass we just parked at the entrance of a service road and walked-up to the highest point with great views, not really hiking as we spent most of the time watching changing clouds and fog fast running through mountains and valleys. Very nice Blueberry Lake campground was full, except for a couple not so good overflow spots. We decided to continue and somehow found our way on (pipeline) service roads ending at Sheep Creek and we stayed there. An evening runner on local trail was very surprised to see us. We were happy it was not a bear coming out of the bushes as we just started cooking dinner. He was happy we took all (abundant) mosquitoes away from him.

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Day 48-52: Carter and Crescent Lakes-Exit Glacier and Harding Icefield-Seward and Northwestern Glacier-Ptarmigan Lake-Kenai Lake

July 31-August 4

Our road trip interactive map

We stopped briefly at Seward and Sterling Hwy crossroads to look at the wetlands (Tern Lake) and decide where to go first – we continued south towards Seward. Experienced ranger at Kenai Lake Ranger Station patiently answered all our questions with good recommendations where to hike and camp. Probably the first person not really trying to instill bear panic in us. In no time we started hiking to Carter and Crescent lakes (11 km return, 370 m gain, recommended). Sunny weather, stream, lakes and flowering meadows between rows of mountains – very beautiful. Ran through short stretches of mosquito territory to slowly enjoy Alpine (like) habitat. Few people we met were trout fishing, some using barbless hooks not to hurt the fish (catch-and-release). To end the day, we drove to Primrose campground at the end of Kenai Lake. Warm day before returning to glaciers.

After slow start and visit at Exit Glacier Nature Station (missed ranger walk) we were hiking to Harding Icefield (19 km return, 1050 m total altitude gain, recommended). We knew it would take the rest of the day. At face value it looked like well maintained, moderate trail just up and up. It turn out to be quite hard and steep. We came back tired and camped nearby on Resurrection River gravel flats (decent wild site recommended by the ranger). It was good hiking day with weather changing from good to clouds, fog and freezing drizzle. We had good views of Exit Glacier and (between clouds) Harding Icefield. The trail tops quite high on the mountain slope, but still we could only get a glimpse of the edge the enormous ice field.

Good weather in the morning encouraged us to go directly to Seward to book boat trip to one of the tidewater glaciers. It worked. With tickets in hand we had plenty of time to go back and explore Exit Glacier some more – this time from the bottom (gravel flats). We were not in big hurry, stopped at Le Barn Appetit Inn & Creperie for good, old fashioned, hand made crepes (recommended) and meandered around the base of the glacier. Looking at date markers one has no doubt glaciers are retreating. Viewpoints were designed/built a while ago and now are not close to ice flow anymore.

We already had room at Nauti Otter Inn booked for the night not to waste time before 8:30 am boat departure (from Stewart, only short drive away) next morning. The inn was very well organized, with shared kitchen and dinning room, very nice host, good hostel vibe. Old wood structure was not too good at blocking noise even from normal activity.

Boat trip from Seward to Northwestern Glacier was one of the highlights of our entire trip. We decided to go with ☞ Kanai Fjords Tours (recommended) and chose longer (8-hr) trip on Ocean Explorer to Northwestern Glacier. Surrounding high mountains have many glaciers flowing down from the same Harding Icefield, but rocky shores and small islands are great habitat for birds and other animals, waters are rich too. We saw humpback whales feeding in group, seals and sea lions, otters, porpoises, eagles, puffins, black-legged kittiwake, common murre  and other birds. Blue water and dark rocks surrounding fjords. With calm seas it was pleasant excursion.

In the afternoon we had time to walk around town and for dinner at (packed) Flamingo Lounge (tanner crab and halibut). And to buy inexpensive fishing gear at Bay Traders. It was time to go back. We made it only to Trail River Campground – for us one of the best state campgrounds in Alaska (recommended).

Next morning we drove just across the highway and hiked Ptarmigan Lake Trail, first on old road along the creek, then higher above the valley floor (11 km return, total 210 m gain). Saw only a few people including small group of young summer workers improving the trail (cutting down overgrown vegetation). We stopped again at Tern Lake to watch salmon and this time turned west to Sterling Highway. After driving around Lake Kenai (Copper Landing) we found wild-camping spot, Joanna’s wish. We did not risk bringing our car to the beach (bad end of access road wasn’t really that risky), but cooked dinner and went for a short walk on the shore.

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Days 43-47: Talkeetna-Hatcher Pass-Eklutna Lake-Anchorage-Alyeska-Chugach National Forest

July 26-30

Our road trip interactive map

The following five days we were driving south towards Kenai Fjords National Park without any specific plan where to stop. Of course we wanted to see Denali one more time from one of the view points along the highway, but weather was clouds and rain all day. Made it to Talkeetna late afternoon and stayed in very good all new Talkeetna Cabin (recommended). We had no electricity for a few hours, so we just walked around the small, but quite famous town. Visited small museum and old cemetery. Dinner and laundry was late. Next morning the weather improved somewhat and we heard Denali sightseeing planes taking off. We looked across Susitna River where the mountain is, but decided to move on as clouds were still dense. We were then supposed to get back to wilderness and wild-camp somewhere near Hatcher Pass (along Willow Fishhook Road). Scenery was nice and weather much better, but the road was packed, in places bumper-to-bumper (Saturday). We managed to find parking spot at the pass, looked around a bit but decided against open trail to the summit in a bitterly cold wind. Instead we spent the rest of the day visiting Independence Mine (State Park). It was good choice, the mostly outdoor museum is interesting and we learned about different method of gold mining. As always, Piotr photographed all old, rusting machines.

Small “campgrounds” down the road turn out to be regular parking spots on small road-side lots, rented at night for a fee. Not appealing for us and most already taken anyway, nice Finger Lake campground was full as well (Saturday). We tried a couple other options, but ended up driving to Eklutna Lake, which was on our destinations list. Found last double-spot site for the first night, but stayed at the campground for two nights. The campground has good location and layout, but the infrastructure is dilapidated, some toilets were upgraded, fee collection station was new and top-notch technology.

Eklutna Lake starts between smaller mountains, quite green meadow. The far end goes deeper into Chugach Mountains where bigger, snow-patched mountains are (2000 masl) . With no rain or strong wind good day for kayaking – we used the day to paddle about half-way to the other end of the lake, ~6 km (12 total). Moved to a different/better camping spot and cooked dinner. Next morning we visited native village of Eklutna with interesting native/Russian Orthodox cemetery and headed to Anchorage. Visit to Anchorage Museum (Alaska-centric, recommended) then stop at Ship Creek to watch salmon fishing. Grocery shopping and getting rain pants for Piotr from REI. Joanna found nice Airbnb, one of those places where you can still meet and talk with the (very nice) owners.

Seward Highway from Anchorage to Portage runs right on the water’s edge (Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet), with several viewpoint stops. Muddy tidal plains and Chugach Mountains in the background. We could not agree on short hikes until it was time for mid-day coffee – found a good coffee shop in Girdwood and drove up the valley road to Alyeska Resort. The valley was devastated by 1964 earthquake. Once we saw cable-car to the top of the mountain, the decision was quick: spend a few hours wandering above the top cable-car station on the slopes of Mt Alyeska.

We ended the day at Granite Creek Campground, along Seward Highway, but deeper inland and into Church National Forest. Nice spot, few people, small creek behind the site, campfire, salmon and Alaskan beer for dinner, good view on surrounding meadows and mountains. No bears.

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