Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Meeting a random mountain lover in Tlaxcala
Wednesday, September 23, 2015Last friday we decided to head to La Malinche, an inactive volcano, since the weather looked better. The town closest to La Malinche is Huam...
Last friday we decided to head to La Malinche, an inactive volcano, since the weather looked better. The town closest to La Malinche is Huamantla and the bus there costs SGD$3.50 and takes approx. 1 hr.
However, upon arriving, the first local we met told us that it was actually dangerous to scale La Malinche today because of the expected rainfall in the afternoon. And what are the odds, but Angel (yes, his name is angel) actually turned out to be a mountain lover. He suggested that we climb Cuatlapango, near Apizaco instead, and he even volunteered to go with us. So that's how our adventure began.
From Huamantla, we took a bus for around 20 mins to Apizaco, before taking a smaller van that brought us to the base.
The climb up took 2 hours and the altitude made it us really breathless. During the steeper ascend, we had to take 5 minutes breaks every 2 minutes. But the view from the peak was really rewarding. So was the hour long chat we had with Angel.
The day ended with cheese ice cream and an hour's bus ride back to Puebla. Angel was really an angel to us that day, and he promised to scale La Malinche (which is actually 3 times higher) the next time with us.
We left house at 7.30am where the sun just started rising
And that's La Malinche in the distance!
From Huamantla, we took a bus for around 20 mins to Apizaco, before taking a smaller van that brought us to the base.
View from the base. That's the van that dropped us off
Start of the hike!
There's about 12 of these 'stations' along the way to the top. Angel explained that on Easter days and other catholic festivals, people would carry the cross to the peak and only stop at each of these 12 stations to rest along the way
Mid way through! Photos while we rest and catch our breath
The path were mostly like this, though at certain stages we took the even steeper routes to save time
The view halfway through is already very rewarding
There were clusters of flowers along the way and they make for good excuses to stop and take a break ahaha
The descend was quick and took only 45 mins, but it was awhile before we found a 'bus' that took us back to town in Apizaco. (The 'bus' was actually just a car, with a destinated route.) From Apizaco, we traveled back to Huamantla, where Angel promised to bring us to try some local food. And he did. We came to this pork place and had tacos, soup and lots of meat. The final dish was taco's with the beef's heart and it would have been delicious if I weren't so full already.
The path were mostly like this, though at certain stages we took the even steeper routes to save time
The view halfway through is already very rewarding
There were clusters of flowers along the way and they make for good excuses to stop and take a break ahaha
...And finally we reached the peak!
Mandatory selfie!
And that's la malinche in the distance!
We chatted in broken english and spanish at the peak and used the translator so much my phone's battery was nearly drained
The way down felt so much easier
I literally went from starving to feeling stuffed in this one meal
The lady that sat beside us and her musician friend. I doubt they knew Angel, but everyone just started chatting like long term friends and the owner joined in too. Halfway through he even started serving tequila which we both politely rejected. Mexicans!
