If you are thinking that all we are doing is visiting pyramids and waterfalls, meeting great people and eating delicious food….you are mainly right. But there are also large chunks of time taken up by doing research, admin and car maintenance – for instance, somehow my Spanish was good enough to get us a tire rotation, oil change and small service confirming that all is good.  As Michael has been keeping the Swiss and US tax authorities happy by uploading our 2015 tax filing, this update on the last weeks shenanigans (visiting pyramids and waterfalls, meeting great people and eating delicious food) comes from me. 

On our way out of the Sierra Gorda we drove through some villages that are famous for their mission churches. The brightly coloured buildings are visible for afar, here a picture of the one in Matamoros

At this point we had decided that our preference is clearly for nature and small cities and that we would give Mexico City a miss. One day we’ll be back without a car! We spent the night in Tequisquiapan which we thought would be just a stop along the way to the pyramids of Teotihuacan (Michael has written about this separately), but we really loved this lively town.  It is a weekend destination for people from Mexico City with a nice colonial center, great restaurants, a small craft beer scene and a busy zócalo great for people watching. 

After our first and second pyramids in one day, the next stop was Puebla. Our AirBnB here was a quirky rooftop loft with great views across town. 

Sunday was spent walking and snacking our way around town. We got to discover that not just Al Pastor meat comes from a spit but also the very kebap-like meat for Tacos al Árabe. One of my favourites so far! On the left Al Arabe with onions, on the right Al Pastor with pineapple.  

While I still do not understand the allure of a Michelada (tomato and clam juice, beer and chili powder) I was finally brave enough to try a Chamoyada: cup covered with chili powder, fruit sorbet (eg lemon), chamoy hot sauce, chili coated tamarind straw – great on a hot day!  

Also we ate blue-corn gorditas, churros, cemitas and more tacos al árabe, drank beers, heard music on every street corner and visited a great fleamarket – a relaxing afternoon in a great city, and all the food and drink altogether cost about 10 dollars. 

The next stop would be our longest so far – five days in the beautiful city of Oaxahaca.  I already wrote about the cooking class we took there and Michael has mentioned on the ruins of Monte Álban. We also visited the waterfalls of Hierba el Agua, which are partly petrified and have formed great bathing pools.  

As we are also suckers for tourist traps we of course had to stop in Tule – home to the worlds widest tree  

Lunch on that day was at Tlamanalli in the small weaving village of Teotitlán.  Read more about this place and the three sisters who run it here. Best mole negro on the trip!  

A big shout out to the people we have met in Oaxaca that made our stay there so great: best AirBnB on the trip so far with our hosts Gerardo and Norma, our AirBnB neighbors Shirin and Arash (all of us in the pic below eating Tlayudas) and Augustín, Esperanza, Emma and Evan from the cooking class.