A Walk Around Puebla

I had been thinking of going to the city of Puebla since it's less than 2 hours from where I currently live, so I made an impromptu trip on Saturday evening. On Saturday mornings I teach the lovely Marilu German and she teaches me Spanish (and sometimes Portuguese and Italian!) After our lesson I booked a hostel, packed my backpack with the essentials and headed off to the ADO station to buy my bus ticket. 

When I arrived in Puebla it was dark and I was seriously considering taking a taxi but I saw the bus the hostel said to take so I jumped on it (before asking the driver if he went to the street I needed to get to...I wanted to be super sure I was on the right bus!). I was able to get a seat and after three stops the bus was packed with people. In Mexico (or at least in the state of Puebla) buses don't announce the names of upcoming stops and the street signs are too small to see so I wasn't exactly sure if my stop was coming up. I knew that the hostel was in the Zocalo (city center) so a few stops after I saw the Zocalo I pushed my way out of the bus. I got off on the wrong stop! So I asked a lady where the street 9 oriente was and she said "Ohhhhh it's so far!" and then she gave me directions. I followed her directions and let me tell you...it was not far! It was maybe 6 or 7 blocks from where she was. Maybe I'm just used to walking? 

I arrived at Hostel Casona Poblana which is really nice! Since I was by myself I stayed in the all girls dorm which wasn't even full (plus it has its own shower!!). The hostel was very neat and clean which I loved. It's right in the city center but luckily my room wasn't loud at all. I met a German girl who was making her way through Mexico to eventually go to Peru. I was able to give her tips for her future trip to Chiapas. There was also a polish woman who has been living in the Yucatan for the last four years. Both of them were really nice to talk to. 

Once I dropped my stuff off I went exploring Puebla at night and loved it. There were so many people out at night and colorful lights highlighting churches and buildings. All of the streets were paved which is a big plus! I bought some dinner and postcards and eventually went to sleep. The next morning I wrote my postcards and explored Puebla during the daytime which was also beautiful. I would love to go back to Puebla and explore more of the city. 

 This guy made those so quick! He also used fire!!

 A very nice confession box

 One of the entrances to the cathedral 

 The architecture in Puebla is beautiful and colorful. 

Palenque

Our next day in Chiapas was spent in and around Palenque. We woke up very early and were dropped off at the ADO station and left on our journey from Villahermosa to Palenque. I was surprised to see that we weren't riding in a huge charter bus, but in a van like bus (the same structure of the cambios in Tehuacan). The bus wasn't full so everything was fine. Our hostel was called Yaxkin Hostal which I would recommend to anyone in Palenque. It's about a 5 minute walk from the ADO station, maybe even less. We were only there for one night but if I ever to go back to Palenque I would like to stay there again. All 7 of us shared a room that was like a little cabin apart from the main reception area. When we got settled in we started our trip. We paid to ride in one of the tour cambios which actually worked out really well. We were able to see the pyramids of Palenque, a water fall that we didn't plan on seeing (but was actually amazing!) and Agua Azul. At the end of the day we had dinner in the hostel's cafe and went to sleep because we had an early bus ride the next day.

Palenque

Palenque was amazing. We spent a little over an hour there but I could have stayed the whole day! The Mayan pyramids are surrounded by jungle. Palenque wasn't on my bucket list but I'm so glad I saw it. It's so gorgeous that I don't know if I'll be impressed by any other pyramids!

Waterfall
The waterfall was an unexpected journey but it was worth it. We only spent 30 minutes there but that was enough time to walk in the back of the waterfall and get soaked! A few of the people I went with also went into a cave that was behind the waterfall.

 This was the 1st sight of the waterfall. It's very huge in person and you can feel the mist from pretty far away. 

By this point we walked past the back of the waterfall. Behind me is a cave. 

Agua Azul

Finally we made it to Agua Azul. It was great to swim in the water because Palenque is very hot and humid. There weren't too many people at Agua Azul so we had our own little "beach" to ourselves. 

Villahermosa

This past weekend was a 4 day weekend for us English teachers because of Mexican Independence Day. I took a trip way down south to Chiapas, Mexico with 6 other teachers. We left from Tehuacan on Friday night at 9:30pm and arrived in Tabasco (a state next to Chiapas) the next day after a little set back. That set back being getting off the ADO charter bus at the wrong stop -_- With all the travelling I've done you'd think I would know to ask if we're at the right stop! I think it was because we were all very excited to get off the bus and be at our destination. So after this set back we got on the bus for 1 more our and arrived in Villahermosa. One of the teachers lives with a host family in Tehuacan and this family has a sister named Isa who picked us up from the airport and showed us around all day. Isa and her husband were so nice, driving us around all day to the see the beautiful and exciting things in Villahermosa.

The first thing we did was eat! Then we went to the Parque Museo La Venta. It has animals and artifacts from the Olmecs. After this everyone was hungry so we ate lunch, went to see a church and ate ice cream in the center of town. They had seats up and ready for El Grito on Monday, the 15th. After this there was a long ride to their house because of traffic. We got ready at their house and then took off again to see a light show and eat pizza for dinner. It was such a nice day, especially because Isa and her husband were so accommodating to us! This was only the first night! It gets better from here...

Here are some pictures::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

We couldn't figure out what kind of animal this was. We asked a man and he said a name but we didn't know what the English equivalent was! Then we read a sign that said it is a badger. 

I fed the badger. They like tortillas!

This is a tomb.

Everything was green.

Crocodile!

There was a bird sanctuary.

The outside of the church.

Light show! There are crocodiles in that water o_o