I’ve been taking an online Spanish course through Babbel. And in my course, the fictional characters of Peter and Carmen are taking a trip to the Pueblos Mágicos—little towns around Mexico with art, culture, etc. One of those towns is Tepotzlán which, conveniently, is only an hour from CDMX by bus.

So yesterday, we made our way to the bus station, stumbled through the purchase of some tickets, hopped on a big red bus with curtain-lined windows and saggy seats, and took a little ride south of the city, into the mountains. You don’t see much landscape in the city—I know there are volcanoes nearby, which means there are probably mountains, but you can’t see them. So it was pretty cool to roll into this little town and see these towering limestone mountains right behind it. It sort of reminded me of how Telluride backs up into the mountains in that box canyon.

And way up near the top of one of the cliffs was a white stone structure—the ruins of El Tepozteco, an Aztec temple dedicated to Tepoztēcatl, the Aztec god of pulque (a fermented agave wine). Time to climb. Actually, time for a big huevos rancheros breakfast and then time to climb. It’s pretty much 1,100 feet straight up a set of stone steps (some more stair-like than others and all of them uneven) for a little over a mile. Like a tortuous stairmaster and the huevos may have been an error—there was a moment where it seemed like they might make a reappearance. But the view from the top was excellent and it was pretty cool to climb the last few (narrow, terrifying) stairs to the top of a 500-year-old temple. I don’t envy the people who had to haul all those stones into place.

And then… the descent. Which in some ways was harder. Yes, we had gravity to assist us but you had to be so careful about where you put your feet and I was suffering from serious sewing-machine leg by the time we got down. And once we were down, we still had to walk another mile to get back to our hotel WHERE THERE WAS NO POOL. But there was a hot shower. And a king-sized bed (have I mentioned that the bed in our apartment is a double? It is.). And after a short rest, we were ready for second breakfast or first dinner or whatever. Something delicious and cheap, please.

The market was just a few blocks away, so that was the obvious choice. I think it’s an open-air market but everything is covered with colorful tarps and there are tons of stalls run by women who are mostly cooking the same thing (quesadillas, tacos, huaraches, and a local specialty called itacates—thick triangular tortillas, sliced open, and stuffed with the filling of your choice - not fundamentally different from quesadillas but quite good). All the tortillas are hand-made, right on the spot. All this to say that the center of the market smelled amazing and was about 20 degrees hotter than outside. We saddled up to Doña Ange’s for two quesadillas—one with huitlacoche (corn smut, or fungus, it tastes better than it sounds) and the other flor de calabaza (squash blossom). The quesadillas come to you lava hot off the griddle and then you have an array of salsas to choose from, ranging from fairly mild to screamingly hot. I wanted another one once I’d finished but Scott told me I had to wait and not spoil my dinner.

On the left there is Doña Ange, making tortillas. On the right is breakfast the next day—chilaquiles with huevos revueltos and a flor de calabaza itacate, at Doña Irma-Edith’s. Plus cafe de olla, which is super sweet, spiced coffee. Honestly, the chilaquiles might have been the best I’ve ever had. Could have been the setting but they really were good.

We made one other stop, at the Ex Convento de Tepoztlán—a former convent that’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site (although I had no idea about this until after). It’s a beautiful, quiet, and contemplative space. What remains of the art on the walls only hints at how stunning it must have once been.

Glad we stored up some peace and calm because the bus ride back to CDMX was a bit harrowing, with questionable brakes, bad smells, and the Spanish translation of Sonic The Hedgehog blasting over the onboard entertainment system…