Life in Playa

Mexico City(Part 3)…

The next day of the trip was probably the most fun, I like active challenging attractions, Tepoztlan is definitely that.  This is a cute little city just outside of Cuernavaca, about an hour and a half from Mexico City.  The main attraction of this pueblo is the pyramid on top of the hill just north of the town itself.  After a long walk up the hill, LONG WALK UP THE HILL, we finally reached the entrance to the pyramid.

At the entrance, thousands of steps up a mountain, there was a refreshment stand and a little restaurant.  It made me wonder if maybe there is an alternate route up this thing.  Or an elevator.  All around the refreshment people are enjoying their waters and deepfried bits, being harassed by “Tajones” as they are called in Mexico, though I believe the correct name for them is “Coati”.  I have seen them before in Playa Del Carmen but usually they are timid and run away when they see you, not these: The Tepoztlan coatis attack like puppies.  I watched as they tried to eat a small child and the snack he was holding, I should have stepped in and saved him but he seemed to be enjoying it.

They sell tickets to the pyramid at the top of the hill.  At the bottom of the hill you don’t see any signs thatsay “Pyramid $40 pesos” or anything like that, so my common-sense brain brought up the question of “How many people leave there wallet at the bottom?”  Anyway, we got up to the pyramid and had a little rest, it was a beautiful view, but I was starting to get hungry and I had heard that the market place in Tepoztlan has an amazing selection of food.

So, we hiked back down the hill and made our way to the market.  We found a nice little place with quesadillas of various things.  I like food, I am what you would call a huge fan.  I really like food that I have never tried before, so I got a few dishes.  I have been meaning to try “Flor de Calabaza” for a long time, sure I have had the canned Cambell’s Crema de Flor de Calabaza soup, but am sure it is not the same thing.  So, I tried a quesadilla made with Flor de Calabaza(which is chopped up pumpkin flowers, by the way).  Excellent.  I also had to try a chile relleno, I have had them before but I was told that the chiles here were excellent.  Another wonderful choice!  So, the next thing that was more ordered for me than was a “Taco de Chapulines”, if you speak spanish you already know…I do, so I knew right away.  Why not though?  Its a traditional food and I should be trying these traditional foods, right?  What you ask are “Chapulines”? See photos:

So, I managed to take a bite of my grasshopper taco.  That was it.  I chewed it and chewed it and thought hard about how it was food, not bait…I managed to get down one mouthful, actually swallowed it.  That was it, I couldn’t put any more in my mouth.  I kept thinking about getting little legs in my teeth…eww.  Anyway, I can say that I ate grasshoppers.  Probably won’t have to do it again either.

After eating we wandered a little more in the village, I was looking for little souvenirs from Tepoztlan, nothing really moved me though.  I was moved by the famous Tepoztlan ice cream, I had to try a few different flavors.  They had “Mil Flores”, which means “a thousand flowers”, which sounded interesting so I tried it.  It contained the Jamaica flowers and roses and some others but I forget, it was very good.  I also tried various flavors of chile and fruit icecreams, also good, but I am not so sure about the sweet/hot/sour combination.  I also had to try a traditional coconut ice cream, which is my favorite mexican icecream flavor, but I must say the Merida coco sorbet is much better than that of Tepoztlan.  Overall, I like icecream, so this was good.

The trip back to Mexico City was again uneventful, I have to praise the merits of a good public transportation system, I love bus travel.  It is so comfortable and I think some of the best sleep I get is on the luxury buses.