Day Five, moving on to Puebla

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We leave the very nice B&B hotel Casa de la Tia Tere this morning and head to the toll road to Puebla. It is every bit as nice as we heard the toll roads are: well-paved, well-marked, not much traffic, and safe. We see the occasional Policia Federal but mostly enforcement of speed limits is by radar which translates to not applicable to us since we have Honduran license plates and there is absolutely no way they will be able to track us down. Not that we go much faster than the 70 mph (110 km) speed limit anyway, it's just the principle, not having to worry. The scenery along the way is varied, beginning in the mountains then passing through flat, open somewhat barren terrain with a couple different type of cactus, then finally into the urban zone of Puebla. Signs are good, we do not get lost--not even one wrong turn.
The drive takes a bit under 4 hours and we get settled in to our hotel in time to have a late lunch around the corner on the Zocolo. Sticking to the theme of going with the local food, most of us have the chicken mole poblano, a dark mole sauce similar to black mole from Oaxaca but a bit spicier. It's good and I think I'll buy some to bring back with me--stash it next to the jars I got from Oaxaca.
After lunch we spent most of the rest of the afternoon walking along an avenue that is lined with store after store that sell both local sweets and talavera pottery, a type of pottery that is unique to Puebla and very nice. In one of the shops we learned the difference between the more common commercialized variety and the original style with the stamp of authenticity. Guess which type I'll be buying. Might be nice to bring back a set of coffee cups or something.
We had a late dinner on the Zocolo then went with Dave to check out the nightlife in the Plazuela de los Sapos which is only a couple blocks from the hotel (wasn't much happening on a Tuesday night). After a little while we left and went to take some night pictures on the Zocolo before calling it a day.

For those keeping score at home, the trip odometer reads 1198, today's mileage was 208 and we spent $275 MXN in tolls ($20.45 USD).

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Photos

Santo Domingo
Puebla's Iglesia de Santo Domingo is nice but not as impressive as Oaxaca's--which surprised me a bit since this is a bigger and more religious city.