We were up for an early breakfast
and departure on the bus by 07:30, headed out of Mexico City entirely toward
San Miguel del Milagro, about two hours to the east in the state of Tlaxcala.
We could feel our ears popping as we left the huge bowl in the midst of the
mountains in which is Mexico City – I think Roberto might have said at one
point that we topped out at about 10,000 feet above sea level. And that was
going through a pass between Monte
Tlaloc to the north and two mountains to our south that had all our attention.
It was a beautiful, albeit hazy, day, perfect for viewing Popocatepetl (“The
Smoking Mountain”) and Iztaccihuatl (“The White Woman,” also called La Mujer Dormida, “The Sleeping Woman,”
because from a certain aspect it looks like a sleeping woman). Both of the
mountains, respectively the second and third highest in Mexico, are volcanoes;
Iztaccihuatl is dormant, but Popocatepetl is very active. We slowly rounded
them to the north, and were graced with seeing Popocatepetl belch out several
clouds of steam.
It was a beautiful, albeit hazy, day, perfect for viewing Popocatepetl (“The
Smoking Mountain”) and Iztaccihuatl (“The White Woman,” also called La Mujer Dormida, “The Sleeping Woman,”
because from a certain aspect it looks like a sleeping woman). Both of the
mountains, respectively the second and third highest in Mexico, are volcanoes;
Iztaccihuatl is dormant, but Popocatepetl is very active. We slowly rounded
them to the north, and were graced with seeing Popocatepetl belch out several
clouds of steam. 