Throwback Thursday - Cuetzalan, May 2023

Two months ago, my girlfriend and I traveled up to the mountains of Puebla, Mexico to visit the small town of Cuetzalan. It was a charming little town with a lot of character. It’s probably most famous for the Danza de los Voladores (“Dance of the Flyers”), a ceremony of indigenous origin in which musicians tie themselves to the top of a very tall pole in the town square and slowly spin downwards to the bottom. Quite a stunning site.

Indigenous culture and customs were much more apparent in Cuetzalan than in Mexico City. There’s obviously the ruins of Yohualichan just outside of town, which predated the Aztecs by centuries.

However, indigenous culture isn’t a just the purview of historians and archeologists in Cuetzalan; from a small sidestreet on the edge of town, XECTZ-AM broadcasts community radio programs in both the Nahuatl and Totonac languages.

One of the things I like about these old Mexican towns is how the streets wind this way and that, rising and falling with the ancient terrain.

If you don’t mind a twisting bus journey up the mountain side, then I highly recommend checking out this cute little town.