Fancy the Aztec spirit

Nestled in a valley, Tepoztlan is as close as you can get to a mystic Mexican holiday

Unless you have Aztecs in your family tree, you might find this city's name hard to pronounce. But so much else about the city is easy, or irresistible: the Aztec echoes, the steam baths, the ice-cream, the pyramid, even the corn smut.

Tepoztlan — pronounced teh-pose-LAWN — is a smallish city in Mexico that sits in a lush valley rimmed by mountains that appear to have been smuggled out of a Chinese landscape painting.

At its centre, a 16th-century convent and church rise above a marketplace full of locals making tortillas, nibbling on fried grasshoppers and licking locally concocted sherbets.

Just north of town stands Tepozteco, the pyramid built on a mountaintop by the Aztecs about 700 years ago to honour Tepoztecatl, God of fertility.

In close proximity

If it weren't for the influx of big-city sophisticates every weekend, you never would guess that Mexico City is just beyond the mountains, 47 miles north, or that Cuernavaca, the language-school capital of Mexico, is 11 miles south.

We arrived late on a weekday, a few hours too late to enjoy the traditional Wednesday farmers' market, but in good time to spend two quiet days before weekend visitors started streaming in.

Because it's always good to have a quest, I decided I had to make the short, steep climb to the pyramid. My wife, Mary Frances, and our daughter, Grace, were interested in the hike, too.

But mostly, my wife and I just aimed to explore, to the degree that our 3-year-old would permit.

Tepoztlan has been fascinating strangers for a long time, first conquistadors and missionaries, later duelling academics, now tourists and film stars.

Not tiny anymore

These days, with about 35,000 residents, Tepoz is not so tiny. But it's thick with myth and history, it's walkable and the weather is mild.

The city's eight neighbourhood churches keep their calendars crowded with festivals, but if you need solitude, you can always duck into the darkness of a purifying temazcal and chant amid the steaming rocks and herbs. But more on those purifying baths later.

We started by taking measure of our hotel, the Posada del Tepozteco, and what a happy task that turned out to be. It was built in the 1940s as a mansion on a hill and the property was converted into a hotel about ten years later.

Its views of the valley and jutting mountains are commanding in three directions, the landscaping is immaculate and the service is crisp and bilingual.

Expanding in size

Over the years, it has grown to include 22 guest rooms, a barrel-vaulted dining room and a swimming pool, kept at about 80 degrees.

During the week, guests are mostly foreigners while the weekends see more of people from Mexico City.

Angelina Jolie, whose picture hangs on a wall behind the desk, took up residence for about three weeks during the shooting of the 2001 film Original Sin.

Everywhere you turn, there's another elegant arch or a lily pond, a burbling courtyard fountain, a sculpture placed just so, or a patio table facing a vista that spreads from the spires of the Parroquia de la Natividad church to the jagged outline of the surrounding mountains.

There are other agreeable lodgings in and near the town. If we returned and had a rental car, I would be tempted to book the half-as-costly Hotel Amatlan de Quetzalcoatl — but of those I saw, the Posada del Tepozteco ranks first.

The only flaw we found is one the hotel can't control: If you go to bed with your window open, you'll be sleeping with all of Tepoztlan.

It's not a raucous town but the church bells, the roosters, the dogs, the occasional bottle rocket from somebody's street celebration — all these noises, hemmed in by the mountains, bounce around Tepoztlan like bugs looking for an open window. In the end, we chose muffled stuffiness.

On the morning after that first night, we marched down to town — careful marching on a cobblestone down slope — and checked out the quiet zocalo or square, the market and main streets.

Much paraphernalia

On a corner, the Centro Holistico Arcoiris offered tarot readings, massages and a circle of fire. The Taj Mahal shop was selling crystals, fossils, masks, wood carvings and Asian imports.

Café Isis offered mochachinos for about $2 (Dh7) and a dozen stands sold local art.

Just off Avenida Revolucion, worshippers and visitors tiptoed into Parroquia de la Natividad or filed into the hushed cloisters of the adjacent ex-convent or circled back to the Carlos Pellicer Museum of Pre-Hispanic Art.

We followed, reminding ourselves that when the church and convent went up in 1580, the Spanish had been residing in North America for less than 60 years.

But there was another fine reminder outside: an arco de seminas, a mural-covered arch in front of the church showing an Aztec being baptised by a priest, the whole scene made entirely from coloured seeds, grain and other local crops.

Even with the crystal vendors and detoxifiers here and there, Tepotzlan remains traditional and earthy enough to please anyone who would rather not put his chakras in the hands of a stranger.

Main street

After the city centre, we headed to the town's main drag, Avenida del Tepozteco, past more ancient walls, bold-coloured eateries and modest lodgings.

But it's not the lively storefronts or even the brooding La Santisima neighbourhood church that makes Tepozteco a memorable street.

About six blocks north of the town centre, the road narrows to a pedestrian path.

Then it creeps uphill, into an area that has been designated a national park, towards a smudge of grey atop a high canyon wall. At first the path climbs gently, bordered by ramshackle refreshment stands.

Then the path gets steeper, your breath gets shorter, and you remember that the floor of this valley is more than 5,000 feet above sea level. You climb about 1,300 feet in 1.2 miles.

Sure-footed hikers can manage it in a little less than an hour and at the top they find Tepozteco itself. The actual pyramid is only about 30 feet high with 13 steps, but the top-of-the-hill payoff is still terrific.

Not only can you clamber around on a pre-Columbian monument, you get an IMAX view of the town and mountains, a vista made dreamy by the shifting mists.

I suppose it's possible to get a 3-year-old to the top of this climb, but after about 20 minutes of the loose stones and the steepening path, we resorted to Plan B.

Steam baths

While I summited on behalf of the family, Mary Frances and Grace turned back, explored the neighbourhood and took a table at Axitla, a sprawling restaurant surrounded by dense foliage at the foot of the trail.

Once I was down the hill, we consulted the menu. There were no grasshoppers on the Axitla menu. Nor did we seek them out anywhere else. But I was curious about those Aztec steam baths.

The temazcal is a purification ceremony, usually run by a leader who takes a handful of sweating subjects through a series of introspective exercises.

Depending on where you sign up and how many people crowd into the circular enclosed space where the steaming rocks lie, you can pay $20 to $130 (Dh73 to Dh477) per person for a ceremony that lasts about an hour.

The venues look like little stone igloos, with ventilation holes in the roofs and a fireplace for heating rocks nearby.

Within three hours of descent from the pyramid, I was in trunks, approaching the little igloo on the grounds of the Posada del Tepozteco and meeting a guide named Minerva who had come from Cuernavaca.

Joining me in the igloo while the hot rocks hissed in the middle, Minerva explained what was coming.

Then, brandishing a fistful of herbs and speaking of fire, water, earth and air, she thwacked me on the arms and legs and pelted me with exotically scented droplets.

Seated in the humidity, darkness and three-digit temperature, we conducted the four-part ceremony in Spanish, and the low stone dome gave our voices more resonance than I've found in any shower.

Every syllable resounded like a Pavarotti aria without the pitch control. In vain, I tried not to imagine the smirking of the men outside.

And then Minerva instructed me to chant about “flying like an eagle'', leading to a vision of the singer-songwriter Steve Miller, circa 1976, in a dripping sombrero. Bad Aztec. I was a very bad Aztec.

But as a physical exercise, the temazcal was an inarguable success. I came out of the igloo calm and refreshed and I padded up the path to join my family in that 80-degree pool.

Facing north, I leaned against one side and once again scanned the serrated skyline. We had a fine dinner at Sibarita yet to come and an excellent lunch with a view at El Ciruelo and a happy prowl through the crowds at the Saturday-morning crafts market.

Teh-pose-LAWN. Easy, once you get the hang of it.

Local flavour

Go there...Tepoztlan

From the UAE
From Dubai: Emirates and Continental Airlines fly three times a week via Houston. Fare from Dh6,280
— Information courtesy: The Holiday Lounge by Dnata.
Ph: 04 3166160

Where to stay
Posada del Tepozteco, 3 Calle Paraiso, Tepoztlan; www.posadadeltepozteco.com. About 50 years ago, a mansion was converted to this hotel. Commanding views, meticulous landscaping, restaurant, warm pool. Double occupancy rates start from $180 (Dh661).

Hotel Amatlan de Quetzalcoatl, Amatlan; www.hotelamatlan.com. The hotel is about 5 miles outside Tepoztlan with a big pool, tennis court, spa services. Child-friendly. Rooms start from $82 (Dh301).

Where to eat
El Sibarita, the restaurant at the Posada del Tepozteco, 3 Calle Paraiso, Tepoztlan. Visit: www.posadadeltepozteco.com. This is the fanciest place in town, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner entrées start from about $6 (Dh22).

El Ciruelo, 17 Zaragoza, Tepoztlan; www.elciruelo.com. Large, sophisticated restaurant near centre of town with a covered patio and broad mountain views. Dinners start from about $6 (Dh22).

Information
Local government and travel agencies offer a variety of tidbits for this place. Visit informative websites such as www.morelostravel.com, www.guiaturisticamorelos.com and www.tepoz.com.mx to help plan a trip.

See more of old and new Tepoztlan, its busy avenidas and lush hues at www.latimes.com/tepotzlan.