Pahuatlán is a tiny little town that may make you feel as though you've arrived a thousand miles and a thousand years from everything you thought you knew about Puebla - or even Mexico. The town is devoted, in addition to coffee cultivation, to the production of ancient and sacred amate paper. Made from the bark of the region's many trees, some aspects of its production are still closely guarded secrets.
The Otomi masters of the paper production are centered in neighboring San Pablito. This is the ancestral home of the Otomí Hñahñu people who monopolize the paper production and examples of artwork made on and with the paper are everywhere evident. Dealers will happily take you inside to rifle through stacks of works, some merely enchanting, some nearly priceless. Most of them are understated, sophisticated, and all are legitimate and authentic works of sincere artistry.
The little town was recognized as a Pueblo Mágico in 2012. It's very much a cloud forest town, with some views changing even minute by minute. It's nearly always veiled in the very height of mystery and intrigue.
The town was traditionally settled by both Nahua and Otomi speakers. Both will welcome you even today. Some visitors will want to take off for the Cerro del Cirio, the rather rustic Miguel Hidalgo Suspension Bridge, the Gran Tirolesa Coatl and the Ahila overlook. These are accessible through various means by trails through the surrounding forest.
The town is vaguely laid out around the Santiago Apóstol Parish Church and the Zaragoza Kiosk. But local cooks will offer hollejo tamales, molotes in green sauce, peanut, blackberry and pineapple atoles, and locally made liquors.
People get to Pahuatlán via Tulancingo in Hidalgo. Some limited combi-service runs throughout the surrounding hills, including from Huauchinango, but you need to ask locally for the best route.
