Besides the surprisingly cold day and high winds, visiting Teotihuacán was a great day. I really wanted to take a trip out to visit and climb the pyramids there. The site is located about 30 miles northeast of Mexico City and we reached it by city trolley and then bus.
The city is thought to have been started around 100 BC. At its height, around 450 AD, Teotihuacan was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas, with a population estimated at 125,000 or more. First we saw the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, of which we saw partial replicas in the museum the day before. We then walked north along the Avenue of the Dead toward the Temples of the Sun and Moon.
The Pyramid of the Sun is the largest building at Teotihuacán, and is 220 feet tall. It’s often claimed to be the third largest pyramid in the world — whether by volume or height, it’s unclear. Either way, it’s a massive structure. There are steps with handrails to go up the Temple of the Sun and also multiple levels to stop at. We went straight to the top but were buffeted by strong winds and decided on a middle tier that was blocking the wind so that Jon could sit and draw the Temple of the Moon in his travel journal. I ended up taking a nap leaning on the pyramid walls – Don’t judge! We woke up at 5am to get there before the crowds.
We continued along the Avenue of the Dead in which there are several smaller structures with some blurbs. I was so happy to be able to speak both languages on the sign (English and Spanish) because there are some mistranslations and/or missing information on the English parts.
The last pyramid on our journey was the Pyramid of the Moon. At about 140 feet tall, it’s not nearly as large as the Pyramid of the Sun. You can’t climb all the way to the top, but it’s still worth climbing to the halfway point.
There were lots of vendors around, mostly selling jaguar whistles and jewelry. Our walking was consistently interrupted with the patterns of approaching vendors showing their wares and our quick response of “No, gracias.”
I particularly enjoyed visiting the quarters off the side of the Pyramid of the Moon where important public figures may have once lived. There was much more information here and I loved being able to go underground into one of the chambers to get an idea of what the inside of the pyramids might look like.
We grabbed a quick bite (a nopales quesadilla for me!) outside of gate 2 before waiting for our bus back.
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The bus and trolley ride dropped us off at the Palacio de Bellas Artes and we off the cuff decided to take the chance to visit before our buddy Ryan arrived in town later. We delved into a large exhibition on the imagery of Emilio Zapata and then took a long time reading through the gigantic murals on the walls of the upper floors. Overall, a wonderful educational and cultural day!
Stark West Travels 