Day 12 Teotihuacan pyramid

[vampyresheep]

Thursday
Today we finally get to visit Teotihuacan, the third biggest pyramid in the world and one of the places I was most looking forward to visiting. 

 

We had a very early start in order to cross the city to get there. Normally this would have been more practical from somewhere more central in Mexico City but one of the reasons for choosing this accommodation was because Hector was an archeologist who offered private tours to the pyramids. The journey took just under 2 hours but the route was fascinating, cutting through CDMX and past all the favela-style communities clustered on the hills in the outskirts.

Reached Teotihuacan just after opening and Hector took us on a detailed tour of this massive site.

We started at the beautiful Temple of Quetzalcoatl, which was adorned with carved snakes heads, hidden from view at first site due to a later pyramid constructed right in front of it!  

We were then taken through some of the lesser visited residential areas of the archaeological site before finally facing the intimidating looking steps up the immense Temple of the Sun.

(traces of the red paintwork still remain on some walls - originally much of the pyramid structures would have also been a bright red hue)

(an example of an older pyramid which was covered over by a newer one, still with the original ornamentation intact)



We took our time climbing up, by now the sun was also hitting us with full force but arriving at the summit was well worth the struggle, with a spectacular view of the site and surrounding terrain.

We recovered from our climb with a rest and snacks under the trees near the museum, chatting and comparing notes on Mexican and British life, politics, travel etc.

After our break Hector took us around the museum, pointing out his favourite artefacts, with lots of anecdotes about the discoveries.

We continued gradually along the Avenue of the Dead towards the Temple of the Moon looming in front of the mountains.








Although smaller than the Temple of the Sun, it's position at the end of the Avenue of the Dead made it seem more dominant. It was a trickier climb too, one flight of steep steps, with a metal and plastic “rope” to hold on to, by now scorching hot with the sun! We were only allowed up to the first platform but the view from here was impressive enough.





Rob photographs me struggling up the stairs again!

The final stop was to a palace/dwelling which had been fully restored by the archaeologists,  creating a cool sheltered courtyard painted in the colours which would have been used at the time (difficult to imagine that these pyramids would once have been so colourful!)

Pyramids done, Hector took us back into Mexico City for dinner at a taco restaurant run by some family friends. Compared to our rather dull taco experience in Oaxaca, this one had a whole array of fillings to choose from, and we all soon had a plateful of meat and cheese each, with freshly made tortillas to share and an array of sauces to add. Plus a massive chicharron el queso (basically a huge crispy fried roll of cheese!). It's a very sociable way to eat and was delicious, and so filling!

We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to the house but it was our last evening in Coyoacan, so we decided to go back to Corazon El Maguey for cocktails, followed by a final ice cream sitting out in the square next to the beautiful coyote fountain. Coyoacan may be touristy but we loved it and were sad to be leaving, hoping that the centre of this massive city would be anywhere near as enjoyable.

The full photogallery of Teotihuacan photos are here