Bright and early start today -- we were up and out of the rental by 7:30 so that we could beat the traffic to the ruins of Teotihuacan, or as they commonly referred to around here, the pyramids. Today we rented a private driver and van through Journeys Beyond the Surface. The pricing was quite reasonable, for an 8 hour trip from Polanco for a nice van that fit the 8 of us, it was only $275 in all. We tipped about 10% so all in around $300. Full freedom in itinerary (ie, we made him drive around to basically every gate). Feel free to email them at journeysmex@gmail.com! Here's a pic of our very luxe feeling ride -- very clean, tons of water bottles provided, chargers for everyone's phones and a super nice driver! His English wasn't the best but good thing we had L & R! (I'm sure you could manage with Google translate too).
The trip was only about 75 minutes, and that included a bathroom stop because of some small bladders/bumpy roads.
We decided that since we had a van at our disposal, we would take a somewhat inefficient route. We asked to be dropped off at Gate 3, at the very top by the Pyramid of the Moon so that we could get that climb over with early while it was still uncrowded and cool. Then we would walk down to the Pyramid of the Sun and to the museum at the back and out of Gate 5. Then we would be driven down to Gate 1 to visit Temple of the Feathered Serpent before heading to lunch to close out the pyramid visit.
So, after stopping to get the tickets (cash only! 240 pesos per person, no discounts for students/seniors unless you had student or Mexican IDs), we were off and into our first stop, the Palace of the Jaguars. So named because of these preserved murals on the walls. Can you make out the jaguars? I confess I cannot. At best I get that they are some type of animal. 😆 But I trust the archeologists!
We also wandered into the Palace of Quetzalpapálotl and then the Temple of the Feathered Conches. It was pretty cool going into the earth into these underground tunnels with the preserved rooms and murals. Kind of sad we have so little information about the rise and fall of this lost civilization.
Upon existing...we catch our first frontal view of the Pyramid of the Moon!
Clearly any large structure that is reasonable scalable is just beckoning the twins to go climb it. No safety ropes for these two!
Very nice uncrowded views at the top.
It also offered some really breathtaking views of the larger Pyramid of the Sun down the Avenue of the Dead:
For those willing to get up to the edges, great photo spot!
The climb back down was both easier and harder -- easier because you can lean back so less fear of falling, but harder because you have to keep shifting your feet so it's less natural.
I managed to go up all the pyramids in one continuous climb thanks to all the stair climbing training every day at work!
We walked down the avenue a bit, admiring the platforms that used to house other religious buildings and royal mansions and such -- or at least thats our best guess -- before arriving at the main event: Pyramid of the Sun.
I wish I took a video of the two seconds before this shot -- the twins have this absolutely hilarious practice of often being a bit reluctant or half hearted in agreeing to come be in photos, so they will walk over with these sullen expressions, clearly annoyed...and then as soon as the camera/phone is raised, their expressions immediately transform to a super happy very picturesque pose. It's so funny to watch!
Parting shot of the Pyramid from the back, where you find the entrance to the museum and the botanical gardens.
The museum has this pretty cool exhibit showing the whole Teotihuacan area right against a window to the real thing:
They also have some very good examples of art, sculpture, pottery, etc that were uncovered in the ruins over the years. I was really impressed by how well preserved things were!
The last part of the area we hadn't explored was the southern section, with the Ciudadela and Templo Quetzalcóatl - temple of the Feathered Serpent. This might have been my favorite of the three pyramids. It was the smallest but the most interesting in terms of the cool designs built into the pyramid all around. Note that you only saw this after climbing up the first pyramid level -- it almost had this "hidden/secret" ruin type feel, which probably increased its appeal for me.
Check out the cool crocodile and serpent heads:
From the top of this temple, you could also see off in the distance the Sun and Moon pyramids. This was our last stop or the Teotihuacan day -- we ended up spending about 3 hours in all here -- weather was never too hot because there was always a nice breeze. But we are glad we did most of the climbing earlier in the morning when the sun was less direct.
We had all worked up quite an appetite from all the climbing. So great timing to now be headed to lunch. Some folks tried the chicken flautas -- conclusion: guacamole amazing, flautas a little too hard/crispy. It was a little funny how Jiujiu kept trying to get out of the shot and yet still kept photobombing.
Our eyes were perhaps a little bigger than our stomachs. This was basically an entire plate FULL of meat.
Laolao went back to the club sandwich -- old faithful!
The restaurant, Mayahuel, also had some performers dancing and strumming guitars and such. Very entertaining. And impressive! These were real bottles filled with beer!
We had another birthday treat for Laoye - this time with a flaming candle!
And if that wasn't enough, it also came with a party pinata (also adorning flaming candles):
and a round of tequila shots:
After a couple rounds, it was time to head back to CDMX. Luckily, we had a little extra time still, so our driver agreed to make a pit stop at the Basilica de la Virgin de Guadalupe. Having taken 4 years of high school Spanish, the story of Juan Diego and the three miracles and the cape imprinted with Mary's likeness was seared in my brain almost as soundly as the quadratic formula. So it seemed a shame to drive right by without stopping to see the famous cape. We happened to arrive during religious services - the Basilica was huge!
Luckily the moving walkway made it possible to see the cape even during services.
We didn't linger here for very long, we had to return the van by 3:30 so it was a very quick in and out event.
Later that evening, Jiujiu and Jiuma went out for a walk and happened upon the El Moro chain for churros. Couldn't pass up the chance to pick up some churros! Again, I'm not normally a fan of churros at all, but I actually ate an entire stick without even realizing what I was doing.
Glad I could cross the churros off my list! It was another night of some drama episodes...and then sleep. Tomorrow we have big plans!
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