Day 40 - Teotihuacan

Today I was going to visit the famous Teotihuacan ruins with Max and Erny.  Erny was a tour guide who I met on my last trip and Max was a new guy who I met at the hostel.  Not far from the busy streets of Mexico City the journey required us to get a train, a tram and a bus.  From the window of the bus I could see the extent of Mexico City.  It is just a massive valley of buildings.  Either side of the road were hills crammed full of small square buildings.  There was absolutely no green space; every inch of the valley was occupied by small square buildings.  In the distance straight ahead at the end of the valley I could see clear blue skies, below it was a brown haze.  Mexico City being a densely populated city has its problems with pollution, a blanket of smog that you only notice once you leave the city and look back.

Early in the journey the bus stopped off at a bus stop and picked up a band of musicians.  Buses stopping off and picking up musicians generally seems quite common in Mexico.  They wait at bus stops for drivers to pick them up for free.  I guess they have a special rapport with the driver, or they tip the driver on the way out.  Or maybe the drivers just enjoy the company and the music, I didn’t much.  The musicians stood in the gangway belting out incoherent songs, a random jumble of rhythmless noise.  I don’t know what the locals on the bus thought of the music, maybe it is just not to my taste.  After assaulting my ears for 20 odd minutes they collected donations and alighted at the next bus stop.

City of grey

The bus dropped us off at the entrance of Teotihuacan.  It didn’t look like much when we arrived, just a small wooden shack where we paid some man to enter the park.  There were some other guys sat by the side of the road with cowboy hats.  “Guide, you need a guide?”  I gathered that they were guides who would talk you through the site for about 200 pesos.  Erny said we didn’t need a guide as he would be our guide instead.

You didn't really need to guide, information plaques were everywhere.

Along the path to the site were people sat along the side of the path with a variety of touristy souvenirs laid out in front of them.  Daggers made from obsidian, small decorative bow and arrows, colourful fabrics, small replicas of the Mayan sun stone and various other gifts.  Another thing they tried to sell were these small whistles with a jaguar head at the end.  Blowing one of these jaguar whistles made the sound of a snarling jaguar, apparently.  These whistles were very annoying and I am sure most of them bought mysteriously end up in some hotel bin a week later.

After walking down the dusty path and passing the first few vendors we arrived in the grounds of Teotihuacan.  This whole place was very grey with grey pathways leading to grey temples and grey pyramids.  The site consisted of two large pyramids known as The Pyramid of the Sun and The Pyramid of the Moon.  A large dusty grey pathway known as the Avenue of the Dead connected the two pyramids and would have been the main central street when Teotihuacan was a thriving city.  Remains of smaller pyramids filled the gap between the two large pyramids.  We climbed both the Pyramid of the Sun and The Pyramid of the Moon but there wasn’t much to see.  Any decoration or artefacts had been removed over time leaving what was basically just a pyramid shaped mound of old grey bricks. 

With most ancient cities the vast majority of houses and smaller everyday buildings would have been made from wood and would have perished many years ago leaving just the stone buildings of worship left.  I remember sitting down at the base of one of the temples trying to imagine what this city would have been like back in the day.  The busyness, the noise, the sounds, the smells.  I always try to take the time to contemplate what a place would have truly been like.   “NNAAARRRRHHHHH” another vendor sneaks up on me with that annoying jaguar whistle.  “Forget it, I will have to contemplate later” I thought to myself.

To die for

The most impressive sight was one of the smaller pyramids known as The Temple of Quetzalcoatl (plumed serpent) which was hidden behind the Pyramid of the Sun.  Unlike the other temples this one still had some of the original decoration.  A staircase ran up half the temple with stone heads of jaguars and serpents on either side.  The detail that had been preserved on these stone heads was very impressive, especially considering they were over 1000 years old.  I read that all the stone carvings and whole parts of the temple were originally painted in vivid reds and gold.  The dull grey pyramids might have looked a bit bland now but back then they must have been an impressive and intimidating sight especially if you were being taken up the stairs against your will to be sacrificed to the Gods. 

Although to some being sacrificed was an honour.  An ancient sport played in the Mayan culture involved a heavy ball and a stone circle with a hole in the middle which was the goal.  The prize for winning?  Being sacrificed.

The trip to Teotihuacan was interesting.  Like visiting Tikal it is fascinating to see ancient cities and the remains of great civilizations.  The vendors were just a bit too much though.  They were everywhere and they outnumbered the number of visitors.  It was impossible to walk for more than a few minutes before another one would approach you, selling exactly the same stuff you said “no thanks” to the previous vender.  It makes the visit to the ancient city feel very commercialised and very unauthentic. And don’t get me started on those bloody jaguar whistle!

Next post will be Tuesday 27th May at 8:00 GMT