Day 23 Teotihuacan Pyramids 8 April 2015 Mexico Day 3

We started our day OK, well so I thought. Deb was contemplating staying at the hotel as today promised to be a physical one at the Pyramids. But gladly, she changed her mind after taking drugs (before telling me any of it).

We left the hotel at 9am, Ariushka (our guide) asked if we would like to call in and see the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe  (we had mentioned to her we liked visiting churches, even though neither of us is very religious). It was a very good choice to go there.  Every year on the 12 December, up to 7 million pilgrims make their way to this church. On this day 1531 3 miracles occurred at a church situated high on a hill ( to cut a long story short, 1 – healing a sick man, 2 – made flowers appear in a place they never grow and finally, 3 –  turned the flowers into an image of The Virgin of Guadalupe.)

The original church on top of the hill soon proved to small as the numbers of pilgrims grew, the new big church they built in 1740 started to sink into the ground (as big structures tend to do in Mexico City), so they built a very big new flashy church with a huge front plaza in 1970.  It is an amazing complex (I keep using that word!). While we were there, the sick and the troubled were clearly visible, looking for a miracle of their own. Many people travel from far flung places, lots were dressed in traditional clothes, and most of the groups there carried banners announcing where they were from. The church holds rolling services end on end from 6am until 8pm every day of the year.  I saw one guy kneeling in the Plaza and making his way toward the church on his knees. Apparently some people do extreme things here to show their faith.

We lit a candle in the beautiful 1740 church.

We next called into a “Tourist Trap” shop, but it proved really interesting. We were shown all the types of rocks used by the ancients to make figurines and then we were shown what they can make from a cactus like plant (a member of the aloe family). We were told they make a fermented brew called Tuna from the juices that flow when you cut the central heart out of the plant. We were then shown how they obtained “paper from the inner leaves of the heart of the plant (using the outer and inner surfaces of the leaf. Then he showed us how they could make a needle and thread, then how to make a thick “yarn” for making fabrics from, and how they dyed the thread/yarn using petals, cactus juice and minerals. Finally, he took us inside and I tried 3 different types of alcohol they can make from the plant, 2 types of Tuna and one from the leaf extract. All were tasty but I liked the darker Tuna best, it was really smooth.

We then went onto the Teotihuacan Pyramids from 600BC-700AD. It’s a massive site, stretching maybe 2km from end to end. We toured through the current archaeological dig, before walking to the main “avenue”. The “avenue” stretches from the Pyramid of the Moon at one end to a Citadel at the other, with the Pyramid of the Sun on the left toward to Citadel end. The reconstruction and preservation work done here is truly astonishing. Along the sides of the “avenue” are smallish structures, described as houses, private temples and viewing points. The “avenue” is about 75m wide with the Pyramid of the Moon dominating one end. All the structures here are built of mounded soil covered in stonework. The archaeologists have found that every structure investigated so far has a similar but smaller structure under it, that has been over built with a grander one.

Teotihuacan Pyramids

As we walked to the Pyramid of the Sun, Ariushka had us stop at one of the souvenir vendors. He showed us how the Aztecs made all the colours they used in all the paintings throughout this complex, it was really interesting seeing him use local ingredients to make colours and then add other ingredients to change one colour to another.  As he was doing this he was demonstrating the colours on a piece of paper, and making a drawing as he did. We ended up buying a small “flute” carved into the shape of a turtle from him. (Destined for Carly’s music box)

You can climb to the top of the Sun Pyramid and to about halfway up the Moon Pyramid, I did both. Deb wasn’t well enough to make the climbs, but climbed partway up the Sun Pyramid. The Sun Pyramid was a total of 218+ steps to the top, some areas were pretty steep and the altitude made it a bit of a challenge. The views from the top were worth the effort. To think I was up there taking a selfie and admiring the view standing in a place where only a matter of half a millennium ago people were being sacrificed, was all a bit weird really.

I got back down the base and met up again with Deb and Ariushka, and we set off for the Pyramid of the Moon. While the climb here was many less steps, 48 steps up, it was probably a lot tougher as the steps were almost 50cm high each, not to bad to start, but it burnt a bit near the top. Getting down was a bit more precarious!! The view from here was equally impressive, looking back down the “avenue” to the Citadel so far away. The structures either side all the way along took on a very impressive look.

From here we went to a nearby museum that stored actual artefacts and significant pieces of masonry with beautifully coloured original painting and decorations from the site.  It’s a bit scary, we seem to be enjoying museums and spending more than just a quick walk through in them!!

That finished our activities for the day, and we went for lunch. We decided to have the a la carte rather than the buffet,” which was a great choice. Deb had a bowl of nourishing Chicken Soup and I had “Fuilli Regional”, described as “Fina pasta sabre una salsa ligera de queso, mateqilla y esencia de chinicuil” , not too strange you think!!  Let me translate that for you. Fine pasta, a light saber cheese sauce, mateqilla and essence of chinicuil. No help, “Matequilla” is roughly Butter and the kicker is the Chinicuil à The edible larva of the moth Hypopta agavis that feeds on the local cactus. It was delicious, with a slight nutty flavour. We had a surprise arrive at our table for lunch, our guide, Ariushka, had ordered us a plate of cactus to try. She has been very thoughtful and it was delicious.

We then headed back to the hotel for a bit of a relax.